This was our second stay at Napili Shores. Our first stay was in November 2011 for one week of our two week visit to Maui. Had we known how wonderful Napili Shores was, and how much we would enjoy the location and amenities, we would have booked both our weeks here! This trip to Maui was for only one week, sadly, but we knew for certain we wanted to be at Napili Shores again. This trip, we had our 22 year old son with us, and my husband’s mother and sister. I was able to book our one-bedroom condo unit through VRBO, but could not find a second suitable unit for the two other ladies. I went on the Outrigger website, and booked it through them, and I mentioned what building we would be in, and that a ground floor unit would be ideal. Upon our arrival, we discovered that not only had Outrigger been able to find them a unit on the ground floor, it was in our building and right below us! It was wonderful how accommodating Outrigger was to our needs!
The location and ambiance of Napili Shores were perfect for us. It’s a little far-removed from some of the more touristy areas, but this lends itself to a quieter, more relaxed and intimate feeling. It does mean a little more driving time to get to attractions like Haleakala and the Road to Hana, but any drive on Maui is scenic, so it’s not much of a sacrifice. Located on the west shore of the northern part of Maui, Napili Shores itself has a lava rock shore with many tidal pools. To the north, a quick two minute walk gets you to a beautiful expanse of sandy beach. The south end of the beach has great wave action for those who want to boogie board, and as you go further north on the beach, it’s more protected and the waters are much calmer. To the south of Napili Shores is a nice cove where sea turtles hang out pretty much all day. We snorkeled with the sea turtles several times on our two trips, and saw lots of other tropical fish and sea creatures.
Napili Shores has beautiful, well-manicured grounds with two pools and a hot tub. They have several barbecues for guest use, a shuffleboard court, and a giant checkerboard with black and white painted half-coconuts for the game pieces. There are plenty of deck chairs and beach chairs around the pools and on the lawn near the beach, where the guests gather each evening to admire the amazing sunsets visible from Napili Shores.
There are two restaurants at Napili Shores. The Gazebo is right on the edge of the property overlooking the ocean, offers breakfast, brunch and lunch, and is open from 7 a.m. until 2 p.m. People come from all over Maui to experience their macadamia nut, coconut, banana and pineapple pancakes, so the line up is long every day. But they do offer free coffee to sip on as you are standing in line, and a selection of umbrellas is available if there happens to be a little shower while you are waiting. The other restaurant had its opening night while we were here this time, and it’s called the Iron Imu Restaurant. An imu is the Hawaiian pit barbecue they use to roast pig, although I’m not certain that the traditional method is used for the pork they serve here. They had some opening-night hiccups, but the food was good. I wasn't fond of the format for ordering – similar to a fast-food restaurant – and the decor was a little “cowboy-ish” for my taste.
Napili Shores also has an on-site rental shop for boogie boards, snorkel equipment, surf-boards and the like for very reasonable prices. You can rent for a day, a few days, or by the week.
Our accommodations in the H building were spectacular. The unit was recently renovated by the owners, and was fresh and clean. They had a large fridge, stove, dishwasher and even a wine fridge – all stainless steel. They had any and all kitchen equipment you could need, and also had a couple of boogie boards, two folding beach chairs, and beach towels for our use. The furnishings were all new, and the bed was amazing! The lanais in H building have a partial ocean view without the roar of the ocean and are a little protected from the breeze. The ground floor unit was also nice with the more traditional bamboo-style decor. It was also very clean, and our travel companions had no complaints. The layout of the one-bedroom units on this side of the development does place the bedrooms along the parking lot side, but I enjoy the roominess and privacy of the one bedrooms and I’m willing to sacrifice a little sleep due to noise to get that. If the noise would be an issue for you, the studio condos may be a better choice. None of the units have air conditioning, but we found that the ceiling fans and the ocean breeze were enough to keep us very comfortable.
Due to the late arrival of flights from Vancouver, we had to use the late check-in procedure which went seamlessly. There is a phone at the front that calls security directly, and he is there in minutes to check your I.D. and to give you your key cards. Formal check-in was done the next morning, and went fairly smoothly. There is an Expedia desk in the lobby to book your excursions, but you may want to shop around for those to compare prices. Housekeeping cleans the Outrigger units every 3 days, but our unit was privately rented, so we didn't have that service. There were cleaning supplies in our unit if we required them, but in our one week stay a quick sweeping of the floor was about all that was required. They have coin-operated laundry facilities available to guests in the main building as well.
We are already hoping to return to Napili Shores next winter, and our unit in H building will be our first choice!
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
