After a long flight from Chicago, we arrived Sunday around 5 p.m. There was literally nobody in the entire lobby - which made me wonder if I picked the best resort to celebrate our wedding anniversary. There was only one lady checking in a family of 3, who received hot towels. After waiting about 10 minutes, she finally got to me. She didn't offer me any hot towel, and instead said I have a partial-ocean view. I asked for an upgrade, as it was clear the hotel was far from booked. She said none were available, but, she would put me on a wait-list. My wife and I proceeded to the lounge and were one of 6 guests in the entire place. The staff was friendly, but, without any guests, the place was less than lively. Next day we waited for the concierge who was talking to the same family of 3 I saw the day before. She never acknowledged me waiting, or, said "I will be with you shortly..." My wife and I took turns waiting. After the concierge was done, instead of talking to my wife, she picked up a cell phone and started chatting. My wife walked away frustrated, and I came over. I heard the concierge say "I gotta go..." and proceeded to help me. This place is nice, but, definitely not the same caliber staff or facilities of the Marriott or Four Seasons just up the street. We ate dinner at these two places instead because it was like a ghost town at the Prince. There is litle help at the restaurant too, and we sat and watched a dozen birds tear apart all the food left on the tables because there is no wait staff to clean up. The poor hostess has to do it all. When we left our room service tray in the hall after lunch, it was still there the next day. The beach is great and not having many people there was the best part. I think if the hotel focuses a little more on training it's staff to be more professional and attentive to guests waiting, it would go a long way. The front desk never did call me for the wait-list as promised, and I could see at night all the empty rooms. We also never received any champagne or fruit like other guests. Just don't tell me our rate is for the best available room but not give it to us. For those of you looking to celebrate a wedding or anniversary, I suggest you think twice about the Prince because you will not be excited when you get here. Granted, it's a good value, but, I felt like I let my wife down coming here instead of spending just a little more to enjoy a truly 1st class resort, which the Prince is not. I never saw a manager once, and I'm not sure there is one. Walking into the lobby you see about 3 or 4 staff - and that is all. A little attention to staining the dried-out wood room doors, and replacing all the small white tiles with something a little larger and more updated, along with a visable manager, whould go a long way. The beach can't be beat.

My wife and I stayed at the Maui Prince Hotel from June 11th through June 18th 2008. This was our second visit to a Prince hotel (the first being in Honolulu, which is a great hotel). The Maui Prince staff was great and the grounds were wonderfully landscaped (probably our favorite thing about the Prince). The room we stayed in was dated and looked as if it had not been remodeled since the 1980's, however it was well taken care of and very clean. We were given one of the lower rooms since we booked through Priceline; we did get a great rate which was $1000 less than any other hotel in Wailea so having out-dated carpet and furniture in the room was really fine. (Wailea is the place to stay in Maui). The bed on the other hand was horrible, I had to put pillows under the edge of the bed because it gave no support and I felt as if I was going to roll off of it. In addition to this. We were told when we booked the hotel that we would have a partial ocean view from some corner our balcony, which was true. My wife and I just pulled the table and chairs to the corner of the balcony that had the ocean view and had breakfast from there every morning. Even just looking out of the window from the room was amazing; the grounds are very well taken care of with palm trees everywhere and flowering trees as well (I have no idea there names, but they are great). One note regarding what is in the room, they have a dorm fridge that is for use by the occupant, which is great. Microwaves are extra however, we just brought a hotshot and had Oatmeal in the mornings.

The area around the Prince (Wailea) is considerably more beautiful than Lahina and Kehei. It is very much an upper end area with the Prince located at the southern most region (maybe two miles from any other hotel). I would also highly recommend just making a walk on the beach/greenway south to Little Beach. It was simple yet one of my highlights of the trip. There are many tidal pools in the outcropping along with Black Crabs and other sea life in the pools themselves. There are also a couple of small black sand beaches along the way.

Please be careful going into the water in front of the Prince!! When we arrived we were not informed of a swell that was occurring. The first time we got in the water the first time it was pretty calm however a lot of sand was in the water. We saw turtles off to the left near a rocky out cropping, however again it was murky and hard to see and around 10am the ocean became rough and were told to come back earlier in the morning when it would be more calm. So we came back around 7am the day before we left and got into the water as we normally would, right after we got out there and put our flippers on, several 5 to 6 foot waves began to hit us. This threw both of us about pretty severly. My wife ended up going to a local doctor for several cuts and abrasions (this was just from the sand on the beach!!) along with a huge burse on her hip, and twisted muscles in her leg. There is another beach called Ulea or something like that further north that is suppose to be much calmer and have more fish (we only saw a few the first day we went out).

Just as a tip for eating out in the area, we ate at two very outstanding restaurants, the first is called the SeaWatch restaurant, which is located at a golf course near there and has unbelievable views and great food along with very good service (breakfast was about $10-$12 per person dinner was a lot more, $20-40 per person). The second was at Big Wave cafe in Kehei. This is not a fancy place as it is in a strip mall. However since they have 2 for 1 pricing from 5 - 6:30 PM, it did not really matter. I had macadamia nut crusted Mahi-Mahi (normally $24) and my wife had a steak (normally $22). Both meals came with salads and bread. Everything here came to around $35 after the tip!!!


The road to Hana is beautiful but long, you will see shirts that read “I survived the road to Hana” there is a reason for these, it is nerve racking. I would highly suggest if you do it, get a hotel down there, then drive back the next day and see it all over. We left around 7am and got back at the prince around 11pm (there is a lot to see along the road which is the point to going). Also, I have personally seen the signs, you cannot get all the way around the south side of the island, and earthquake in 2006 took out several bridges.

Overall we really did like the hotel, even if it was not as nice as the one in Honolulu. This is our third island to visit (Oahu and Kauai) and like most people you develop a favorite. We both loved Maui; however it is not lush and green like Oahu and Kauai. We decided that with all Oahu offers to see and do this it is still our favorite.

We were here 3 nights, as part of a 3 island, 25 year anniversary. We were overwhelmed, from the moment we drove up it was like they knew were driving up. We were immediately met by a lady comming up to my side of the car, and a man at my wife's side, to present us with shell leis, and another person wanting to get our bags, and yet another wanting to park our car. This was all complimentry, although I did tip the bellman for bringing up our luggage. The grounds, and lobby of the hotel are absolutely (as my wife exclaimed) AWSOME!!! It far exceeded my expectations, (I had a few reservations after reading some reviews about mold, remoteness, etc.). We had a partial ocean view, king bed. It overlooked the luau sight. We were not there during any luau nights, but saw a wedding Sat. night, right below us, which was cool. I have to say the bed was stacked wth pillows, and like sleeping on a cloud, we wanted to take it home. You "extra firm mattress" sleepers wouldn't like it. There were always lots of very friendly staff around, to answer questions. Pictures don't begin to do justice to the grounds. All I can say is WOW!!!! I might say we didn't see any signs of mold, (and my wife is very sensative to allergens). We also saw several couples young and older, celebrating marriages/anniversaries. Kihei is only 15 min, away, and loaded with shopping, eating, beaches, etc. We ate at Antonios(itialian) and Peggy Sue's (hamburgers), great. We got breakfast goodies at Safeway store, (open 24 hrs.) and had breakfast ou our lani, each morning. Hilo Hatties is also right next to Safeway. Most of the big events are at Lahaina, which is less than hour away, but the drive is so beautiful you won't mind a bit. The beach at the hotel was also the best. I dare say this was the best hotel experience I have EVER had.

The Maui Prince Hotel is such a great place to stay. Our room was very clean. Housekeeping was great. Refrigerator and safe in room had no problems. No AC problems either. Oceanview room on the third floor. The breakfast buffet at Cafe Kiowai was perfect. Attentive waiter and hot, fresh, new food. Ate there 4 times that week. Great snorkeling at the hotel's beach. Great location also. The "posh" Wailea is only 5 mins. away and Kihei is only 10-15 mins away. Kihei is where you will find restaurants/shopping/grocery. We were so pleased with the Maui Prince. Such a beautiful hotel. Great Value! May 21-28.