Stayed here end of November and early December. Stayed Oceanside and had a great view from the wrap around balcony.

There is no restaurant or bar at this hotel but its right next to whalers village which has plenty of everything you need.

Pool is nice for relaxing but other pools in the area are more kid friendly( slides, waterfalls).

Has a great beach with no rocks directly in front of the hotel. Easy access to beach.

Rooms have all just recently be upgraded. Full kitchen in the one bedroom suite we stayed in. Great showers. Clean rooms. Fold out couch not the most comfortable, but bed in bedroom was great. Leave doors open at night to hear ocean all night.

Staff was quick and officiant for any requests. Friendly. Including the very helpful and friendly staff at the activity hut by the pool.

Tip..... There is a list of timeshare owners always willing rent their units. It's next to the elevators near the parking garage. If your already there check it out. If not, I'm sure the information is online. (HAvent checked on that).

Stayed here with my family. Although there are other fancy resorts in the area I would gladly stay here again for the right price. Very quiet, relaxing hotel in a beautiful location.

I have been to Maui many times and love staying in Kaanapali. This was the first time at the Whaler. I chose this location based on the reviews and they were right! We booked through Aston so this was not through VRBO. We had daily maid service which was nice. We were in room 116 and it was great! It was a renovated room, very spacious, full kitchen, nice bathroom with tub for our 5 year old. You get to rent DVD's for free! It is right on the beach and this was a perfect location because it is very sandy and doesn't have a lot of coral right next to the water. My son was able to try to body surf and had a great time. The pool and spa was perfect. I didn't use the fitness center or sauna on the bottom floor but went to look at it and it was okay. nice to know they had that. It is close enough to walk to Black Rock to snorkel, right next to the Whaler's Village which we went to a few times and easy to get to Lahaina. I loved snorkeling at Kapalua bay which is only 5 minutes away. highly recommend

We looked at a lot of resorts and settled on the Whaler and we were not disappointed. The location is perfect and the room was huge. We booked an ocean view studio and it had everything we needed. The Whaler is close to everything and the staff was very accommodating. I called the day before we were due to check in and asked to change my room. The person I spoke to was Becs, she changed my room without a problem and even showed us some rooms for a follow-up trip we are planning next year with the kids.

Can't say enough about this resort. If you decide to stay here you will not be disappointed.

We spent 5 days in unit 470 with our 2 kids under 10. Kaanapali beach is our favourite place in west Maui and we think the whaler is the best location on Kaanapali.

Hotels to the south of the whaler have coral on the beach - not great for swimming. The beach in front of the whaler is sandy and perfect for playing in the surf. If it is crashing too hard for you, walk north up the beach 2 minutes and it is calm near black rock and the snorkelling is great. Saw sea turtles every day.

As joaocpaiva pointed out there are no restaurants or bars on the whaler property. Think of it as a private condo complex not a "resort". If you are into sitting by the pool and being served pay twice the money for the sheraton at black rock. We aren't into that kind of vacation. We never even went in the pool - the ocean is right there and the surfing in Lahaina is 10 minutes away.

Having said that, the Whaler village shops are right next door and have several great restaurants and good drink deals between 3 and 5. We ate there once. The rest of the time we cooked local fish on the BBQ's at the whaler, right on the beach. The pool looks great for the kids, has a hot tub area too. Just didn't bother using it.

We will definitely return and stay at the whaler.

A few tips on rooms:

These are privately owned condos. They vary widely in decor and state of repair. Book on vrbo.com directly from the owner and you know which unit you will be getting.

Tower 1 is on the north side of the property. Tower 2 is on the south side. If you get a room facing south out of tower 2 ( odd room numbers in tower 2) you will be overlooking the whaler shopping stores and restaurants. Can be a little loud depending on the unit. We were in tower 2 but facing north overlooking the courtyard and we thought it was perfect. Left the windows open every night and heard nothing but the ocean.