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Royal Lahaina Resort
(800) 222-5642 or (808) 661-3611

516 rooms, 3 pools, spa, 10 tennis courts (4 lighted) and a stadium court (screaming fans extra), room service, lu'au. This 27 acre resort is owned by the Pleasant Hawaiian Holiday folks, whose resorts are not generally known for their poshness. But this one is better than most of their properties. The rooms consist of cottages, an older 3-story Royal Hale "Tower", and the real Tower called the Lahaina Kai. Of the three, you're best off at the cottages. Royal Hale "Tower" (aka Royal Ocean Hale) has their cheapest rooms, and for good reason. It's drearier, and since it's next to the lu'au grounds, you get to hear it every single night! Of the oceanfront cottages, only Buildings E & F are worth the upgrade price as the others have more blocked views. The cottages are two story buildings with the upstairs units having almost a compete kitchen. Upstairs units also have a lanai though you'll almost certainly never sit there. In a bizarre design they face away from the ocean and have a cooped up feel. For some reason it reminds one of the smoking rooms you walk by at airports. Who would ever want to spend time in one?


You do feel a little nickel and dimed here. For instance, parking is $9 per day, local calls and 800 numbers are an extra buck. Fortunately they stopped making you pay for towels at the pool. You can pay a $12 per day resort fee to absorb these. There are two dining choices. Royal Scoop is the ice cream, sandwich and pizza place which has so-so pizzas you can take back to your room (or they'll deliver). Breakfast buffets are at the Royal Ocean Terrace. And sometimes there's a poolside bar called Made in the Shade with burgers and such.


The wedding gazebo has a nice touch. Each couple married there has a tile with their names on it placed around the building. (We didn't see any holes in the tile so presumably no divorced couples have returned to tear their tile up.)


Their spa (jacuzzi) is oddly located in the back of the property, far from the ocean. Most rooms have microscopic bath tubs, really a glorified shower pan. Most rooms are 325 to 394 sq. ft.; certainly not spacious.


We sound like we're picking it apart, don't we? Actually we don't mean to. It's on heavenly Ka'anapali Beach. In fact Royal Lahaina can be a pretty good place to stay and shouldn't be compared to the other Ka'anapali resorts because, frankly, you're not going to be paying the same. The rack rates listed below are useless and shouldn't scare you off. For instance, the oceanfront tower room lists for a laughable $460, but packages though Pleasant and others will probably bring you the room for $260. And so it is with other rooms here. Rack rates are $320-$460 for the towers, $390-$500 for the cottages, suites are $560-$700.

(Aston) Maui Ka‘anapali Villas
(800) 922-7866 or (808) 667-7791

250 units, 2 pools and a keiki pool, air conditioning, daily maid service, restaurant, coin-op laundry room. On 11 acres of land, the 5 buildings have poor views but are nicely furnished. The Dolphin and Emerald buildings are the most popular but they rightfully refer to them as "ocean side" instead of "ocean view." Some other resorts would call them "ocean view" even though the ocean isn't visible from the ground floor. So kudos to these guys for being honest. The ground level 2/2s are spacious and nicely laid out, albeit at a wallet-choking price. There are no ground level 1/1s. Low rise 2nd story 1/1s have loft-type bedrooms with reduced bedroom privacy. Grounds are fairly quiet and their beach, next to Kahekili Beach Park, is an excellent swimming beach. Like most Aston resorts, rack rates are ridiculously overpriced, but most people get these rooms as part of a package at a much-reduced rate. Simple hotel-type rooms are $160-$220, Studios are $225-$395, 1/1s are $285-$475, 2/2 suites are $490-$600 and have absolutely no view. The latter are very nice--but nowhere near $490 worth of nice.