AA Novice

Just got back from a six night stay here. There is not one negative thing I can say about this property. If one can get the time off this is the time to head to Maui. The tourist traffic is way down and there are no crowds anywhere. The staff was extra friendly and helpful in every way. I never encountered anyone that was working here that didn't greet us with a smile and a genuine aloha. Had a deluxe ocean front room in the Hale Moana section and you will get your walking in just making your way back and forth to the lobby area. We could watch whales anytime of the day from our lanai. Would highly recommend this property to anyone heading to Maui.

AA Novice

Also wanted to say they only charged us $20.83 resort fee and not the listed $25.00+ tax.

KSinNYC

Hi. For those of you who have stayed at the Sheraton Maui before, perhaps you can help. We'll be staying at the Sheraton for 8 days and are trying to figure out if we should rent a car.

1. Do you need a car? Some days we'll chill by the pool and have dinner at the hotel, some days we'll want to explore the sights and get out for dinner.

2. Is there a parking charge? Is it a daily rate, and if so, what is the rate? If we leave the car parked for 2-3 days, do we save anything on the parking?

3. Is it possible to rent a car on site at the hotel, and are the rates competitive?

4. Are we better off renting somewhere else or using taxis?

Thanks a lot!

bbbb

If you are flying into OGG you will need a car. If you fly into JHM you could get a cheap cab. Not sure if the Sheraton has a rental desk but I know the Hyatt does and is a short walk.


Our daily resort charge program is $25.00 plus tax, per room, per night. This charge will be automatically billed to your guestroom account and is subject to change. As a result of this program, you will enjoy the following benefits:

Unlimited high-speed internet access in guest rooms
Unlimited wireless high-speed internet access in lobby and poolside
First night valet and self-parking thereafter
Unlimited local telephone calls (on-island)
Toll-free telephone call access up to 60 minutes
Starwood Maui scheduled shuttle service to Westin Maui Resort & Spa, Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas, and downtown Lahaina
Kaanapali Resort scheduled shuttle service to Kaanapali Golf Clubhouse, Whaler's Village Shopping Center, Kaanapali resorts and hotels, and The Fairway Shops at Kaanapali
Cultural activities such as hula lessons, lei making, and coconut weaving
Yoga and Pilates classes
Kids 12 and under eat free with a paying adult off a kid's menu at select restaurants on property.

MHTFlyer

We just got back from 10 days in Maui - 6 of them at the Westin Villas (will post separately on this). We stayed at the Sheraton in 2007 for 5 days and loved it so went back on our last night to have drinks and watch the sunset ceremony. We were very sad to see that due to their occupancy rate being so low (bartender told us they were at 60% over spring break vs. 90% a year ago), they no longer have the dancers. They do have live music and the guy still lights the torches and makes the jump from Black Rock, but it's not the same. Totally understandable, but still disappointing. Interestingly, the Westin Villas were very busy, but it was clear from the lack of crowds at Whalers and in the restaurants (shortest wait ever for Hula Grill and Leilani's) that hotel tourism is way off.

KSinNYC

Sorry to hear that about the dancers and the low occupancy rate. It seems like tourism is hurting everywhere, especially in places that require an expensive/long plane ride. Looking at the glass as half-full... maybe this means we're more likely to get an upgraded room (we booked the regular SPG free nights award).

Thanks bbbb for the T&C info.

And thanks mods for merging this into the existing thread. I knew there was one, but was having a hard time finding it.

edscholl

i'd get a car; we rented a cheap car (little toyota yaris) for something like $80total for a week (from budget iirc) last year because we knew we'd want to be rolling around the island here and there. parking is included in the resort fee.

there's also a shuttle that runs from the hotel into lahaina, but it doesn't run that late. we did that a couple nights when we were going to be doing a bit (ok, a lot) of drinking, and took a taxi back to the hotel.

adam34space

I will be in Maui for 3 nights and I was thinking about using some points and doing the C&P option. It comes out to about $390 - including resort fees and taxes for three nights plus 14,400 points. I wanted to make this trip as cheap as possible but it seems like alot of points when the room rate is $240/night about $860 total.

I can stay at the Royal Lahaina which is next door for about $500 for the three nights.

Is this a waste of points? Has anyone stayed at the towers at the Royal Lahaina, is it worth to just save the points and pay $500 for the Lahaina?

Boraxo

You are comparing the equivalent of high-grade Four Points with a Sheraton Resort with luxury that exceeds many Westin properties. Consider also the excellent location of the Sheraton (RL, particularly beach, is inferior).

If you are just there for business, then maybe it doesn't matter. But for relaxing at the pool or beach it would be an easy choice - Sheraton.

BlissWorld

Uhmm, I wouldn't go that far. It's still a Sheraton, with old decors. There is no way it exceeds any Westin in anyway IMO. A standard studio at Westin Maui villa beats the Sheraton hands down and around the corner.

adam34space

Overall, is it a good value using the C&P?

KSinNYC

FYI... this sounds great, but in reality the fact that the hotel has wireless access means that you need to bring your own computer in order to get ANY sort of internet access. There is a computer in the hotel lobby, but you can ONLY get to airline websites (so you can print your boarding pass). I find it incredible that if you don't bring your own computer you will not be able to get internet access. There is no business center. The concierge will not let you use their computer (which I understand). When I asked about internet access without having one's own computer, I was told that most guests bring their computer. To Hawaii? On vacation? I think this is a terrible policy.

My 2 other complaints about the hotel:

The lame $12 Friday night pupu platter. For $12 per person you got cheddar cheese, crackers, frozen egg rolls and frozen chicken strips with some teriyaki dipping sauce from the bottle.

The snorkel rental prices are pretty steep. For people who have never snorkeled before, it will cost you $8 (a 1 hour rental) to rent snorkel equipment and jump in the pool to see if you like it. I asked if we could try it out for 10 minutes and got some story about "no, we have to charge you because if we don't charge you we become liable." (btw, we ended up renting equipment for a week, so we were actually good customers, but it was a very poor first impression).

What I liked about the hotel - the location was excellent, they handed out fresh pineapple at the pool in the afternoons, one of the concierges made some great restaurant recommendations, and there was always space at the pool.

tvelinsk

We just checked in for a 7 night reward stay last night. We received a snail mail letter last week from "Phil, our pesonal Vacation Services Coordinator" welcoming us for our stay, so we emailed him, having him tell the front desk that if we get a complimentary upgrade (Mom is Platinum), we would rather have a larger room than a better view. When we arrived we found we had been upgraded to a family suite! Two double beds plus a third as a murphy bed in the livingroom, double-length lanai, giant bathroom with a suprisingly small amount of storage space, and a livingroom that can be shut off from the bedroom with sliding doors. The room is in building 1 facing the "Ocean Lawn" and the ocean beyond, and is exceedingly close to the lobby and to the pools. One bad thing for those who travel without earplugs is that there are activities that go on in the Ocean Lawn area into the night that were clearly audible from our room. Luckily we are all stocked up on earplugs, so not an issue for us. Inside the room I can occasionally see the wireless network from around the pool, but not long enough to connect. I will have to try on the lanai. The wired internet works fine, but only one person can use that at a time. There was already an Ethernet cable connected - no need to bring your own.

Another thing I haven't seen mentioned is that they still use the old-fashioned mini coffee pots instead of the new-fangled single cup pod type that everybody seems to be moving to. The old style pot will be better for us since I brought my french press to use with Kona coffee purchased here, and Mom is a tea drinker. Much easier to get hot water out of the old style coffee machines.

TTT103

The Sheraton is definitely the better location if you intend to venture into the ocean (black rock snorkeling). The Westin tends to attrack more families, as their pool areas is superior; however, the Westin reminds me of something that could be had in southbeach. No need to fly to Hawaii for that.

In terms of the Sheraton, it's a very nice property, but nothing to write home to mother about.

slippahs

At that price, one might be better off stopping by Costco (if flying into OGG) and purchasing snorkel equipment. They have a US Diver's set that's $60 IIRC.