After months of research on where to stay on Maui, my family and I chose the Grand Wailea and we were completely thrilled. The property is impeccably clean, service was over the top friendly, and the facilities were overwhelming with choices for all members of the family. I would go back in a heartbeat. I did NOT find it to be overcrowded at all. We never waited for any of the pool rides, and we never had any trouble getting a chair around the pool. Yes it's expensive but no more than any other luxury resort. Yes there might be a few peels in the wallpaper but really who cares! It's a gorgeous oceanfront resort with exceptional amenities and great service. If you are worried about peeling wallpaper then you are wasting your time in Hawaii.

Hotel, pools, beach are beautiful. Our room (5081) was clean, spacious w/ ocean view. Resort reminded me of Vegas. The glitz can be overwhelming. For the price you pay though some things should either be included or done differently. As many have said, lack of free internet is ridiculous in this day and age. The cost to use it at hotel is high. By chance we had dinner next door at 4 Seasons and while walking around came across their business center that had several free computers set up for use. only 1 towel service no where near the adult pool or beach is inconvienient. There was a popcorn machine near the towels that charged $8 for a small bag! That should be comp'd. All rental equipment was pretty pricy but flip side is Wailea is a pricey area. Towels are put out early by the pool chairs but since we were more interested in the beach we didnt care that much. beach is nice and we thought snorkeling by reef near 4 seasons to be decent for beach snorkeling (though we thought it better at Little beach were we saw a turtle just off shore). Despite signs that said they would remove towels from unused chairs, we never saw it happening. Sometimes trying to find a chair after going to the beach was hard. Slides were fun but for our needs, too much noise, activity. We dont have young kids so dont need all that. Had dinner last night at Kinchi?, Japanese rest in hotel. Had an early bird sushi special that was quite good. Dinner next door at Duo's in 4 Season's excellent. Had friends who also ate at Spagos and they loved it. Almost any hotel rest entree will be $35+, drinks $12+. Parking was annoying. Only used valet once. Garage was pretty far from our room. For the $20 valet fee I'd rather buy a drink. At nearby Shops at Wailea can get groceries to take to beach or room. Go to ABC store. Bottom line- Beautiful area, more private than perhaps Lahaina or Ka'anapali but if we were to go back there I'd certainly price $ seasons or other area resort first.
ps- did several excursions (Molikini, Haleakala, Hana and hit some beaches which I'd be happy to share via e-mail)

We got our room through a "friends/family" deal and were booked to stay in a mountain view room. We had called ahead to let them know it was our honeymoon which was noted on the record and she immediately congratulated us. As we were checking in, my husband mentioned it was our honeymoon and as he was requesting an upgrade we were politely told that she was looking for a better room for us. She feverishly punched away at the computer and after a few minutes found a fabulous room on the top floor with an ocean view.

The bathroom was huge with a seperate shower and nice big tub. The toilet is in a seperate room and there's plenty of room to get ready in the bathroom. The room was quite large and had a nice lounge chair and a desk in addition to the comfortable bed. The view was amazing!

Service was good all around although we arrived at 10:40am for
breakfast and they were switching to the Sunday Brunch at 11:00am. When we went up to the buffet, there was no one at the omelet station, most of the food was gone, and they were taking away the waffle warmer. We were dissapointed since they said it was open until 11am and told us we could have the buffet. We ordered from the menu instead.

The only bad comment I have about this hotel is the food prices. Everything seemed to be $26+ no matter which restaurant we ate at. However, they have wonderful views, and you can always leave the property if your budget gets blown too quickly.

The resort is over-the-top gorgeous. I was highly impressed and would love to stay here again!

I stayed at the GW for a few nights last summer. We stayed in the Napua Tower (our stay was free due to some connections).

The room in Napua was lovely. Very clean and large. The bathroom was gorgeous and I LOVED the shampoo and conditioner they provided (I actually went and bought some in the little mall). We had turn-down service every night with a little flower and Hawaiin prayer. Breakfast in Napua was provided and it was very good.

The pools are obviously the attraction here and they were amazing. You could spend all day just seeing all of the little nooks and crannies throughout the pools. We felt like kids on the water slides :). One complaint is that they really nickel and dime you with the chaise. A large tented lounge area would set you back hundreds of dollars and even an umbrella on the beach for the day was pricey (I forget the exact price and don't want to mis-speak). Also, there wasn't any internet in the hotel and to use the office space internet was $5 per 5 minutes if I recall correctly. The fact you can stay in a Holiday Inn and get free internet but the GW makes you pay $5 for 5 minutes is a bit ridiculous.

So overall it is a great hotel (at least Napua is!). I think that kids would really enjoy it because of the pools and slides. But I do see where people feel nickel and dimed with the food costs, the chaise costs, the internet costs, and all of the little things that are so often free at much cheaper hotels.

If I were staying at GW for a long stay I would definitely rent a car and eat off the hotel for most dinners. There are some FABULOUS places in Maui that are much less money and that have better ambiance. Plus, there is so much more to Maui than the GW's pools. We met a few families that literally hadn't left the resort in a whole week. And with the amazing hiking and sites to see, that is just a darn shame!!

My bottom line: If you have a family with kids, GW is the way to go. If you are on a romantic honeymoon or getaway with your significant other, I say Four Seasons is best.