We were on a whistle-stop tour of Hawaii and only stayed at Mana Kai for one night. This may account for why I am mystified by the rave reviews of the place. We were given one of the so-called "hotel" rooms at the car park side of the complex. It was small, dark, dirty, and noisy (no sound insulation whatsoever) and we couldn't wait to check out.

I have been staying at the Mana Kai since 1973 when it was built. I have stayed there at least 40 times. It has had it's ups and downs over the years, but has some lovely rooms, and is in a great location on a great beach. You basically get a $1,500 view for $230 bucks, including an awesome coral reef with great snorkeling right outside your door. HOWEVER: It is currently under MAJOR construction/renovation. We were assured that no noisy projects were going on, but we arrived to find a major phase of demolition starting (i.e., water being shut off to our room, hammering, drilling and loud jack hammers drilling out cores of concrete for plumbing in 40 rooms, including ours!!!!) The hotel property staff was VERY understanding and sympathetic, but we booked through a condo rental agency and they wouldn't return our calls, let alone refund the rest of our stay. They basically leave you on your own. We finally had to drive to their office and were able to find the owner of the agency, who once he found out what was going on was very nice and accommodated us by giving us a partial refund so that we could fly home early and cut our trip short by 6 days. The Mana Kai itself is great - the condo agency who books the rooms is NOT. Just be sure you do not get a room over the restaurant side of the building. It can be loud and smelly.

I first visited this amazing place when my brother lived up the road and I scopped out this diamond in the rough! Every year since II have returned to stay at the mana kai maui. It is by far the best beach on the entire island. Great for long walks and plus just 10 minutes down your beach are the $500+ a night resorts, guess what, they were ripped off! We are savvy travalers. If you book 7+ nights here sometime you will receive a free night. WOW! chech out hawaiiconnections[--]for more great deals.

Our family of three stayed at the Mana Kai during Spring Break and are thrilled to have found a place on Maui we can call home. We stayed in a 2-bedroom "Superior" beach front unit that was in a word awesome. "Superior" means updated within the last five years with high end appliances, granite countertops, etc. First off, I doubt that a finer view from a balcony could be found on all Maui -- spectacular. Everything was ultra clean and wonderfully maintained. Kitchen was fully stocked for our cooking needs. The proximity to the beach cannot be overstated . . . it's right there, a few steps away, perfect for snorkeling, bodysurfing, boogieboarding. As far as the reviews concerning Kihei's lack of charm, well, I'm absolutely not a shopper -- couldn't care about that stuff in the least. We did make the very short drive to The Shops at Wailea to get some Kauai Pie ice cream from Lappert's. If you're into shopping, all your needs can certainly be satisfied there. Lastly, we stayed at the Grand Wailea (big luxury resort) a few years ago and I was so utterly disappointed that I had sworn off Maui. Horribly expensive (even for a dark, no-frills patio view room), and if you didn't have your beach towel draped over a lounge chair by 7:30 a.m., well, you weren't going to get a chair that day! And because there was no kitchen in the room, of course, all meals had to be taken out adding to more expense (plus, it gets awfully tiresome eating in restaraunts all the time). Although the Mana Kai doesn't have the whoop--dee--doo waterslides the Grand Wailea offers, in every other respect, it's got the GW all beat at about half the price. We paid $210 a night for 4 nights and $270 for three -- for what we enjoyed, quite a bargain!