Planning a visit to Hawaii from my computer in Japan, and having read the Fodor's guide (which incidentally I rate as "terrrible" [try lonely planet - much better]), we noted that the Kula Lodge was rated as a great place to stop for breakfast or lunch on an ascent or descent of the Haleakala mountain. So I looked up the website. The rooms looked luxurious and enticing on the website. Given the great restaurant rating, and the look of the rooms, we took the plunge.
The restaurant is indeed excellent - food, service and views. But the rooms seem like an uncomfortable add-on, or even an unwanted add-on. There is no sense of "hotel " or " lodge" at this place. The rooms (we stayed in Garden View chalet) are kind of cute wooden chalets like you would put up in your back garden. This one was right near the road (hence quite noisy from 5am onwards as the traffic headsup to the summit for sunrise). No curtains in the upper windows - so ok I suppose if you're getting up at sunrise everyday for activities (we did most days).!!!!
The rooms were cleaned/beds madeup every day.
There was a coffee maker in the room when we arrived, but it didn't work, so we took it back to a staff member who promised us coffee in the restaurant in the mornings - but that never materialised, and we never got a replacement coffee maker either - bit of a bummer when you wake up at dawn every day.
So you stay in this room, and you go to the restaurant and you pay separately - you can't put it on your bill - another thing that makes it all feel a bit unwanted.
Bottom line, it's a bit rough and ready.
But we had a good time, and enjoyed being away from all the hustle and bustle. The staff were all friendly and chatty.
At $150 a night though, not good value at all, althought we payed a bit less as they have a mid-week special.
In this case, you don't get what you pay for.

We really enjoyed our time at the Kula Lodge. We were in Chalet #1 which we discovered was way too much room for two people (it has a queen bed plus a loft with 2 twin beds) however the balcony and view were amazing!

Unfortunately, they were not accommodating when we arrived early and asked to have our bags checked so we didn't have to drive around sight-seeing with our luggage in the car. They told us that they actually had an incident of theft when they've done this in the past so they no longer hold onto guest's luggage. We were told to come back at check-in time. The woman we spoke with didn't really seem to care about us at all (it seemed like we were "dismissed" after she told us to come back) so it kind of turned us off to the staff from the get-go.

We came back a few hours later to much nicer staff member who checked us in. The room itself is charming and quaint. The bed and bedding were very comfortable (we didn't want to get out!). It was a nice change of pace to not have a television in the room.

We had brought back wine from Tedeschi Vineyards (not far, also in Kula). I headed to the little store next door to the Lodge to pick up some fresh bread and imported cheeses. We had a lovely time watching the sunset with our wine and snacks on our balcony.

In the morning, we leisurely got up and headed to breakfast at the Lodge (we went to breakfast at 7am). It was the perfect time to be there, we were about 30 minutes ahead of the bikers coming down Haleakula. The breakfast was pretty good and the view was breathtaking.

Parking is provided right in front of the chalets, very easy.

Just for background, we stayed 6 nights at the Pineapple Inn Maui and decided to come to Upcountry for some hiking. All of our first choices were booked, so we took the room (booked two weeks in advance) at the Kula Lodge. Our chalet was one of two in a building located near the highway and adjacent to the parking lots. Basically it was surrounded by pavement on three sides. Check it was easy, just get the key at the restaurant. The room had a main bedroom, loft for sleeping (if you like spiders) and a tiny bathroom with the closet open inside the bathroom. There was a standup shower. The balcony faced the parking lot and the side of the restaurant.

The room was shaby, and old. The rugs warn. The draperies saw better days. The bathroom was the worse I have seen in many times traveling. The sink was literally 3 feet or lower from the ground. The shower and surround was caked with mold in every direction. The noise from the road was not the problem, but all the cars pulling in and out of the place. This occurred till about midnight and started up again about 6 AM.

The restaurant was fair. We had breakfast (a lot of food, just ok) and lunch (pretty good hamburger). Dinner we heard was bland and expensive, so we skipped this and couldn't comment directly.

If you had to be close the the park, I would recommend only one night here (we stayed two). There are so many inn's a little further north so book early unlike us.

Overall very disappointing - the rooms need total makeover. The price is not low enough to justify the dated, and worn rooms. But at no price should you shower with mold out of control. You feel like the accommodations are an after-thought there - which they may be as there are only 5 rooms anyhow.

This is a great place to spend the night before going to Haleakala National Park. The location is great for going to the park. The staff at the lodge and restaurant were courteous and extremely helpful. We had one of the best dinners ever at the restaurant with a fantastic view looking down the mountain at Maui.