(4 out of 5)
What I liked best about this unit is the splendid view, the location and the serene atmosphere. The unit was very clean and I loved having a few of the basics in the kitchen needed to put a meal together. That is what I refer to as "consideration" the salt, pepper, some coffee, the coffee filters - these basics were very much appreciated.
I felt very much at home in this unit. Recommend this unit to anyone who is looking to just kick back, relax and do some sight-seeing, hiking.
We loved the Hale Kihei house! The short walk to the beach was perfect - the best part! The beach behind the house was a huge sandy beach with rocks to one side and our two year old loved it! We walked on the beach nearly every morning before breakfast! The house itself was the perfect size for five of us. Everything was in working condition and well maintained. We used the kitchen for most every meal and found it had nearly everything we needed. The house is right on Kihei Road, so you do hear traffic at night, but the noises blend with the sound of the ocean waves. Also, the lighting in the front bathroom was not very bright. The house was within walking distance to a snorkel rental place, ice cream cones and restaurants. From the beach, we could see Molokini, whales swimming, turtles 20 feet from shore and surfers. The house was nearly perfect!
If you go snorkeling, we suggest Makena State Park, south of Wailea. There is a great entry in a rocky area that has great reefs and tons of fish. We were also told turtles if you go early enough in the morning. We drove the road to Hana also. Only go if you enjoy driving on winding roads with no guardrail in places and quite a few places where it is a single lane and hard-to-see-around corners. Two of us got carsick that normally don't. Overall, our trip was great! We live where it is cold and snowy, so it was very hard to come home. Hawaii is a tourists paradise! Thanks for the great hospitality at Hale Kihei.
The location and setting of the unit was excellent. Nice yard, right by the beach and nice view on that great lanai. The downside of the unit was the various little things that needed fixing. The master bedroom slider was barely operable, kitchen screen door had issues, and so on. For security, the 2nd bedroom exterior door should have a key for the bolt lock, or install one that can be locked manually. We didnt like that door being there with our kids sleeping in the room. Another small but annoying thing was that there was no working remote control for the TV. I understand your statement about ants on the island but I can't say I enjoyed the MAJOR ant problem in the master bath.
If not for these little things adding up it would get 4 or maybe even 5 stars. We did have a great time and loved the roominess and privacy of the house.
Customer service was good. When the phones didnt work, they were replaced promptly. Communication before the trip was great too.
Best lunch was Da Kitchen. Best dinner was Royal Thai.
Tip: Surfing Goat Farm was a ripoff.
Thanks All.
Hale Kihei was a great house for a family of 5 - lots of room. The 2 bedrooms are modest size, but lots of room in the living area and kitchen. There was plentiful comfortable seating for the whole family to sit around either inside or outside while enjoying the evenings. We enjoyed a leisurely paced week on Maui. We did just one tourist adventure each day and tried to be back to the house by mid to late afternoon so that we could enjoy a few hours on the nearby beach. The walk to the beach is just 30 yards or so along the side of the house in front of this one to a public sidewalk and steps that take you down to the beach. It is very convenient. After swimming, the house has an outside shower and hose to get the sand off before going inside. The Lanai (us mainlanders would call this a deck) is mostly covered. We enjoyed time here in the cool of the morning while eating breakfast and in the evening watching the sun go down. One of our best photographs was a sunset picture from this vantage point. While there is a house between this one and the ocean that blocks some of the view, there is still nice partial view to the beach and ocean. From the Lanai you can actually see over the top of adjacent house to the ocean off shore. The house came with a grill that was in good condition and made some great hamburgers for us. While this house did not have internet service, I was able to find unsecured wireless from somewhere. I particularly enjoyed checking my email early in the morning from the deck on the street side of the house while watching the sun come up over mount Haleakala. The only negative to this house we experienced was the floor (which is tile throughout) was not clean. It did not have visible dirt, but just a few steps in socks would turn the bottoms black. We quickly gave up the Hawaiin tradition of removing our shoes and it didn't bother us any more. Some activities that we enjoyed were: Shopping in Kihei (you can walk to a couple local shopping centers), swimming on the adjacent beach, seeing humpback whales (we went with the Pacific Whale Foundation, but also saw a couple from the beach) and walking around Lahaina. The most expensive thing we did was the Atlantis submarine out of Lahaina. It was an interesting and unique experience, but you don't see quite the reefs and fish that the advertising lead you to believe. Overall, we had a great time on Maui. If we returned we would stay in this house again.
We had a lovely time. Our family lives all over the US and we all met in Maui for a family wedding. The house location worked out well to commute to the wedding in Wailea. The rental location was perfect to walk to the beach and the patio was great to hang out. There were a few housekeeping issues but someone came out and fixed the problems. Thanks
