Let me start by saying this was our first time in Hawaii and will not be our last. My wife and I loved everything about this resort. It is mostly a timeshare resort and may not have a 5 star hotel rating but I would go back tomorrow if I could.
Check in was fast and easy. Parking at the resort was free and simple.(Valet is also availabe for a fee) If I had any complaint it would be that our room was a partial ocean view/ mountain view and could not be changed. I guess that I could live with that to vacation in paradise. We stayed in a one bedroom unit with 2 full baths, a kitchenette and living room. Could have another couple fit comfortably. It seemed like the room had just been remodeled and was extremely clean.
The lobby is exposed to the outside and is immaculate, as is the pool area. There are flowers, and greenery everywhere. Never had a problem finding a lounge chair. Drinks were very easy to get and were very good! There is a Starbucks and a convient store on the grounds. Restaurant that opens for dinner only.
Many restaurants and shopping in walking distance at Whalers Village. We ate at Leilanis in Whalers Village and recommend to give it a try. If you like snorkeling, take a 15 minute walk down the beach to Black Rock and you will see turtles, stingrays and many kinds of fish. Two golf courses within 5 minute drive. A person can do everything their heart desires or just sit at the pool/beach and do nothing.
Oh Yeah, did I forget to mention that the weather was absolutely perfect?

We've been coming here since 1999 when it transitioned from being a hotel to mostly ownership through Marriott's Vacation Club ownership program. The rooms were converted from single hotel rooms into double (or) triple rooms through very extensive remodeling. Our unit is a 2-room unit with 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette (microwave, dishwasher, kitchen sink, and cube frig), king-size bed, living/dining room and 2 balconies. Over the 14 years of ownership, we've seen the transformation and could not be more pleased. The 2-hotel room conversion is perfect for our 2-week stay. Some owners have 2 bedroom units ( hotel rooms) with the lock-off option to rade through Interval International.

Marriott has very high standards and the rooms are updated and appliances replaced on a regular schedule. Furnishings, decorations, carpeting & drapes, paint, are all fresh and attractive and continually kept so. We have another timeshare which we exchange (not Marriott) and have never found anything at quite the caliber of a Marriott property.

The grounds seem to be continually improved: 2 new towers were built with full kitchens and considerable square footage (these are the vilas) and I suppose if you are traveling with a family, it may help make your vacation more pleasant. There are many, many bbq's all over the property so there's never an issue with not getting one when you need it. Pools are everywhere here with attractions for children (pirate ship and sand-like beach for tots), and quieter pools enjoyed by adults. Outdoor fitness parcourse stations are a new and welcome addition so you can give the large indoor gym a rest and enjoy yourself outside. Aso new this year is the Starbucks breakfast spot down by the main pool.

This resort has all the bells and whistles of an upper end property which it truly is. We wouldn't let a year go by without returning here and this property enjoys the highest occupancy rating of the many Marriott Vacation Club properties. Views are astounding, location cannot be beat. This is the primo location on Kanapali Beach, steps from Whaler's Village (great shopping, food choices, etc.), golfing, the Whaler's Village dollar bus to Lahaina, it's the most convenient location. The food court in Whaler's Village has a Subway, pizza, MExican food, etc. but you can also find many dining experiences throughout Whaler's Village.

There never seem to be a shortage of pool chairs (they are everywhere!) and there is also self-parking or full valet, if you want that.

If you decide to stay here, you can stop at CostCo near the airport and stock up on beer, soft drinks, wine, fresh fruit, Ahi, snacks at pretty good prices. On the way to the hotel (it is about an hour drive to Kanapali Beach from the airport), there's a big Safeway to finish shopping for little things, like juice, milk, and salad stuff. Remember your Safeway Club Card or sign up for one so you get the additional discounts.

Also, Marriott has free laundry machines (bring your own detergent), great consierge services, a tennis court, children's play equipment, a small putting green, a couple of parking garages, and wonderful places to walk. We are avid walkers and have walked all the wa

My wife and I are on a two week vacation in Hawaii on Maui. The first week of our vacation we stayed at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club during Thanksgiving week 2012. I own a floating oceanview 2 bedroom 3 bath timeshare here in the original Lanai towers (not the new towers).

Before we arrived I requested a unit on one of the higher floors to get a better ocean view. The tower we stayed in has 9 floors. When we checked in we were given a unit on the third floor. I asked if they had a unit on a higher floor but was told that the resort was full and they could not change our unit. So we went up to our third floor unit ,#3100, to find that the view was partially blocked by the tall palm trees but the worst thing about our room was that it was the closest unit to the three elevators. The reason this was bad was because we could here each of the three elevators each time they went up or down. It was very distracting especially when trying to read a book.

We called the front desk to complain about the partial ocean view and the elevator noise and asked to speak to the front desk manager, Lisa Williams. Lisa was very nice but due to being full to capacity she could not change our unit and offered us nothing to compensate for our lousy unit. After asking for some kind of compensation, Lisa offerred us a $100 gift certificate that had ot used at the Marriott restaurants or shoppes. This made us feel a little better but we still had to put with the lousy partial ocean view and the elevator noise.

Lucky for us we only stayed at the Marriott Maui Ocean CLub for the first week of our vacation. After this bad experience at the Marriott, my wife and I are considering selling our timeshare here. After the first week at the Marriott, we were happy to leave the Marriott and move over to the Westin Ka'anapali Villas North for our second week of vacation. I am writing this review from our studio villa at the Westin. The Westin is much nicer and both my wife and I are thoroughly enjoying ourselves here at the Westin. I will write a separate review about the Westin.

I have never stayed anywhere where the competition for lounge chairs by the pool is so fierce. People literally get up well before dawn to put towels and belongings on chairs to reserve them for the day. The staff does little if anything to discourage the practice. Reserved chairs go unused for hours at a time while people that wish to actively use the chairs have nothing. I witnessed more that one family reserve 8 to 10 chairs then leave one lonely grandma there with her reading or knitting to "guard" the chairs until the family finally decides to use them. This practice alone will send me to a different resort next time.