DazedandConfused
Guest
I stayed four nights at the Maui Bay Villas and wanted to share a few thoughts
For most HGV members Maui has been on the wish list for a long time and finally we have a good option for that island. I was lucky to book a 1 bedroom top floor corner unit overlooking the pool but took a lot of points. The checkin reception was beautiful, the process was fast, but my room was not ready until about 3pm which was ok as they state 4pm. Things seemed quiet but they were at full capacity. We dropped off our luggage with the bellman and drove around the island and enjoyed lunch until our room was ready.
Parking was plentiful, the elevators nice, the hallways nice, and the room was fantastic. Probably the nicest HGVC I have been to and was super impressed with the kitchen, furniture, bathroom, floors, bed, closets, decorations, theme and just about everything else. Even the motorized window shades were nice. The balcony was great and offered a nice view of the ocean and had a nice breeze.
The only issue for me was the construction noise the next day that went pretty much from 8am-7pm and constant beeping, etc. Luckily, I was out exploring the island most days, so it was not a big deal, but was significant for my corner unit.
The wort part of Maui for me is the location, simply put, the beach sucks and the neighbors are less than desirable, especially compared to the Wailea area a few miles down the road. Unfortunately, with the rarity of Maui beachfront real estate and the cost, this is pretty much the best they could do and it was acceptable, but not great.
The Beach Club cafe was also pretty nice, but the food was rather average and the drinks were great. The ambiance and service was very good.
The pool was actually quite nice, but the water was a little on the cold side, and as the sales people say, this is the least dense pool in the area, so finding pool lounge chairs was never an issue. The pool bar also was a nice option.
The Ululani shave ice a few blocks away was a must visit and always had a line, but was spectacular.
I ended up buying a day pass at the Hyatt Andaz via ResortPass and loved that location, loved the beach there, loved the pool, loved the bars, but the hotel rates there were very high, so it was a nice way to upgrade my day.
I also visited the Grand Wailea, Fairmont, and the Four Seasons and had drinks at their bars and walked the grounds and they were equally spectacular.
Dinner at MonkeyPod is also another must do while there as the Mai Tai were epic.
I also did the road to Hana drive and honestly, would NOT recommend that as it was a LONG drive and Hana was not that interesting. I would go to the gardens about 10 miles into the drive and turn around and hit one or two lookouts. I also dined at Mommas Fish House, but found it to be way overpriced for the quality of the food, but understand why many people love it here as it is beautiful. The flatbread pizza joint ins Paia was also amazing and had some of the best pizza I have every had.
Finally, I did the 5 hour snorkel trip via Redline and it for sure was the best snorkel trip I have ever done in my life and I have been on MANY snorkel trips. This was a highlight of my trip and I would fly back to Maui just to do this again. The water clarity and reef at Molokini must be one of the best snorkel spots on planet earth. We went to 4 different dive spots and each one had amazing sights and the turtle watching was outstanding.
They will be building on Maui for probably another 2-3 years and with only three available buildings out of 12 or so planned, it is still hard to book for now and I do expect it to get a little easier once they add more buildings.
I am glad this is part of HGV collection, the quality of the rooms were spectacular, but the only thing that was not so good was the location and beach access, but there are ways to get around that and the value of using HGVC points here vs paying cash is huge as Maui is very very expensive.
For most HGV members Maui has been on the wish list for a long time and finally we have a good option for that island. I was lucky to book a 1 bedroom top floor corner unit overlooking the pool but took a lot of points. The checkin reception was beautiful, the process was fast, but my room was not ready until about 3pm which was ok as they state 4pm. Things seemed quiet but they were at full capacity. We dropped off our luggage with the bellman and drove around the island and enjoyed lunch until our room was ready.
Parking was plentiful, the elevators nice, the hallways nice, and the room was fantastic. Probably the nicest HGVC I have been to and was super impressed with the kitchen, furniture, bathroom, floors, bed, closets, decorations, theme and just about everything else. Even the motorized window shades were nice. The balcony was great and offered a nice view of the ocean and had a nice breeze.
The only issue for me was the construction noise the next day that went pretty much from 8am-7pm and constant beeping, etc. Luckily, I was out exploring the island most days, so it was not a big deal, but was significant for my corner unit.
The wort part of Maui for me is the location, simply put, the beach sucks and the neighbors are less than desirable, especially compared to the Wailea area a few miles down the road. Unfortunately, with the rarity of Maui beachfront real estate and the cost, this is pretty much the best they could do and it was acceptable, but not great.
The Beach Club cafe was also pretty nice, but the food was rather average and the drinks were great. The ambiance and service was very good.
The pool was actually quite nice, but the water was a little on the cold side, and as the sales people say, this is the least dense pool in the area, so finding pool lounge chairs was never an issue. The pool bar also was a nice option.
The Ululani shave ice a few blocks away was a must visit and always had a line, but was spectacular.
I ended up buying a day pass at the Hyatt Andaz via ResortPass and loved that location, loved the beach there, loved the pool, loved the bars, but the hotel rates there were very high, so it was a nice way to upgrade my day.
I also visited the Grand Wailea, Fairmont, and the Four Seasons and had drinks at their bars and walked the grounds and they were equally spectacular.
Dinner at MonkeyPod is also another must do while there as the Mai Tai were epic.
I also did the road to Hana drive and honestly, would NOT recommend that as it was a LONG drive and Hana was not that interesting. I would go to the gardens about 10 miles into the drive and turn around and hit one or two lookouts. I also dined at Mommas Fish House, but found it to be way overpriced for the quality of the food, but understand why many people love it here as it is beautiful. The flatbread pizza joint ins Paia was also amazing and had some of the best pizza I have every had.
Finally, I did the 5 hour snorkel trip via Redline and it for sure was the best snorkel trip I have ever done in my life and I have been on MANY snorkel trips. This was a highlight of my trip and I would fly back to Maui just to do this again. The water clarity and reef at Molokini must be one of the best snorkel spots on planet earth. We went to 4 different dive spots and each one had amazing sights and the turtle watching was outstanding.
They will be building on Maui for probably another 2-3 years and with only three available buildings out of 12 or so planned, it is still hard to book for now and I do expect it to get a little easier once they add more buildings.
I am glad this is part of HGV collection, the quality of the rooms were spectacular, but the only thing that was not so good was the location and beach access, but there are ways to get around that and the value of using HGVC points here vs paying cash is huge as Maui is very very expensive.
though it's no Waiola! Hope to enjoy the pool in the AM after a long run then explore the island in the afternoon.
