Honua Kai

[msturtle143]

jchokie79 - I remember you mentioned about Honua Kai in one of the threads.
Can you tell me more about it? Did you book thru the website? I am thinking of booking thru vrbo. We have a 3 year old so I think mountain view would just be fine. Is it crowded? What month did you go? We were in Kihei and Wailea last year in March and it was so uncomfortably windy. Getting in the car and out of the condo was crazy!

TIA for inputs on HK.

[jchokie79]

Hi! Yes, we stayed there for two weeks in Sept. 2012. It was not crowded at all and we were told by the staff there that it was the best time to visit. It did get windy a few times while we were there but nothing crazy. We rented a jeep and had the top down the entire time, it was awesome.

We went through VRBO and worked with Kaanapali Beach Properties, Inc. They manage several units at Honua Kai and they were great to work with. Very responsive and the unit was amazing (we got a one bedroom). By going through the property mgmt company, you also avoid the daily resort fee (I forget what it is exactly but adds up).

The location of the resort was excellent. It has a trail right in front that connects you with the other hotels (very nice walk & running path). 5 mins from Front St. Also the beach at the resort was very clear and not a huge amount of coral so you could actually walk around in the ocean and do a little snorkeling.

When are you looking to go? I'm so jealous! Let me know if you have any other questions on the resort!!

[msturtle143]

The resort looks beautiful and I have read rave reviews! We are going to be there the last week of May thru the first week June. It seems to that's the "shoulder" season so won't be quite as busy, I am hoping.
We didn't do Haleakala last year but plan to do it this time. Did you? What was your experience like?
Did you do a luau? We were sick last time we were there and had to cancel Old Lahaina Luau but we hope to go this time!

I am working with the owner of the unit and it looks like others have great things to say about him and unit per vrbo website. We'll be in a 1br unit also.

Thank you so much for the info about the beach and how it is from Front St. We loved the activities there when we went last year and really wished we had stayed in Lahaina instead.

Parking is $15/day but no resort fees for us either since we are working with the unit's owner!
Care to share what else you did there? Awesome places to eat? We won't be looking into fine dining with our 3 year old.

Thank you!!

[jchokie79]

Yes, we did both the Haleakala and the Old Lahaina Luau!

Haleakala, we took everyone's advice and did that on our second day there and took advantage of jet lag (we're from the East coast). If you stay at the Honua Kai, I believe we left around 2:30-3:00AM? Make sure you have a full tank of gas, coffee and lots of warm blankets!

The drive up the mountain is VERY windy and narrow. Hopefully your 3 yr old will just sleep through the trip up. It's incredibly cold on the top of the mountain, around 30 degrees so we packed hoodies and brought beach towels from the room. But the sunrise was amazing, I feel like it's a once in a life time experience. We probably wouldn't do it again but it was very special seeing it for the first time.

The Old time luau was very well done. The performances were excellent, the food was good (good variety) and the drinks were a bit watered down but it's all you can eat & drink. We really enjoyed it. (I happened to have this blurry pic!) Great service there!



Let's see, we also did Road to Hana. It was beautiful but not sure about traveling with a 3 year old. Only because again the roads are so narrow and windy, it's definitely a long drive. The waterfalls were beautiful though. I got the Maui Revealed book from Amazon before we went and it was a great tour book.

We actually went there to get married and our wedding night dinner at Merrimen's was the best meal we've ever had. Star Noodles is also really good, Sansei for sushi but have to call or reserve early. I used Yelp a lot while we were there. Hula Girl is fun as part of the restaurant is in the sand, your daughter would get a kick out of that. Make sure you get the Hula pie from Duke's at Honua Kai. So good! Mama's Fish House was good but I think overrated.

That's all I can think of for now but I'll add more if I think of anything else. You & your family will have an amazing time there. And I think you'll really enjoy Honua Kai as well!

[msturtle143]

Thanks so much! So sweet of you provide such helpful information! Especially an evidence of how great the service there was at the luau! lol You look real cute and happy!

I do remember seeing beautiful pictures of your wedding on the S&B now! Lucky girl!  

I do think the little one will just go back to sleep at that time on our drive to Haleakala.

We did about halfway of the Road to Hana and our little one puked in the car but she was not feeling well so not sure if it was due to car sickness. We turned around, needless to say. Not sure we'll be doing that again this time.

We went to Leilani's on the Beach and it was awesome food and where they sat us because my daughter was barely 2 then and was always on the go. Not that anything has changed since. Ha!
Will definitely look up and try Hula Girl! I think that might be next to Leilani's, do you know?
Is HK walkable to Whaler's Village at all?
You mentioned HK is 5min from Front St...you mean driving, right?

We went to Mama's for lunch, food was great but I honestly think it's a little overrated. I just re-read your comment and you also used the word "overrated". Ha!
We loved the aquarium.
There's a place there called Beach Bums right next to the aquarium...the best fish tacos imo!

Well HK is booked! So excited! Thank you so much for being so helpful!!

[kellsbelles]

I've stayed there too in may of 2013. It was by far the most homey, clean hotel I've ever stayed at. We rented a 3 bedroom oceanfront suite condo and it was incredible. We cooked lots of our meals in our kitchen and the views were phenomenal. Maui has been my favorite vacation and would go back to that hotel in a heartbeat! So jealous you get to go have a blast

We were also there with a 2 year old and she had a great time in the pools and the beach is really gentle. My inlaws took her on a glass bottom boat tour and to the lavender farm-both big hits.