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.

One can tell that this used to be a special place. But now the construction crews are roaming around and corridors here and there are closed for repair. The wheels of the housekeeping carts rumble loudly early in the AM on the tile floors. The food is ultra expensive (even for HI standards) and run of the mill. Feels like a Vegas hotel (one in need of a few million $ in upgrades) planted in a pristine spot.

We were there for an awards trip and the lobby bar closed before 12 each night. When it was open, we found the informative and friendly help there the highlight of the stay. Other staff couldn't be bothered, for the most part. Upon arrival after a terrible delay en route the bellman asked "do you really need help with your bags?"

Would never pay to stay there when the outstanding Four Seasons is just up the road - a bit higher in rates for Ocean view rooms.

The Grand Wailea Resort was not one of our first choices for Maui. We stayed on previous trips up in Ka'napali and Honokawai, and as Hilton Honors Diamond members, we were somewhat surprised by the lack of anything Hilton except for the GWR as a choice. But as it was the only choice for Maui if you wanted to use points, we considered it. After seeing that it was a Waldorf-Astoria collection, we decided 70K points a night was ridiculous and we started looking at various options. As we were sorting through the condos in South Maui, Hilton popped up with a 50K for 5 night special on the internet and we jumped at it with a couple of paid days added on to round out our week.

But as I was suspicious of all things related to award travel, I contacted the Hotel directly and talked to the reservations manager and discussed the need to link the award with the paid and asked to assure we didn't have to move. When we arrived, we were treated to prompt and courteous valet staff, a lei greeting, and a simple and flawless check in. As the points stay did not guarantee room "View" we assumed the worst, but on check in the staff said they had upgraded us to full ocean view if we didn't mind the older wing. We didn't and the room itself, although aged, was clean and very quiet with a great view of Molokini and Kaho'olowe.

The grounds of the Grand Wailea were meticulously kept, but some of the things we found annoying were carts running around at 6:00 AM, clanking tools on the carts, and the construction noise although minor from the building in front of us. But you couldn't fault the staff as they really tried to keep the place well maintained, despite the fact that the GWR is showing her age. But it does so gracefully.

The pools were nice, but the kids/activities pools were way too crowded and busy for adults like us and the adult pool is really very boring but has nice tanning areas with uncrowded lounge chairs. Very average, but with the Wailea beach 100 yards away, who can complain?

But there were downsides. One of the really annoying aspects of the pool complex is having to walk down to the activities pool to get towels and a ridiculous little plastic wrist band to show we are guests before we could just lay around at the adult pool. For a place this size, a towel area up at the adult pool wouldn't be asking too much. I understand the issues, but maybe even a gate with a room key access and an attendant would be a bit more classy? But it was nice to be able to use the pools at night and the evening swims were so relaxing a way to bring a close to the day.

The Wailea beach is stunning. Not that great for snorkeling, but for just being lazy, walking at night, splashing about, etc. it was fantastic. Beautiful sand and water, and even when there are a lot of people on it, never really seems crowded.
There was also excellent snorkeling was just a mile or two to the South at Polo, White Rock, Po'oulenalena, and off Secret Cove.
The Makeena area was really nice as well. Going north, Keawakapu beach is spendid to be on, but not much for snorkeling. But for a view without having to go north so far as the three Kama's where obviously you get quite a lot of local crowds, it was a very nice locale.

For food, Kihei had several nice local places of every food type and many small local bars. But for the resort, the coffee shop is very limited for those that just want a light continental, and the atmosphere and quality wasn't better than your local Hampton Inn's free breakfast, but unlike your local Hampton, you pay for this one. The Molokini Bistro was pretty lousy with high prices and very mediocre food. The view and atmosphere wasn't much and the whole experience was not memorable at all.
However, Humu's was much better than most of the reviews had led us to believe it would be and the view, atmosphere, staff, and food were all excellent. And it helped that the hotel management gave Honors Gold and Diamond members a 40.00 credit. There were really no complaints from our one dinner there (we aren't into big dining, so we went to local places in Kihei, the old Lahaina Luau, and both the two main restaurants in the GWR. We didn't try the Sushi Restaurant.

One of our main complaints was the guest free parking. The valet was efficient, but with drop and pick tips and a ridiculous 20.00 a day fee, for those like us who come and go all day, the valet wasn't an option and even if you disregard the economics related to using it, just too much of a pain. But the parking was ridiciuously difficult until night. The employees apparently can share the free parking structure, but guests can't share the employee parking. So in the day, you grab whatever you can, and many times there are NO parking places at all. This is atrocious and needs to be fixed. They had half the top level blocked off for line painting while guests had no area to park in. We fought it every day, figured out the patterns, and adjusted our activities to come in after the 7-3 shift was leaving. The walk in, with a bottle of wine, water, and other miscellaneous items assured us our caloric intake would not be an issue during our stay as you had quite a little hike from the south end of the complex up to the Molokini Wing.

But in a nutshell, our complaints were limited, we definitely enjoyed the stay and would go back again. The run down wing we were in is slated to be remodeled and that will be a good thing. But the conditions were very clean, comfortable, and our maid (Lolita) was meticulous. She even ordered our shoes as between my wife and I we probably had 10-12 pairs (mostly hers) laying about. She would have them perfectly lined up, our flowers on the bed, and everything perfect each day. The tip was generous, but sometimes we felt guilty because of her attentions.

Very friendly staff, beautiful place, fantastic beach. Tough to be too critical even though the GWR may be past it's prime it is still the real deal.

I won a trip to this place. It was full of big corporate type. If that is your scene, this is for you. It's very nice! It is also enormous! Great setting and everything you can possibly expect.

They missed nothing.