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We checked into a 1 bedroom unit 3018 on August 27, 2006. Billed as ‘ocean view,’ there was a view of the ocean from the very narrow lanai. But a better view of the parking lot below and several cargo sized dumpsters being utilized for the ‘soft goods’ replacement. We were not on the side facing the current construction of the new Lahaina Villas, but next year construction will begin on this side.
Our unit was fine, nothing special (at least not after the newly renovated unit at the Embassy), but big enough. The master bedroom was bigger than the Embassy master, but the bath was smaller and had no Jacuzzi (but there were two full baths). Same useless kitchen as Embassy except the fridge is a mini fridge (microwave, toaster, coffemaker, minifridge). Two baths helped since there were four of us. There are only 20 rollaways available at the resort, and they cannot be requested in advance. Since we were already on Maui, I arrived early and was lucky to get a rollaway (no charge). Our room was ready even though it was only 9:30 am. It was stuffy and smelled of mildew. I was told the resort was full and we couldn’t be moved, but they changed the air filter and sprayed a lot of some chemical, which helped. It wasn’t too bad, so we managed. We were told we were lucky we weren’t on the construction side, but we got woken up several mornings by noise of moving palettes to/from the dumpsters below, etc… Once the Lahaina side is done, they will move on to this side, not projected to be finished until 2009.
The resort itself is very nice, the pool sort of meanders through the center of the property and has a lot of nice water fall features. There is a separate ‘kiddie pool’ area so you can keep an eye on your little ones without them getting lost, but for bigger kids that want to use the rest of the pool they can easily get out of sight. My kids loved the waterslide here, but it closes at 5 pm (the pool area closes at 9 pm). There are two hot tubs. Although the resort is very large, it is so tastefully landscaped and designed that it doesn't feel big. We were there a week or so after prime summer ended, so it's hard to say how crowded it might feel during peak time, but it was very nice and uncrowded feeling while we were there. Since they were fully booked, I imagine it wouldn't change much, though there'd probably be more kids at the pool during July and earlier in August.
We didn’t eat at the main restaurant, but the sushi place was good (we liked Sansei better, but the Marriott place is not a ‘scene,’ and is convenient). We found the beach grill at the Market Place marginal and pricey.
The beach was very narrow in front of the Marriott when we were there. Also the bottom was very rocky. It was good for surfing (though my son hurt his knee on a rock when he fell, but for swimming/body surfing/boogie boarding, it was better in front of the condos next door and best in front of the Westin Hotel (two resorts down).
The walk from the Marriott to Whaler’s Village isn't too bad, my son went a few times. We found Ka’anapali Beach to be quite commercial, but it is big and beautiful so never felt overly crowded (though the boardwalk at night can get busy).
We did the ‘tour’ of the new fixed price units in the Lahaina building. Low key. The new units are going to be really gorgeous, and the technology they have to show them is pretty impressive (you can click on a unit and see the view it will have, even though they aren’t built yet.) The building currently under construction is being sold as fixed unit/fixed weeks, starting around $55K for the time being. The building going up next will be sold as floating time.
Our unit was fine, nothing special (at least not after the newly renovated unit at the Embassy), but big enough. The master bedroom was bigger than the Embassy master, but the bath was smaller and had no Jacuzzi (but there were two full baths). Same useless kitchen as Embassy except the fridge is a mini fridge (microwave, toaster, coffemaker, minifridge). Two baths helped since there were four of us. There are only 20 rollaways available at the resort, and they cannot be requested in advance. Since we were already on Maui, I arrived early and was lucky to get a rollaway (no charge). Our room was ready even though it was only 9:30 am. It was stuffy and smelled of mildew. I was told the resort was full and we couldn’t be moved, but they changed the air filter and sprayed a lot of some chemical, which helped. It wasn’t too bad, so we managed. We were told we were lucky we weren’t on the construction side, but we got woken up several mornings by noise of moving palettes to/from the dumpsters below, etc… Once the Lahaina side is done, they will move on to this side, not projected to be finished until 2009.
The resort itself is very nice, the pool sort of meanders through the center of the property and has a lot of nice water fall features. There is a separate ‘kiddie pool’ area so you can keep an eye on your little ones without them getting lost, but for bigger kids that want to use the rest of the pool they can easily get out of sight. My kids loved the waterslide here, but it closes at 5 pm (the pool area closes at 9 pm). There are two hot tubs. Although the resort is very large, it is so tastefully landscaped and designed that it doesn't feel big. We were there a week or so after prime summer ended, so it's hard to say how crowded it might feel during peak time, but it was very nice and uncrowded feeling while we were there. Since they were fully booked, I imagine it wouldn't change much, though there'd probably be more kids at the pool during July and earlier in August.
We didn’t eat at the main restaurant, but the sushi place was good (we liked Sansei better, but the Marriott place is not a ‘scene,’ and is convenient). We found the beach grill at the Market Place marginal and pricey.
The beach was very narrow in front of the Marriott when we were there. Also the bottom was very rocky. It was good for surfing (though my son hurt his knee on a rock when he fell, but for swimming/body surfing/boogie boarding, it was better in front of the condos next door and best in front of the Westin Hotel (two resorts down).
The walk from the Marriott to Whaler’s Village isn't too bad, my son went a few times. We found Ka’anapali Beach to be quite commercial, but it is big and beautiful so never felt overly crowded (though the boardwalk at night can get busy).
We did the ‘tour’ of the new fixed price units in the Lahaina building. Low key. The new units are going to be really gorgeous, and the technology they have to show them is pretty impressive (you can click on a unit and see the view it will have, even though they aren’t built yet.) The building currently under construction is being sold as fixed unit/fixed weeks, starting around $55K for the time being. The building going up next will be sold as floating time.
A unit that smells of mildew would put me off immediately as I hate that smell just like cigarette smoke but there is no excuse for having a musty smell in a unit. Also, that they can call a condo "ocean view" but you only get a sliver of a view with the main view on a dumpster would really put a damper on our vacation, especially if we had been looking forward so long to an ocean view. View means everything to us when we are staying at the beach.
Thank goodness, you were too busy sight-seeing so the dumpster view may not have bothered you as much as it would have bothered us but the mildew smell is inexcusable.
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