Fairmont Kea Lani Resort, Wailea

I've got a sick munchkin today, but I stumbled across this and had to pen a quick review. The fact that the Kea Lani doesn't own a 5 Star rating is the greatest travesty in US Hotel history. I've worked in the high end resort and restaurant industry all my life (including a Fairmont before they bought the Kea Lani) and you can hang them all, Four Seasons, Ritz Carlton etc., the Kea Lani out-guns every one. The service is impeccable, the resort architecture, unparalelled, the location is perfect and they were there before Wailea was "hip", the facilities are military-inspection clean, no broken fixtures, frayed carpets, nothing. I was so in love I tried to move there to join the company on my first visit 20 yrs ago. I was blessed as a youngster to come from a well-to-do family so I've seen the finest this country has to offer all my 48 yrs and nothing rivals the Kea Lani. I've never even seen a staff member looking tired or grumpy, they're magicians. I've read reviews saying the food was expensive, folks, this is some of the most expensive real estate in the entire nation and our properites, food is expensive in Maui, you can't deduct for that. It's got a romantic beach I was married on BTW, lean times have kept me away for awhile but add this to your bucket list. Take it from one of the finest managers in the business, best hotel in the US, period.

My husband and I just returned from the Kea Lani. Even though the were doing some construction, it did not hinder our vacation at all. The hotel was beautiful, the staff very helpful and the rooms are fabulous. The hotel caters to families and couples. I can't wait to return.

My husband and I stayed at the Fairmont for our honeymoon! LOVED IT!! The resort, staff, room, everything was perfect. Everyone was so friendly and helpful. Everything was so clean and beautiful! I can't wait to go back for our 1yr anniversary! I recommened the Fairmont to all of our family and friends!! Thank you to all the staff!! You made our honeymoon a very memorable one and perfect!

My husband and our two kids ages 13 and 17 stayed at the Kea Lani in July and had the most wonderful time ever. The minute we pulled up in our car my door was opened by the wonderful and friendly bellman! We took only two steps and we already had leis and our neck! During check-in we were given refreshing hawaiian juice which tasted wonderful after a nine hour plane ride. During check-in the staff was nothing but nice and the bellman escorted us to our room. All the rooms were suites and very spacious suites, great for a family of four. The best part of the room would have to be the bathroom! First, it was HUGE. The whole family could be in there getting ready at the same time. There was a bath tub and a seperate shower that gave great water pressure which is essential for woman with long and thick hair(: The floors were marble and there were two HUGE mirrors in the bathroom. That had to be the best feature in the room. The food at the hotel was great. We ate breakfast at the Kea Lani restauarnt almost every morning and had the buffett. Talk about all you can eat! There was tons of delicious food to choose from and if you wanted something warm of the stove, then you got it! We also ate lunch at the beach grill one day and the food was pretty good. It was the perfect spot to eat on a beach day. The only negative is the price for some burgers. It cost $120 for four people to eat on a lazy day. :/ On our last night we ate at Nick's Fishmarket Maui. WOW! Talk about service! We were treated like royalty. If we took a sip out of our water glass, within two seconds it was refilled. Every ten seconds someone would be there asking if everything was okay. The food was outstanding and well worth the expensive price tag. The resort was beautiful with fountains, beautiful pools for the kids and an adult only pool. There was even a swim up bar in the family pool. My daughter ordered a smoothie there but prefers creamy smoothies over frooty ones. She asked the bartender is they were creamy or fruity. He responded with "Well they are generally fruity but if you want creamy, we will make it creamy." I could go on and on about the service. This hotel was rated with only 4.5 stars and I think it easily deserves five. With the Four Seasons and Grand Wailea one and two properties down, you really know you're staying somewhere special. We took a walk to both the Four Seasons and The Grand and we very happy with the hotel we stayed at. The Grand had a million kids running and screaming. The Four Seasons had barley any kids at all. The Kea Lani was just right. Not too many kids but there were enough to know that the day was passing by. The Kea Lani was the perfect place to take teenagers. The location has a wonderful beach which is not too crowded. The only downfall is that there isn't much near Wailea and you have to drive 45-50 minutes to Lahiana/Kaanapali to do stuff. But other than that everything there is great. This hotel is well worth your money, compared to the Four Seasons which moderate rooms run almost $200 a night more, and with service practically just as good as the Four Seasons, why stay anywhere else? Stay here and you won't regret it.

We starting coming here in 2002. We've stayed in the Ocean View Suites, the Kilohana Suites and an Ocean Front Villa. The only room category we haven't stayed in would be the garden view suites. Our last visit was in a villa, V8. We've an a near-outstanding experience every time. The only exception was three years ago during spring break--too busy; packed. So was every place else. Our last visit in January 2010, was flawless. In my opinion, you can't get the "bang for the buck" like you can at the Fairmont Kea Lani. We'll be back next year.

My wife and I spent a week at the Fairmont in November. This is our third time staying here. One entire wing was shut down, and the occupancy could not have been over 30%. The staff was always great but with so few guests, they were tripping over themselves to make us happy. We walked into Mamas Fish House at sunset with no reservations and got a table with a beautiful view. The property at the Fairmont is still well manicured and the suite was very clean and well maintained. We ate at all three of the prime restaurants on property and had terrific meals at each. The service and attention to detail was so good I was prompted, for the first time in my life, to send a "thank you" letter to the management. This is a great place for romantic couples and people who love Maui, but want a little slower pace than Kaanapali has to offer. The nearby activities and shopping/dining is great and you can get a good meal for just a few bucks at Fred's or Moose McGillicutty's, or get a 5 star gormet meal for several hundred at a dozen or so other places. The Wialea location is optimum for being close to everything. If you have never been to Maui, I would recommend Wialea as a good first area to stay in. The Fairmont is the best value when you consider every room is a suite, and they will upgrade you at check-in if they have rooms with better views availalable. We stayed last year at the Four Seasons, which was nice, but not worth the extra $1,500 we paid for a suite that was smaller than the ones at the Fairmont. The only negative thing I have to say is that the daily fee for valet parking is steep, but after the first day, the attendants would recognize us as we were walking up and would sprint for our car so the wait was never more than a minute. The free Town Car service they offer to local restaurants was nice to avoid the drinkin/driving issue, which MPD is greatfully very strict on. I will stay here again next September, it just feels like home.

There was very little I liked about this hotel. From the day we walked in, I was disappointed. I had made reservations for a king room with pullout sofa for a guest. When we got there, we were supposedly automatically "upgraded" to a two full-sized bedroom. Not much of an upgrade. The whole point was so our guest could have privacy (not to mention me. I was the only girl). And when I turned down this room, they proceeded in placing us in a basement room. I kid you not! From the lobby (Considered floor 1) we went DOWN the elevator! to Parking level for the staff. Alas (and though I know this isn't the hotel's fault) the entire trip was filled with rain and gloom. That was the winter of the recurring storm that kept circling back to Maui. The power went off for two days! There was no cell phone service, no television, no hot water, and all the roads were flooded; so we were stuck in our rooms with no air conditioning, no fan blowing (couldn't even open the lanai because it was raining so hard.) The only thing we could do was to call home and let family know we were okay. The hotel had no restaurant options during the storm. All they were serving was food that had been stored in a freezer; hot dogs, macaroni and cheese, poorly prepared fish fillets... (some for goodness knows how long!) No sodas, tea, or alcoholic beverages were available. Yet they were charging the same amount as for a full buffet ($40). They weren't even providing room service! They were completely ill-prepared for anything of this magnitude to accommodate all of its guests. I discovered, after the storm, that the Grand Wailea had back-up generators that kept their hotel running smoothly, and that all their restaurants were open the whole time, room service was available, and like brilliant geniuses, they had placed their hot water on a natural gas system--not electricity. You're going to ask, why didn't you just stay in the Grand Wailea if it was so great? We tried. But a convention that came into town kicked us (and the other lowly guests) out. Believe me, we high-tailed it out of the Kea Lani as soon as the Grand Wailea opened back up. We will never stay anywhere else but the Grand Wailea again when visiting Maui.

I have no complaints about this hotel. We stayed there during our honeymoon and the staff couldn't have been more complimentary. The rooms are enormous. Adult pool is quiet as they separate the adult pool and kid pool and the beach is the best place to get sunset photos as well as relaxing during the day. I highly recommend staying there and getting the breakfast buffet package. Would go back in a heartbeat.

Wailea is quite out of the way from everything. And the Fairmont is... an ok place. Their food is incredibly overpriced and I say this after having stayed at the Halekulani on Oahu. But I won't attempt to divert anyone from it.

the hotel was great. the room was great. the food was great. the pool was great. the golf course was great. i would stay here again.