Situated 3 mi north of Lahaina and 4 mi south of Kapalua Airport, this remains one of Maui's prime beach resorts, packing an extraordinary amount of fun and fashion into 12 acres.
Consistently updated and blessed with a service-oriented staff, this fine beachfront hotel combines polished accommodations and island-inspired public areas with a vast array of recreational pursuits geared toward families and active individuals. This is a gem for those in awe of big colorful resorts, but Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa and Grand Wailea Resort share the honor of the best big resort on Maui.
A tree-lined drive leads to a wide, well-manned porte cochere and a foyer that brings guests head-on with a spectacular man-made waterfall—an ingenious engineering feat. The undulating facade of the main building contrasts playfully with the dun-color blocks around it—a constant reminder of the streak of frivolity that runs through this place. Like the Hyatt, the hotel has a plethora of impressive large-scale Asian and European art on display, which lends a dramatic Pacific Rim flair.
Constant updating and conscientious maintenance keep the hotel in tip-top shape. Dining options include the hotel's signature dining room, Tropica. All meals are served here, with lavish buffets
offered each morning. A delicious Pacific Rim menu lures gourmands at dinnertime.
Lunch and hearty breakfast buffets are served in OnO Bar & Grill. On a nearby terrace, free variety shows entertain diners. The garden bar is on the beach, and the lounge on the promenade is fun for lagoon-view rendezvous. For those on the go, the popular colonnade bar offers pastries and coffee in the morning and sandwiches at lunch.
This hotel competes nicely with the Grand Wailea and Hyatt for the most elaborate pool complex in the area. It is a thundering display of hydraulics encompassing five heated lagoon-style pools; three are joined by water slides, two are divided by a grotto with waterfalls, and one has a swim-up whirlpool and a winding 128-ft water slide.
The beach, while not as wide as that at the Sheraton, is a pleasant golden swath generally free of coral. The hotel charges a nominal daily fee for beach chairs. The health club has a renovated spa and new gym designed by Reebok. The elaborate spa offers a generous roster of treatments in 16 state-of-the-art chambers. Discounted greens fees at two area golf courses prove tempting to duffers.
The new luau takes an elegant tack, offering up cabaret-style entertainment and family-style dining. Here, guests enjoy an engaging sit-down four-course meal and open bar served amid some of the island's most talented entertainers.
All of the meeting space is equipped with wireless Internet access. The hotel's exceptional indoor and outdoor function space includes a ballroom big enough to handle groups of 1,000 theater-style. A business center offers all of the requisite services. Self-parking is included in the resort fee.
The accommodations here are generally smaller than the Hyatt's, but the decor is more up to date. Westin's Heavenly Beds are at the center of the well-kept guest rooms, where sophisticated contemporary tropical style and high-tech amenities combine with pleasing results. All rooms have small sitting areas with breakfast tables, handsome exotic wood appointments, regional art, and lovely tables and floor lamps.
Newer Beach Tower rooms enjoy flat-screen TVs and MP3 players, along with more modern furnishings and art. These latter units also enjoy larger lanais. The original Ocean Tower rooms have more traditional style and more standard fittings. Standard accoutrements run to TVs, minibars, coffeemakers, irons and ironing boards and furnished 
lanais.
The Heavenly Baths are small but elegant with deluxe toiletries, dual shower heads, magnifying mirrors and hair dryers. Keep in mind that the Ocean Tower rooms offer better views of the pools and the ocean than the rectangular Beach Tower does. Even so, the latter, with its mostly oblique views, is the one to request because its rooms have slightly bigger dimensions and bigger baths.
Oceanfront rooms cost about 40% more than those facing the parking lot. At all costs, avoid the rooms categorized as No View. They are located on the first five or six floors facing the parking lot and entrance.
The resort fee proves value conscious. It packages parking, Internet access, local calls, bottled water and the hourly Lahaina shuttle into the rates. Room service never stops. Pets and smoking are not permitted.
The staff works hard to keep this large resort operating smoothly, even when large groups are in house. This is a good, theatrical resort geared toward active vacationers, especially families.
