# Maui Car/Hotel Questions



## tiel (Apr 16, 2011)

We have reservations for Feb 2012 for MOC and the Wailea Marriott.  We were planning on renting a car for the entire 2 weeks we will be there, but are stunned by the costs we could incur related to having a car.  We understand that it is high season, so we expected the rental costs to be steep and were more or less prepared to pay whatever it took (we will keep looking for the best rate until we leave).  

What is really killing us are the hotel fees.  First, the hotel charges $25/day for parking.  And we just got an email from the hotel saying they are instituting a "resort fee" of $30/day.  So, our "free" stay at the hotel (via certificates) could cost us $55/day (plus taxes, whatever they are).    

This will be our third trip to Maui, so we aren't planning a lot of sightseeing. We do plan to go whale watching while at MOC, but are mostly looking for R&R, to include some golf, while at the hotel.  So, we are wondering if we really need to have a car for the 10 days we are at the hotel...we are thinking of using taxis to get there and back to the airport, and when we need to go somewhere, maybe renting a car for just a day here and there.  But, we have no idea what taxis tend to run.  Any thoughts?

Also, regarding the "resort fee"...does anyone know what these fees tend to cover?  No information was provided in the email they sent, except for a vague mention of "resort activities and benefits".  Since we made the reservation prior to the policy change establishing the fee, we can opt out of it, and pay a la carte.  But since we have no idea what the fee might cover OR what the a la carte prices would be for the activities/benefits, we don't know what to think at this point.  So, does anybody know anything about these fees?  

Any advice/thoughts/suggestions will be appreciated!


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## DeniseM (Apr 16, 2011)

It's a long way from the airport to the hotel.  A taxi will be very expensive - be sure you figure that in.  A shuttle would probably be a better deal.

Can you cancel your hotel and rent from a Tugger instead?  A timeshare will not have such high fees.


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## Ken555 (Apr 17, 2011)

Many of the resort fees at resorts include parking and Internet access, for instance. Not sure about Hawaii, though... Parking could be extra, but I'd be surprised if it didn't include the Internet. And, they'll probably say it also includes gym or spa access, which was probably no charge (or low cost) before this new "benefit". Not knowing which resort your at makes it difficult to know for sure, but this is my guess.


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## DeniseM (Apr 17, 2011)

Kan - $25 for parking + resort fee of $30.


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## tiel (Apr 18, 2011)

To tie up the loose ends:

I called the phone number provided "Should (we) have any questions" in the email, which was customer support for Marriott Rewards.  The representative had no specific information on the resort fee at the Wailea, but said if we chose NOT to pay it, we would not have access to resort amenities such as restaurants, the spa, the gym, etc.     At this point, I knew she had no idea what she was talking about, so I decided to call the resort directly, which I should have done in the first place.

Anyway, the daily resort fee of $30 (optional for platinum Rewards members, or so I was told) at the Wailea Marriott covers/provides for:  Self-parking (otherwise $25/day), unlimited local and CONUS phone calls, 2 welcome Mai Tai's, plus discounts on some resort services and amenities.  It does NOT include internet access;  however, if you are a platinum Rewards member and you authorize a charge of $14.95/day for the internet, it will be removed from your bill when you check out.

So, the situation is not as bad as it seemed, but we still have a decision to make...to car, or not to car, that is the question.     If we do as we planned, it looks like having a mid-size car for 2 weeks will cost $850-900 taxes included, given the rental rate we currently have.  Gotta keep looking for that better deal...


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## MOXJO7282 (Apr 19, 2011)

tiel said:


> We have reservations for Feb 2012 for MOC and the Wailea Marriott.  We were planning on renting a car for the entire 2 weeks we will be there, but are stunned by the costs we could incur related to having a car.  We understand that it is high season, so we expected the rental costs to be steep and were more or less prepared to pay whatever it took (we will keep looking for the best rate until we leave).
> 
> What is really killing us are the hotel fees.  First, the hotel charges $25/day for parking.  And we just got an email from the hotel saying they are instituting a "resort fee" of $30/day.  So, our "free" stay at the hotel (via certificates) could cost us $55/day (plus taxes, whatever they are).
> 
> ...



We're doing the same thing in Feb 2012, 5 days at Wailea and 8 in Kaanapali. We're looking to be very mobile so we will be using a car the whole time but to provide my opinion, if you were asking about a car in MOC I'd say probably not because there is so much close by in Kaanapali. However in Wailea I don't believe that is the case so if you're asking that I would say it would be bebeficial to have a car in Wailea.

As for the new "resort fee", it sounds like a good deal actually, as long as the parking that is $25 is included.


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## MaeWest (Apr 22, 2011)

*To Car or Not to Car*



tiel said:


> To tie up the loose ends:
> 
> . . . [W]e still have a decision to make...to car, or not to car, that is the question.     If we do as we planned, it looks like having a mid-size car for 2 weeks will cost $850-900 taxes included, given the rental rate we currently have.  Gotta keep looking for that better deal...



We have tried this both ways over the years for our two week vacations. It all depends upon how much traveling on the island you expect to do for restaurants, sightseeing, and traveling for groceries.  Also, the shuttle from the airport to Kaanapali Beach on arrival was somewhere around $75 with tip.  We gave up trying to make it work without a car fairly quickly, in part because the kids wanted to do different things and my wife and I ended up playing zone defense, not to mention the constant trips to Lahaina for whatever.

Checked out a minivan for two weeks at Dollar (for August): $1300 range. They do like their revenue in Maui. At that price, I'm going to have to rethink this also.


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## catwgirl (Apr 22, 2011)

I have $535 for a compact car through Alamo on the Costco website reserved for two weeks in November.  I expect prices to come down before then so I am checking frequently.  If not, I have this reservation to fall back on.

I think you are checking too early for February 2012.


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Apr 22, 2011)

If you time your flights right, and arrival day, you can have a much larger car than the size you rented.

For example, on our last trip we arrived at 11:30am, well before cars are returned for the day, and on a Tuesday (midweek).

We paid for a compact car, and by politely asking for a free upgrade, she took us to the lot and told us to pick any car we wanted.  There were no compact cars to be seen. Got a nice Ford Focus with a double sunroof for 11 days for $312 (including tax).  Booked this through Costco and used Alamo.  We are Alamo members, so they waive the extra driver charge (which is important for us, and can range from $5-$10/day).

I think you are looking too early.


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## tiel (Apr 22, 2011)

tiel said:


> If we do as we planned, it looks like having a mid-size car for 2 weeks will cost *$850-900* taxes included, given the rental rate we currently have.  Gotta keep looking for that better deal...



To clarify, this total is for the rental car (currently just under $500 for the 2 weeks, using a "special special" rate with Dollar (mid-size or larger)), plus the resort fee for 10 days (tax estimated). 

We fully intend to keep looking, checking some of the local rental car service companies, as well as Costco.  I'm pretty sure we can get a better rate later on.  We were balking at the prices, mostly because the taxes/fees on rental cars add 50% to the basic rate...but that's just the way it is.  In the end, we'll probably go with a car, simply because it is too inconvenient to do otherwise.  Just thought we'd see if there were any viable options though. 

Thanks to all for your input!


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Apr 23, 2011)

We just had the same conversation re: car vs. no car yesterday.

It seemed like we never used our car last time, but then when we added up the times that we did (3 whale watches, one upcountry trip, 2 trips to the grocery store, one trip to the fish market), we realized that having a car is was worth it for us. Roundtrip transfers from the airport alone are probably well over $200 for 2 people (would have been over $300 for us). 

Oh, and the one 2hour nap we got from our 3 year old on a super cranky day made the whole cost worth it!

Keep checking Costco and the sites directly.  Now that I recall, we originally booked with Costco, then booked with Alamo directly for a last minute special they were offering.


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## slomac (Apr 23, 2011)

I just booked a room using points at the marriott wialea.  I see the $25 pkg fee but I don't see anything about the resort fee.  So what was the final result was it resort fee is charged but includes parking or do you have to pay both if staying on points.

Thanks


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## tiel (Apr 23, 2011)

slomac said:


> I just booked a room using points at the marriott wialea.  I see the $25 pkg fee but I don't see anything about the resort fee.  So what was the final result was it resort fee is charged but includes parking or do you have to pay both if staying on points.
> 
> Thanks



We found out about the resort fee just recently via email, after having made a MR points reservation back in early March.  Apparently it is being implemented on July 1, 2011.  The email came from Marriott Rewards.

Based on the phone conversation I had with the nice folks at the Wailea, the resort fee INCLUDES parking.  Further, we (as Platinum MR members) could opt to pay just for the parking ($25/day), OR the resort fee (and get a few added benefits), assuming we had a car.  I did not ask if you had a choice of fees if you were at another elite level or not an elite member at all.


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## Denise L (Apr 24, 2011)

Currently paying $134.24/week for a full-size car on Maui with additional driver included.  

Started at $262 and dropped to $134 two says before arrival .


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## Ken555 (Apr 24, 2011)

Denise L said:


> Currently paying $134.24/week for a full-size car on Maui with additional driver included.
> 
> Started at $262 and dropped to $134 two says before arrival .



Great rate! Is this after taxes and fees?


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## Denise L (Apr 24, 2011)

Ken555 said:


> Great rate! Is this after taxes and fees?



Yes, it is.  I was sort of tempted to try to beat it on PL, but my husband liked the additional driver included.  This was through Costco/Alamo.


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## tiel (May 20, 2011)

I have been continuing to check car rental rates for our Jan/Feb 2012 HI trip, and have found they're are going up at this point.  The overall cost of our Oahu rental has gone up $78 for the 6-day period, while the cost of our Maui rental has gone up $68 for the 2-week period...same size car and same rental car company we have our reservations with.  Also noticed the reservations we have now are both lower than the current rates for ANY car size at ANY rental car company for the same rental periods.  Glad we made the reservations we did!

I know there is still plenty of time to find better rates than we have reserved  before we go, especially since Costco hasn't published their 2012 rates yet, but I guess I wasn't expecting these increases at this point.  

And the search goes on...


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## Aceldelmon (May 31, 2011)

Taking a taxi would certainly cost you more. You can opt for shuttle as it would be cheaper when you are traveling from hotel to airport and vice versa. Parking fee will certainly be on the higher side due to limited availability at that point of time. You can rent a car only when it is needed but you need to book it early as due to peak season you will find considerable hike in prices. You may look at two, three companies for rate comparison and to get decent deals. You may look at reputed companies like Hertz, Pointcarhire, Alamo, etc. As far as hotel goes, you may refer to Tugger as they might have some really nice deals.


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## tiel (Sep 5, 2011)

When searching for lower rates today, I noticed some of the Costco rates (Alamo and Enterprise) are now valid until 12/31/12.  

So, I searched for a lower rate for a mid-size than I already have, but, so far, nothing great has shown up.  Will definitely keep looking, since so many TUGgers have reported finding fantastic deals on Maui, but just wanted to let everybody know some of the 2012 Costco rates are bookable now.


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Sep 5, 2011)

tiel said:


> When searching for lower rates today, I noticed some of the Costco rates (Alamo and Enterprise) are now valid until 12/31/12.
> 
> So, I searched for a lower rate for a mid-size than I already have, but, so far, nothing great has shown up.  Will definitely keep looking, since so many TUGgers have reported finding fantastic deals on Maui, but just wanted to let everybody know some of the 2012 Costco rates are bookable now.



Just came on to tell everyone the same. They finally have 2012 rates!

Hasn't helped us yet, but I will keep checking.  The problem for us is we arrive 1/1/12. If we picked up the car on 1/3/12, the price is literally half! We are in need a of a 2 week rental.

I am weighing the option of taking a shuttle to WKOR on the 1st, and have a friend drive us back to the airport on the 3rd to rent a car.


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## LisaRex (Sep 6, 2011)

ThreeLittleBirds said:


> I am weighing the option of taking a shuttle to WKOR on the 1st, and have a friend drive us back to the airport on the 3rd to rent a car.



No need to drive back to the airport.  Just reserve your car to pick up at the Car rental hub in Ka'anapali and drop off at OGG.  The car rental hub in Ka'anapali is very near WKORV; I'm pretty sure you could walk to it if you had to.


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Sep 6, 2011)

LisaRex said:


> No need to drive back to the airport.  Just reserve your car to pick up at the Car rental hub in Ka'anapali and drop off at OGG.  The car rental hub in Ka'anapali is very near WKORV; I'm pretty sure you could walk to it if you had to.



Thanks, Lisa. I will definitely look into that. We might just book a shuttle R/T for OGG. We have a 3 year old, and it would be nice at 8/9pm to not have to drop the car off, bags, etc. Curbside drop off would be nice.

Normally we would really want a car to shop in Kahului, but since we arrive New Years day, nothing will be open anyway.  Plus, I have $150 in Foodland gift  cards that I cashed in Hawaiian miles to get, and the Foodland is really not that outrageously price (plus we LOVE LOVE Foodland sushi).


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## LisaRex (Sep 6, 2011)

ThreeLittleBirds said:


> Thanks, Lisa. I will definitely look into that. We might just book a shuttle R/T for OGG. We have a 3 year old, and it would be nice at 8/9pm to not have to drop the car off, bags, etc. Curbside drop off would be nice.).



I've never done a shuttle so I can't speak of cost.  However, I do know that if you rent from the Ka'anapali hub, you don't have to pay airport fees.  

Keep in mind, however, that price breaks for rental cars often happen at 5 days, so it's often just as cheap to rent for a week as it is for 5 days.


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## tiel (Sep 23, 2011)

Just checked Costco again, and the rates are FINALLY dropping for the Jan/Feb 2012 timeframe on Oahu and Maui!  Still not as low as we'd like, but at least they're moving in the right direction.  We made new reservations, but will continue to check for better prices.


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## ThreeLittleBirds (Sep 23, 2011)

tiel said:


> Just checked Costco again, and the rates are FINALLY dropping for the Jan/Feb 2012 timeframe on Oahu and Maui!  Still not as low as we'd like, but at least they're moving in the right direction.  We made new reservations, but will continue to check for better prices.



Plus they have a new matrix, which is very nice to compare rates.


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## tiel (Sep 23, 2011)

ThreeLittleBirds said:


> Plus they have a new matrix, which is very nice to compare rates.



It is nice, and so much easier to use than the previous method they had (trying each car company's coupons individually).  Now this is a real system enhancement...the old functionality is still there, but they've added a really useful additional feature!


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## fern817 (Oct 17, 2011)

*Maui Car Rental*

Just got back from 1 week stay in Maui. Definitely keep checking Costco pricing...and often!  I first priced several months out thru Alamo with the Entertainment Book and reserved a Standard at $219 (taxes & fees included).  But reading on these boards they recommended checking Costco and I happily got a rate of $159 (taxes & fees included). I checked again 10 days before my trip and found an even better promo at $89 for an Intermediate car for 1 week additional driver included! We picked up at 2pm and there were no cars left in that car class so they upgraded us to a small SUV (Hyundai Santa Fe) for free! I was thrilled! Paid $89 for SUV 10/5-12/2011.

Going to Kona in April for 9 days and hoping I can find a great deal for then! Found out after I booked that Merrie Monarch (like the Olympics for hula competition) is that same time so car rental is $450!!!


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