I have never stayed in a luxury resort before, so I decided to splurge for my honeymoon in June 2004. I saw the Grand Wailea featured on the Travel Channel and thought it looked like a fun place to stay. It was absolutely luxurious without being gaudy. The tasteful artwork and manicured gardens overflowing with vegetation and water elements (koi ponds, salt water ponds, waterfalls, fountains) created a lush environment, all while maintaining an air of sophisticated elegance. It was quite a romantic setting. However, the other resort guests took away all that romance - 90 percent of them were families with young (loud) children. The big draw for families is the miles of pools and waterslides. I admit, the on-property water park is what sold me on the place when I decided to book it. The pools are fun for about a day and then the abundance of children and high doses of chlorine grated on my patience and sense of tranquility. I made the mistake of practicing my snorkeling in the pool - I encountered a discarded hot dog!
It was a good thing they had a wonderful spa, which offered free use of the hydrotherapy baths and showers with every treatment. I must say, those baths are like none other! 7 different warm pools with fragrant, brightly colored water. The showers were also a treatment within themselves with their massaging jets.
Bottom line, the Grand Wailea is a great family resort. It tries really hard to be a honeymoon destination for adults with its wedding chapel, spa (great place to get away from the kids), night club, fine dining; but can't help being a water park with expensive rooms. I give it an above average rating because it is truly gorgeous with terrific service, but must warn all hopefull couples.

Thanks to the suggestions I had read here, I asked if I could receive an upgrade as we were celebrating my wifes birthday. I had booked the terrace room (least expensive) and was upgraded 3 categories to an ocean view room. The room was gorgeous as was the entire property. The Humuhumuhumu.....
restuarant was very good and the superbowl was fun in the restaurant by the pool.

The pool and slides were great. The temperature of the water was perfect. The beach was very nice also. I walked down to the 4 Seasons and Kea Lani to compare since I had read so many reviews here on all three places. I hadn't planned on doing so before heading that direction, and was in my swimtrunks towing my snorkle gear. Both places were happy to show me a room and the bellmen at both properties were very gracious especially seeing they would not be getting a tip from me in my situation.

I toured comparable categories of rooms to the Grand Wailea. The rooms were layed out very similar at the 4 Seasons and the Kea Lani had a small living room plus a bedroom. Both properties were very nice but I paid almost half of what they wanted and they didn't command the ocean view that I had received complimentary.

I am not a wealthy person and I felt very comfortable at the Grand Wailea. I'm not sure I would've felt that way at the other two properties.

Amazing property, wonderful food, friendly staff, great shopping, fabulous pools and slides, never bored . . . what more can I say? This is a truly remarkable place to stay and I can't wait to come back! My husband and I and our two children knew it would be a great vacation, but we were blown away by the experience we had at the Grand Wailea, and we didn't even begin to exhaust the many possiblities available to you! It's location also makes travel to other Maui landmarks and venues very easy, and the concierges are wonderful at helping make reservations and answer any questions you might have. The onsite restaurants are fabulous (you must try the Macadamia nut crusted Mahi Mahi at Humu and a Kahlua Colada) and you can eat anywhere around the pools! The service is amazing and makes you feel like royalty. I know I'm gushing but I also know that long after my tan fades, I'll be dreaming of Wailea Beach and my oceanview room!

If the Grand Wailea doesn't make you happy nothing on this planet will! To call the decor guady is to grossly misrepresent this gorgeous - elegent - understated beauty. If you are inclined to whine about the price, if you are looking for cheap you are in the wrong place. There is nothing "cheap" about the Grand Wailea. During my stay I occupied a terrace room over looking the wedding chapel floating in the koi pond. The room was tasteful and well appointed. Outside our door was a waterfall and pond in which sat one of the incrediable bronze sculpture which are woven into the fabric of the landscape thru-out the grounds. She was a mermaid child sitting half submerged in the pond ... I have never forgotten her. The main swimming pool is a delightful mix of cleverly concealled water park and deserted romantic grottos. While waiting for check-in we sat in the gorgeous open air lobby and partook of the complimentry pineapple and guave juice ... which served ice cold tastes like nothing else on this planet. You must walk the grounds and beach to fully appreciate this resort - around every corner is something unexpected and wonderful. We found an "unofficiall" footpath at the back of the resort that led us to the shopping complex next to the resort and in so doing found beautifully laandscaped "jungle" which we would never have known was there had we not wandered around a bit. All in all - worth every cent.