AZ Travels the World

William, this would be a lot more fun if you wouldn't insist upon clouding the issue with facts.

Starwood owned or not, there are no doubt still brand standards for Luxury Collection properties that hotels must live up to. I have to believe that wherever the "unacceptable" line is drawn, in terms of the quality of the rooms & furnishings, in particular, Kapalua has to be very close to it.

Starwood Lurker

No argument there. There are Luxury Collection standards and some hotels have lost theirs because they let things go for too long. The Hotel Grande Bretagne in Athens is one that comes to mind. However, it can be regained once improvements are made. They are excellent proof of that.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

[This message has been edited by Starwood Lurker (edited 09-19-2003).]

iggyv

My wife and I stayed at Kapalua in February on a five-night award. Initially we were given an ocean-view room and two days into the stay we were moved after one of the few suites they have opened up (SPG Plat). When I requested the minibar be cleared so we could store our own refreshments, they brought in a refrigerator. We expected to be charged for valet parking; we were not! We had a wonderful Sunday brunch and were seated up front with a spectacular view of the gardens. Unexpected were the tasty snacks every night and the little decorative fish pins left by the maid.

We filled out their customer satisfaction survey with some constructive criticism regarding furnishings and a few months later received a nice thank you note together with a one-year extension to our Conde Naste Traveler subscription.

As far as we're concerned this is a first class property, run by an attentive staff. The place is just in need of a bit of TLC.

kindra178

William or anyone else who may know:

Do you know if the Stay at One, Play at All Program will be offered in 2004? I am going to the KBH in January and would love for this program to be in effect. If yes, do you know if there is a shuttle between and amongst the three?

This is what the KBH website states, which makes me think it's ending in 2003:

The “Stay At One, Play At All” program will be offered throughout 2003 with no black-out dates."

f00sion

not sure about the stay and play in 2004 but there is a bus that stops at kapalua and will take you to kaanapali or on down to lahaina..i think its $2 or $3.

Starwood Lurker

"Stay At One, Play At All" is an ongoing program, first delivered by the Waikiki hotels and then expanded to include Maui this last January. As far as anyone at Starwood knows, it is very popular and will not be discontinued at the end of the year.

There is no complimentary shuttle service between the hotels, however.

Sincerely,

William R. Sanders
Customer Service Coordinator
Starwood Preferred Services

[email protected]

svenskaflicka

There is a shuttle to Whalers Village for two dollars each way. The first pickup from Kapalua Bay Hotel is at 9:05 am and runs each way every hour except for lunch, which is from 1:00-2:00 pm. Your driver will either be Don or George. They are two wonderful men. We call George Baha because even if the shuttle is running a bit late (Maui time) he will get you back to your hotel on time. Don will take his time telling a two minute story in about 30 minutes, but that what makes him so much fun.

spellbound2

Has anyone stayed here recently? Have the rooms been refurbished in the past year? I am very hesitant to stay here again, and if I know that it has not been updated, I will certainly stay at the Westin Maui. We're going to stay at the Moana Surfrider and Manele Bay as well, and I think the Moana has been renovating and the reviews on Manele Bay are all positive. We are going in late Feb. for 1-2 weeks.

kindra178

I am going in a couple of weeks so I will post a trip report.

jes999

I stayed there in October and the rooms did not appear to be renovated. They were painting one room at a time but I would not consider that anything but maitenance.

Kapalua Bay is an old hotel in desperate need of a total refurb. Beds were awful!
It is difficult to understand how it has kept it's Luxury Collection status. I would not mention it in the same breath as the Lanai properties or the former LuxCol Orchid at Mauna Lani. Unless you go in with very low expectations, you will be disappointed.

I was there on a paid stay and had booked a relatively cheap room category. As a Platinum they upgraded me to an oceanview room. It was OK, but nothing special. Way back from the water. Just up the stairs and a few rooms down from the lobby. When I spoke to the front desk about it they said "We already upgraded you three ctaegories. That's the best you are going to get!" They did put an appetizer in the room every night. I assume it was their Platinum amenity.

If you want to stay at Kapalua, definitely go with the RC. We had a wonderful stay their several years ago. Only complaints were that it is a little formal for a resort hotel and the beach is not good for swimming. (You can take a shuttle over to KBH and use their beach which has great snorkeling.)

To me Maui has just become too developed. Next trip its back to the Big Island.

spellbound2

jes999,

Yes, the Orchid was wonderful- what a loss to Starwood. Thank you for confirming my suspicions. I do not want to go back and realize that I made a huge mistake, but Robert in Platinum Concierge reassured me over and over that they had spent millions on redoing all the rooms and landscaping and had just completed it at the end of last year. This is a special trip for my husband's 35th birthday, and I want it to be very nice, so it looks like I'll have to consider other options. Kind of strange they are saying it's all refurbished on the Plat. line...

kindra178

According to the front desk manager, many rooms received new beds, bedding and other soft goods. The bathrooms too have been apparently redone.

Your post has gotten me really nervous about my upcoming stay.

DJ_Iceman

My data is almost five years old, but my wife and I had a very satisfactory stay there. Either it's gone way downhill in the meantime or these other folks are just more picky than us.

My complaints were lack of a room upgrade as a gold (I paid for oceanfront and was told when asking about an upgrade--I was thinking maybe a junior suite--that I had already paid for a very nice room) and difficulty I had getting room service breakfast included in my "honeymoon package" which sure sounded like room service breakfast was included.

One specific point I'd like to dispute with others--the hotel restaurant was FABULOUS. Pricey, yes, but when you're on Maui (and in Kapalua, for crying out loud) you can't complain about prices when food, service, and ambiance are spectacular.

PremEx

Having just visited there this past August, I'd say that is so. Not just facilities either. Service levels were waaaay down, IMHO. Lots of little things that would have never been allowed to slip through the cracks in the past...were.

I've noticed a slow but steady decline here over the last 7 years, at least. Glad to hear they are finally putting some capital improvements in. But they really need to plus the overall management of the property to get it back up to where it should be and where it used to be back in it's heyday.

If it's your first visit, you may not notice it as much...not being able to compare it to what it was, and also the beauty of the area somewhat overshadowing many of it's flaws.

fljbrs

I had a wonderful stay at Kapalua Bay this summer. Rooms, and bathrooms were VERY comfortable from my point of view, and we received very good service (a nice pin on the bed, different each night; a different free amenity ech night, usually some food).

I cannot understand what some people see wrong about the furniture in the rooms. Ours was quite good. And I also like that every room has a sofa and two armchairs. It's almost like if each room were a kind of jr. suite. That's not usually something you find at most hotels. Separate showers are another standard at Kapalua that you cannot find everywhere. And you can reserve your umbrellas or cabanas at the beach without having to wake up early in the morning (you must pay for them, but I prefer it this way).