Just returned from a short trip to the Kea Lani over Labor Day. I wanted to post my review as I have referred to this site often for opinions, etc.

The resort is fabulous, plain and simple. The service is outstanding from the valet to the housekeeping staff. The grounds are beautiful. The suites are spacious and very ideal for families with children. I traveled with my 2 young children and the suite was perfect. The bathrooms are huge! Housekeeping does an excellent job and "services" your room twice daily......turn down service in the evening includes replenishing of everything in the suite once again.

Our check in service was friendly and efficient. My husband and I both received leis and our children received candy leis. We were not offered fresh juice or cool towels as I have seen mentioned in these reviews.

We NEVER had a problem finding a chair poolside. Perhaps the resort was not as busy over Labor Day as it is other times of the year. There is an ample supply of lounges all over the resort. If you can't find one poolside, there are some located a few steps away all over the lawn. We were never offered fresh pineapple, cool towels or water poolside. They have cucumber/lemon water stations set up at various points around the pools. I have read where people find the kids to be numerous here at the resort. There is an adult pool and area that is very serene and quiet where you can relax and not be "bothered" by the noise of children enjoying themselves on vacation. The activity pool doesn't compare to the Grand Wailea, but the one slide was fun. If you are looking for a more relaxed pool area and non water park atmosphere, this is it. Rentals poolside were ridiculous....$12 for an intertube per day!

Everything is pricey, but it's Hawaii and to be expected. Cafe Ciao was excellent for dinner. Great food and service. We ate at the breakfast buffet one morning. The food is average and can be found at any resort in Wailea. It's mostly convenience. The birds at that particular restaurant are terrible. They will steal your food right in front of you! We did not eat at Nick's as we had 2 children with us. It was busy every evening and the people we met had good things to say about it.

If you are staying for more than a few days, I recommend stopping at Safeway in Kihei to stock up on essentials for the morning or light lunch as it is cheaper than dropping $50 on the same breakfast and lunch food every day.

I would highly recommend this resort to ANYONE.....honeymooners or families. You won't be disappointed. You get what you pay for. I will be returning in November.

This was our first visit to the Kea Lani. My husband and I usually stay at the Four Seasons when we visit Maui each year. But with two young children, we were looking for a hotel that would better suit our needs. The Kea Lani was perfect. Not as frenetic or massive as the "disney-esque" Grand Wailea, yet more to do that the more sedate Four Seasons.... the Kea Lani was the perfect mix of service, luxury and fun for the family. The suites were spacious (make sure to request a renovated suite) with a fold out queen size sleeper sofa in the living room. We were able to put my 2 year old in the sleeper sofa and had plenty of room for the crib for our infant. The suites have mini kitchens (microwave ovens, small fridge, sink) and entertainment systems with TV, DVD/CD players. Each floor has complimentary washer/dryers (4 machines per floor... you can buy detergent at the gift shop). The bathrooms are huge... large soaking tub, large walk-in shower.

The pool area was great. There is a lovely, quiet adult pool (no one under 18 allowed) and the two-level family pool. There is a water slide...great fun for kids (mostly 3 and older) and the upper pool has a swim up bar. The lower pool has a basketball net for water play and a separate wading pool for the littlest ones. Be warned, when we were there at the end of August, most of the chaise lounges by umbrellas were spoken for by 6:30AM. There are cabanas that rent for $50 a day (they supply you with as much chilled bottle water as you want) but you would have to reserve well in advance of your stay. The pool hut has all sorts of float toys for rent.

The beach is lovely and the staff will set you up with chaises and umbrellas (rented at $9 an hour). They also have sand toys for the kids that they will lend you.

The restaurants were a mixed bag. The Beach Grill was okay, Nick's Fish Market was excellent and Ciao Tratorria was just okay. They do have a deli which is great for getting good deli sandwiches.

There were activities every day for the kids (They have a kids club for children 5 and older for a fee). Every afternoon they set up a big bounce on the lawn. And they would have a juggler/magic show, face painting, hula lessons.... all free. Every morning at 9AM they allow the children to help feed the koi fish. And every evening, the guy who lit all the torches was followed around by a group of children... it looked like the Pied Piper....adorable.

I went to the Kea Lani 5 years ago and it was absolutely beautiful. I went back recently and I was pleased to see that nothing had changed...It was as lovely as the first time. The property is spectacular, as was the service. I have recommended the Kea Lani to just about everyone I know who wants to vacation in Maui and also honeymooners....I LOVE THIS PLACE.

MY wife and I stayed at the Kea-Lani from 8/17/2004-8/24/2004 for our honeymoon. The check in was nice, we didn't have to wait and the rooms were beautiful. We had a garden view room and it was fine for us. The resort itself is beautiful and the adult pool is key. There were so many kids at the resort, had they not had the adult pool it would have been tough. We ate at Nick's the first night there and didn't like it. It was probably the worst place we ate during our stay. We did love Soprrento's, the sister restaurant, located 2 miles from the resort.We had a late reservation and felt we were being rushed and the wait staff was very cautious, almost scared to make a mistake. I recommend you go to breakfast elsewhere. There are numerous spots to go that are cheaper and the food is better, unless you want to spend $50.00 for the same breakfast buffet every morning. As for the pool, better get there early to claim a seat or you will be stuck monitoring the pool for chairs all day. Take advantage of the resort car service. The service will take you to any place in Wailia, just in case you want to have some drinks for dinner. Not much of a night life there, but very relaxing.

We stayed in oahu at the Royal Hawaian before going to Maui and we felt the staff at the Royal Hawian was much nicer to us. Some of the staff at the consigiere at the Fairmount was more business like compared to the much friendlier staff at the Royal Hawian. We also went to eat at the Four Seasons one night (right next door to the Fairmont) and the wait staff there was great.

All in all the Fairmont was a great place but if you don't like kids it's probably not a honeymoon spot for you. Would we go back there? Probably, but would like to try the Four Seasons on our next visit.