# One night in Maui...



## Sunnydude (Jun 5, 2013)

We are planning a trip to Maui in Feb '14.  With the direct flights from Seattle you arrive at 11pm and waste a first night on the island.  Are there hotels near the airport that are reasonable?


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## DeniseM (Jun 5, 2013)

There is a new Marriott Courtyard by the airport that is nice.  There are a few old locally owned motels also, but not someplace I'd stay.


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## Sunnydude (Jun 5, 2013)

DeniseM said:


> There is a new Marriott Courtyard by the airport that is nice.  There are a few old locally owned motels also, but not someplace I'd stay.



None of the hotels accept 2 adults and 3 kids.  

I don't like having to waste an entire night of the TS rental as we won't get there until 1am and not going to drive back to 'town' to hit Costco or other stores.


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## DeniseM (Jun 5, 2013)

There is no reason to drive back to the airport area for shopping.  There are major grocery stores and drug stores in Lahaina.  

Kahului is a residential & commercial area - not a resort area - so you will be hard pressed to find accommodations if you can't stay at the Courtyard.

For just one night - I'd reserve a room with 2 beds, and have mom or dad take the kids for a walk while the other parent checks in.


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## Quadmaniac (Jun 5, 2013)

You might want to try the Maui Seaside - not a fancy place but it is ok for a night or two. Its very basic but usually 2 queen beds I believe. If the kids are small, it shouldn't be a big deal to just squeeze in for one night and in the morning you can hit Costco and all the places in the area to stock up. It's usually only about $100-110/night vs Courtyard at $250/night. Not much use blowing that much money for a place for 11 hrs, 8 of which you will be sleeping.


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## Sunnydude (Jun 5, 2013)

Thanks for the info...we might just sneak the little one in.

I don't want to make the drive, albeit not really that far, when tired.  Did that last time.


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## barefootnAR (Jun 5, 2013)

The hotels can't turn a blind eye to an extra person, even a small child or they will be in violation of fire code and face potential fines.
I'd go with the Maui Beach Hotel, call and explain you need two rooms connecting. Or have mom with two children and dad in the 2nd room with one.
If would embarrassing if they didn't allow you to check in. You do go through the lobbies of these small, but very clean old hotels to get to the rooms.. 

We have stayed at both the Maui Seaside and Maui Beach when we arrive a day early. Maui Beach is nicer.

If the Marriott has a suite with two rooms that would work if a head count of 5 or 6 is allowed.


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## daventrina (Jun 5, 2013)

barefootnAR said:


> We have stayed at both the Maui Seaside and Maui Beach when we arrive a day early.


Those would be the places that Denise said she wouldn't stay ... and we probably wouldn't either. Some condos will rent for a night, but not many. Kihei may be worth considering as the drive back to Kahului is much shorter and easier. Or crash at a beach and watch the sunrise, but now a days that can be difficult. It would be a good opportunity to drive up the volcano for the sunrise. Getting a car at 11pm can sometimes get to be problematic depending on the company. Like Denise said, There are plenty of places to shop where one could get by for a day or to before heading back to Costco.


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## nspils (Jun 5, 2013)

Aloha car rental will leave you car keys for you to get your rental from the parking lot at the airport.


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## Jim Bryan (Jun 6, 2013)

We had heard the warnings about the area but ended up staying at The Maui Seaside for on night. Room was small but very clean. The restaurant was excellent. The area around the Motel was just fine.


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## Quadmaniac (Jun 6, 2013)

Jim Bryan said:


> We had heard the warnings about the area but ended up staying at The Maui Seaside for on night. Room was small but very clean. The restaurant was excellent. The area around the Motel was just fine.



Yes, there is nothing wrong with the area. I feel completely at ease there the 3-4 times I stayed there before going over to the other side. It is so convenient as everything is close by as well.


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## talkamotta (Jun 6, 2013)

Im confused.  Are you only going to spend one night in Maui? We did that once before hopping another flight to another island.  Delta changed our flights at the last minute.  If I were you then I would sneek a child in the room.  Ive broken the occupancy rule many times.  


If you are staying in Lahina and don't want to drive back to Costco then you will pay a lot of money for your groceries.  There is one large store and their prices are enough to make you choke.  Safeway is more reasonable for odds and ends for one or two days.  There are things to see on that side of the island, for example  Iao Valley area is a nice half day trip and is fairly close to Costco.  So if the first day you want to rest, the next day you can do the Iao Valley.  You will be driving not too far from Costco when you go on the road to Hana but that is one full day.  

I think Maui is the easiest of all the islands to drive especially from Lahina.  The road north on that side to the sharks tooth and the banana bread place gets a white knuckle but even that road till you hit the county road is pretty good.


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## LisaRex (Jun 6, 2013)

Marriott Courtyard is a category 5 hotel.  If you sign up for the Marriott Premiere card, you'll get 50,000 Marriott points after spending $1000 in 3 months. 50,000 MRs will get you for 2 rooms at the Marriott Courtyard in Maui (25,000 points per night). Award nights are capacity controlled, so if this interests you, get the card asap. 

https://creditcards.chase.com/a1/marriottpremier/50p1ksh/?CELL=6TVB&SPID=F2RJ


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## DeniseM (Jun 6, 2013)

Whether or not Costco is a good value on vacation really depends on the size of your party, and how much you will eat in.  Since Costco's standard packaging is very large, it probably won't save you any money if you have a small party, and/or plan to eat most of your meals out.  

In Hawaii, we buy groceries for light breakfasts and lunches, beverages, and snacks, but eat all our dinners out, so Costco is not a good value for us.

Even at home, where we live within 2 miles of Costco, we seldom shop there, because purchasing in such large quantities is not something we want to do, and we try not to eat a lot of packaged foods.  I have also found that Costco carries very few reduced fat products, which we prefer.


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## Luanne (Jun 6, 2013)

Denise, I agree on Costco.  We shopped there one time (and this was for a family of 4) and found it didn't work well for us.  Most of the quantities were too large and we ended up wasting food.


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## LisaRex (Jun 6, 2013)

Agree re Costco.  I honestly don't think The Times market near the Westin had bad prices at all.  They're about 20% higher than mainland prices, IME.


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## Luanne (Jun 6, 2013)

We tend to shop Safeway on Maui.  We have a discount card and can use that.


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## DeniseM (Jun 6, 2013)

Luanne said:


> We tend to shop Safeway on Maui.  We have a discount card and can use that.



We shop Safeway with the discount card, too.  You can print it out at home, fill it out before your trip, and hand it to the cashier on your first purchase:  http://www.safeway.com/ShopStores/Club-Card.page

But we buy all our produce at farmer's markets and roadside stands.


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## Luanne (Jun 6, 2013)

DeniseM said:


> But we buy all our produce at farmer's markets and roadside stands.



Definitely!


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## Sunnydude (Jun 6, 2013)

talkamotta said:


> Im confused.  Are you only going to spend one night in Maui?



No...we are there for a week but the flights from Seattle get us there at 11pm and I drove it last time after being able to sleep on the plane...this time we have our 1 1/2 yr old with us which will most likely mean no sleep.  Just looking at options to enable us to take that flight, actually get to shop and then leisurely drive over.  Don't like wasting a day of vacation time.

Thanks for all the input.  We did our shopping at Safeway last time too.  It all depends on the flights.  If we took Hawaiian I would hate to make a change as each ticket is $200 to change!


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## DianneL (Jun 6, 2013)

*Maui Seaside*

We stayed there this year for one night. Felt it was ok for the night. There were just two of us.


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## jlr10 (Jun 7, 2013)

How old is your little one?  Some hotels ask how many children will be guests. You might call the Courtyard if it is a small child to see if they would accept the little one in the room.  Couldn't hurt to ask.


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## BocaBoy (Jun 7, 2013)

We usually shop at Foodland for most of our groceries.  It is a nice store.  There are two of them in Lahaina.  It is not true that there is only one large grocery store in Lahaina.  We sometimes get some of our produce in Costco when we arrive, depending on the schedule.


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## MOXJO7282 (Jun 7, 2013)

BocaBoy said:


> We usually shop at Foodland for most of our groceries.  It is a nice store.  There are two of them in Lahaina.  It is not true that there is only one large grocery store in Lahaina.  We sometimes get some of our produce in Costco when we arrive, depending on the schedule.



There are definitely a number of things you can get at Costco that make it worth the time IMHO.

Here's our list:
case of water
case of beer
big bag of chips or pretzels
booze
milk
juice
Pineapple
some fruit and vegetables
1 Hawaiian shirt 
sunscreen
discount tickets to local restaurants or shows
usually some meat
Dessert of some kind


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## Chrispee (Jun 7, 2013)

MOXJO7282 said:


> There are definitely a number of things you can get at Costco that make it worth the time IMHO.
> 
> Here's our list:
> case of water
> ...



I wholeheartedly agree. I'll also add organic chicken, local(ish) fish, and a boogie board to the list as well!


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## Fletcher921 (Jun 7, 2013)

We stayed at the Inn at Mama's Fish House once when we had to fly over a  day early.  But - we got a 2 bedroom and were sharing with another couple which made it much more affordable.  They have smaller units also.  
http://mamasfishhouse.com/

It was PERFECT in every way.  Comfy place, we got to wake up to that glorious cove all to ourselves, have lunch at Mama's, then hit Costco and off we went to Ka'anapali at the appropriate check-in time.


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## dlca1 (Jun 7, 2013)

Chrispee said:


> I wholeheartedly agree. I'll also add organic chicken, local(ish) fish, and a boogie board to the list as well!




They also have a fresh poke bar (with a variety of different types)  as well as sliced sashimi.  You can specify how much poke you want, so you don't have to buy a huge bulk supply of poke.


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## klpca (Jun 7, 2013)

We needed one night on our last trip. Nothing was cheap. The best I could do was to stay in a condo rented by Aston. I believe that they have properties all over the island. We were able to stay at the same property as our timeshare so we didn't have far to move the next day. I think it was about $200 for the night.


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## daventrina (Jun 7, 2013)

MOXJO7282 said:


> There are definitely a number of things you can get at Costco that make it worth the time IMHO.
> case of water
> case of beer
> juice
> ...


There are generally viable options to the above depending on what one likes.
Costco doesn't always carry local brews
POG is usually only  $1 or so more at Times or Walmart
Pineapple is better from the farmers market (not necessarily less)
Fruit .. same as pineapple
Sunscreen usually on sale at Walmart or Longs.
Shirts can pick up almost anywhere.
Our last trip ... Didn't end up getting much from Costco.


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## rschallig (Jun 11, 2013)

Sunnydude said:


> We are planning a trip to Maui in Feb '14.  With the direct flights from Seattle you arrive at 11pm and waste a first night on the island.  Are there hotels near the airport that are reasonable?



You might want to consider bidding on Priceline. Kahului is closest to the airport and listed for bidding purposes. You could bid for a nicer place located by your timeshare. 
Bob


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## taffy19 (Jun 11, 2013)

Fletcher921 said:


> We stayed at the Inn at Mama's Fish House once when we had to fly over a day early. But - we got a 2 bedroom and were sharing with another couple which made it much more affordable. They have smaller units also.
> http://mamasfishhouse.com/
> 
> It was PERFECT in every way. Comfy place, we got to wake up to that glorious cove all to ourselves, have lunch at Mama's, then hit Costco and off we went to Ka'anapali at the appropriate check-in time.


Once you are staying there, you won't want to leave.  It is such a romantic little spot.  We have never stayed there but have commented about it many times when we had a meal there.


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## taffy19 (Jun 11, 2013)

klpca said:


> We needed one night on our last trip. Nothing was cheap. The best I could do was to stay in a condo rented by Aston. I believe that they have properties all over the island. We were able to stay at the same property as our timeshare so we didn't have far to move the next day. I think it was about $200 for the night.


That's what we did this year at the Aston at Papakea but in an oceanfront unit. We stayed a week and I would do it again if I only needed one night.

It is a year round owner's rental pool so you don't know what you get but we lucked out and had a very nice condo. If you want the unit number, let me know and I will look it up. I don't remember it now.


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## Jim Bryan (Jun 12, 2013)

*Maui Seaside Hotel*

http://www.mauiseasidehotel.com/about-us.html


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