I have stayed at the Westin (in various incarnations from the Surf to the now Westin) about 10 times. In addition, we have stayed at the Marriott, Sheraton and 38 years ago, with my parents at the Kaanapali Beach Hotel. This was my 22nd trip to Maui.

The Good: The hotel has a wonderful location. The pools are great, especially the adults only area, which is enforced as adults only. We were upgraded to an ocean view room which was really nice. (This was the first time that I hadn't booked an ocean view or ocean front room and I was thrilled that we were upgraded.) The pool also enforced the rule that if you aren't at your lounge chairs after a certain length of time you lose your chair. That made for an easier time of finding chairs when we didn't rent a cabana. True the rooms aren't large but with the view.....who cares? You're in Maui people!

The Average: The front desk personnel were, as a rule, at best curt...and at worst rude. (I went up to the Starwood Perferred desk to ask a question, the woman asked for my room number and said in a nasty tone, "YOU AREN'T a Gold Member...go over there!") I actually think that we are now Gold Members. Even if this were our first trip to a Starwood property and seeing that someone wasn't busy, just asking a question doesn't warrant that response. Check in was very terse. No..Welcome. Yes, it was late evening. In our last half hour at the Westin there was some sort of elevator problem. We heard a bang (which we thought was furniture dropping) and someone began ringing the elevator emergency bell. This was near the checkin desk and a timeshare concierge. Not one desk person looked up from the salespitch. Finally someone from security came and as the ringing continued called into the elevator, "Is someone in there?" No...it's a poltergeist in trouble. We had to leave for the airport so I don't know the final outcome. I'm sure that the person or people got out...but for the desk people to not stop their salespitch for a second....very bad. And, see later:

The Excellent: The pool and the pool staff. The cabanas are a wonderful splurge and the people who take care of you there are great. And on the days when we didn't have a cabana all the staff was friendly and helpful. Linda, our personal concierge, was terrific. She "got" us right away, found us an extra day in the cabana and just made sure that our stay was great. She didn't push, just made suggestions. I hope that she will be be our concierge again.

The Really Bad: July 4th is a very difficult day for a resort area. It was strongly suggested that visitors do not drive into Lahaina as if it closed to traffic on Front Street. But the hotel offered free shuttles into and out of Lahaina. We stood outside waiting for the shuttle, came 15 minutes early...and the shuttle didn't show up for 45 minutes. We gave up and took a cab into Lahaina. After dinner we went to Hilo Hattie the designated pick up spot. There was a huge line. (I have seen other trams/trolleys/shuttles pick up here as well). Suddenly a Westin bus pulled up in front of me...opened the door and the driver asked if I was staying at the Westin. I said yes (thinking that many other hotels, trolleys etc. were coming and he was trying to find Westin only guests) and took a half step toward the bus. My daughter saw people start to storm the bus she grabbed me and we stepped back. Fast. It seems that this was only a Westin pick up...and those who had waited for a long time, including someone in a wheelchair were denied their rightful place. My family backed up and out of the area as a near riot broke out with booing and younger men trying to storm the bus. We took a cab back to the hotel. I reported the incident (as did a few other people) but never heard back. Really bad planning and training.

We did have a wonderful vacation. The Westin's place on the beach and its proximity to Whaler's village is terrific. The rooms, which I heard are being refurbished are really ok..not Four Seasons but certainly fine. You are paying for the beach, the pool and if you are lucky enough to have a terrific concierge as we had in Linda who made good suggestions of new things to do even for us old timers,,you will enjoy the Westin.

After reading many TripAdvisor reviews and speaking with friends who own a time share unit in Maui, we decided on the Westin hotel for our summer vacation from Kansas City. We felt that Kaanapali would be the best location in Maui for the kids and I think they were right.

The hotel grounds and lobby are beautiful and well-tended although they could use more trash cans around the pool areas. The pools were clean and warm with a water slide and waterfalls that the kids really enjoyed. The beach is directly next to the pool area and was great for swimming and playing. The surf was very low in front of the Westin but was better for bodysurfing down near the Marriott Ocean Club. Good service around the pools and they do make an attempt to prevent people from reserving all the lounge chairs first thing in the morning by flagging those chairs left unattended for more than 30 minutes. Still, it was very crowded when we were there and hard to find chairs near any shade throughout the day.

The hotel room was pretty small but was clean and well maintained. Tight quarters with 2 double beds for 2 adults and our 13 and 11 yr old. Our "partial ocean view" room had a great view of the pools and beach though the patio was too hot in the afternoon to sit outside during cocktail hour.

We did not eat many meals at the Westin since the prices seemed very high (even for Hawaii) and we had a few dinners at the next-door shopping area of Whaler's Village as well as in the town of Lahaina. The upstairs/fine dining parts of Leilani's and the Hula Grill both impressed us with great fish dishes and were much better than the beachside/bar food parts of each restaurant. There is also a food court (think delisandwiches and Panda Express) which were convenient for cheaper meals for the kids who are not fish fans.

I really think you must rent a car to appreciate all of Maui and also to get to Lahaina for dinner/strolling/shopping. It's only about a 10 minute car ride. There is also a Safeway supermarket on the way which came in handy for breakfast and lunch items for the hotel room instead of spending $100 for the breakfast buffet every morning.

We stayed for 9 nights and stayed busy the whole time. We drove to the Haaleakala crater for sunrise one morning, took a Molokini snorkel trip aboard the Maui Magic (great crew, BBQ lunch and snorkeling), parasailed with UFO tours (sign up on the beach in front of the Westin) and golfed in Kaanapali (across the street from the hotel) and on the nearby island of Lanai at the Manele Bay course(accessed by 45 minute ferry ride).

Dining in Lahaina was great at Kimo's and the Mai Tai Lounge (try to sit upstairs at one of their lounge tables at sunset).Also recommend Mama's Fishhouse on the north side of the island for dinner as well as the Paia fish market which we visited on our last day since it was closer to the airport. Tried Maui Tacos once but we were not impressed.

We purchased snorkel gear and boogie boards at home and brought them with us to avoid high rental costs. I'm told you can also buy these at the Costco near the airport but we were not members.

The only complaints about the trip are the crazy jet lag returning to the midwest (5 hr time difference), the high cost of everything in Hawaii and the too-close-for-comfort feeling of living with 4 people in 1 hotel room for 9 days. Fortunately we were so impressed with the Westin and Maui that we purchased a week in their villa property just north of the hotel so we'll have plenty of room for the next time we say Aloha, Maui.

We stayed at the hotel for 3 nights in early May. The hotel was wonderful. We booked hour hotel though hotwire so we got a great deal. When we arrived we paid and upgraded our room to an ocean view and it was well worth it. We had a spectacular view of the ocean and the pools. We had the pools almost all to ourselves. The bathroom was a little small, but that was the only problem with the room. The only downside to the hotel is the parking. They have parking included in the resort fee, but the parking lot was full most of the time when we would return from dinner. The valet would park your car free of charge, but then I would feel obligated to tip. The staff was very friendly. Overall it was an amazing hotel.

The positives: Wonderful grounds, pool and beach. Nice location next to Whaler's Village for shops and restaurants. BUT: This Westin has serious customer service delivery issues. Our AC didn't work and we reported it at 4 p.m. after check in. After calling back again, the engineers finally showed up at 11 p.m. after we went to bed. They had to get into the ceiling and replace the condenser. We also requested a rollaway at checkin that took 8 hours to be delivered. The rooms are VERY small - no closet (armoire only) and very few dresser drawers. Both rooms need a "deep clean" - especially the drapes which are a light color and have been stained and appear filthy. We traveled with 2 teenagers and after one night ended up getting a second room. We also had an issue at the restaurant. They had signs advertising a special July 4th meal. When we ordered it, we were told it ended 2 hours before - they had just neglected to take down the advertising. While there are some positives here, you can do far better at the Marriott or Hyatt. Westin needs to do a serious quality control review at this property to protect their brand's reputation.