I am rating this property based on 13 specific criteria on a 1-10 scale:
1. Overall rating and vibe: 10. Awesome family-friendly resort with great vibes, incredible ocean views, and strong value for your money. Rooms could be renovated to be larger, and have much larger bathrooms and more Hawaii-specific decor, but the public areas, pools, waterslides, and staff here are 10/10!
2. Service: 10. Every single staff member with whom we interacted over our 3 days here showed genuine “Aloha Spirit." While the service is not as intuitive or seamless as the Four Seasons, it is still extremely elevated and made us feel more like we were staying at a luxury-branded Marriott property (e.g., St. Regis, Edition, or Ritz-Carlton).
3. Room: 8.5. The room had a gorgeous oceanfront view and gorgeous Instagram-worthy sundeck. However, it also had low ceilings and a small bathroom (with no bathtub, no separate WC, and only a single sink). With renovations that expanded the rooms in size, this place would be a St. Regis/Edition, because everything else about the property exudes true luxury.
4. Complimentary amenities: 10. Many complimentary amenities in stark contrast to neighbor "Grand" Wailea which offers ZERO. At check-in, adults and Keiki are greeted with leis, chilled POG juice, and chocolate bars. The resort has a long list of complimentary activities. Sunscreen by the pools is complimentary. Kids under 5 eat free. The front desk offers complimentary daily amenities, often chocolate bars. Complimentary fresh fruit and extra bottled water was delivered to our room upon check-in (along with a card) to recognize my milestone birthday. There is a great, complimentary arcade room which my 3 kids LOVED.
5. Pools: 10. Amazing pools. 3 oceanfront infinity pools (2 of which are adult-only), plus the family-friendly Nalu adventure pool. The only change I would recommend is to switch the adult-only status of the Maluhia and Ohi pools so that the family-friendly pools (Nalu and Maluhia) and the adult-only pools (Ohi and Olakino) are located next to each other.
6. Cabanas: 9.5. Incredible service at the cabana we rented next to Nalu pool. The only reason I do not give a 10/10 rating here is that $400 is a bit steep, when compared to neighbor competitors Four Seasons (free cabanas) and Fairmont ($300 cabanas). However, compared to the neighbor “Grand” Wailea’s WILD price-gouged ($3,600+tax) cabanas, $400 per day seems reasonable!
7. Waterslides: 11. The Nalu adventure pool has 4 waterslides. 2 of them are big and have 48” height minimums. The other two are small and perfect for 2-5 year olds. The Big Kahuna was by far my favorite of all the resorts in Wailea we stayed at on this trip. At 325 feet, it is also the longest resort waterslide in ALL of Hawaii. The Wailea Wipeout is for thrill-seekers. By contrast, the Big Kahuna offered a calm ride so approachable that even my 71-year-old parents LOVED it!
8. Cleanliness: 9.5. Excellent cleanliness throughout the resort. The only deduction here is because housekeeping here is only ONCE daily, meaning they do not provide any evening turndown service (which is standard at the Fairmont and Four Seasons).
9. Family friendliness: 10. The Arcade is a massive hit with kids, but there’s also the Nalu adventure pool with its waterslides and waterfall-showered grotto, as well as life-sized chess, corn hole, etc. Extremely family-friendly resort!
10. Dining: 8. Superb service and food at Kapa for dinner. Exceptional service and food at Humble Market Kitchen for breakfast buffet, which includes GF pancakes and waffles, which were a huge hit with my 2 Celiac kids. However, when we ate dinner at Humble Market Kitchen, the service was austere and lacking in “aloha spirit,” and the food quality was underwhelming.
11. Luxury: 9. Everything about this property exudes luxury and is very design-forward, except for the undersized, austere rooms. If this property renovated its rooms to be 1.5-2x larger, its bathrooms to be 3-4x larger and include tubs, separate WCs, and dual vanities, and raised the ceilings by 1.5x height, it would easily qualify to be re-branded as a St. Regis, Edition, or Ritz-Carlton property as opposed to a standard, 4-star Marriott. This resort has rightfully earned the AAA Four Diamond Award and Forbes 3-star (“Recommended”) rating. With the above room renovations, this property would be worthy of AAA Five Diamond status, and would be on the cusp of Forbes 4 or 5 stars, as well as Michelin 1-2 keys.
12. Room for improvement: 9. Three ideas for improvement: (1) switch the “adult-only” status of Maluhia and Ohi pools such that the neighboring Olakino and Ohi pools are adult-only, and the neighboring Maluhia and Nalu pools are family-friendly. (2) Train dinner servers at Humble Market Kitchen to exude more “aloha” warmth. (3) Renovate the rooms and bathrooms to be much larger.
13. Value for Families with Kids: 10. Incredible value for families with kids, in stark contrast to the neighbor “Not Grand” Wailea, which offers ZERO value to its “guests."
