Westin Princeville or Ka'anapali villas?

[fortmyersbride]

Has anyone been to the Westin Princeville in Kauai or Ka'anapali in Maui?  Any recs for or against either?  We would be looking at going in early November, and the reason for looking at these two properties specifically is that we could get a 2 bdr villa with our vacation points at either location.  I haven't been to either island.  We would be bringing our then 3 and 6 yr old, and flying from the Midwest, so looks like we're in for a longish trip no matter what--maybe a bit longer to Kauai?

[rootbeerfloat]

For a family vacation, I like Ka`anapali a bit better.

The difference in flight should be minimal unless you can fly to directly to one (probably Maui).

[mellymel]

I have only been to the Westin Ka'anapali (not the villas) and we loved it so much there and in Maui in general that we went back the following year.

[aurora]

Mar 9, 2014 12:59:10 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

For a family vacation, I like Ka`anapali a bit better.

The difference in flight should be minimal unless you can fly to directly to one (probably Maui).

There are direct flights to both islands from the mainland, though probably more options to Maui.

I haven't stayed at either hotel, but it does depend on what you are looking for.  Kauai overall is a less touristy island, though Princeville itself has the most tourist accommodations of the north shore of Kauai (still less than Kaanapali IMO).  Note that most of Princeville - including the Westin, it looks like from a quick Google search - is on a bluff high above the water so you're going to have to either hike or go down through the one hotel that has actual beachfront access if you go there.

[Deleted]

Where in the Midwest? There's a direct flight to Maui from Chicago. I don't think there are direct flights o Kauai except from the West Coast. I've never been to Kauai, but we've been to Maui with DD and are going back with both kids in 2 months.

[fortmyersbride]

Mar 9, 2014 13:06:10 GMT -5 BirdGirl said:

Where in the Midwest? There's a direct flight to Maui from Chicago. I don't think there are direct flights o Kauai except from the West Coast. I've never been to Kauai, but we've been to Maui with DD and are going back with both kids in 2 months.

KC, so it looks like we'd have at least 1 layover to get to Maui or at least 2 to get to Kauai.

 

[fortmyersbride]

Mar 9, 2014 13:04:40 GMT -5 aurora said:

Mar 9, 2014 12:59:10 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

For a family vacation, I like Ka`anapali a bit better.

The difference in flight should be minimal unless you can fly to directly to one (probably Maui).

There are direct flights to both islands from the mainland, though probably more options to Maui.

I haven't stayed at either hotel, but it does depend on what you are looking for.  Kauai overall is a less touristy island, though Princeville itself has the most tourist accommodations of the north shore of Kauai (still less than Kaanapali IMO).  Note that most of Princeville - including the Westin, it looks like from a quick Google search - is on a bluff high above the water so you're going to have to either hike or go down through the one hotel that has actual beachfront access if you go there.

I guess I'm not quite sure yet what I'm looking for, lol.  I think it would be nice to do some hiking and sightseeing while there, but we probably wouldn't leave the resort too much with the kids.

[egishere]

I've stayed at the Westin Ka'anapalli villas before. It was nice and seemed like it would be great with kids! Very close to Whalers Village which has a bunch of shops/restaurants.

[dbsk8dance]

We've stayed at the Maui one and it is great. Has a pirate ship pool and you're right on the beach.

We love Kauai, but that one is not on the beach. You have to take a shuttle to the beach. (Might be fine with you)

When are you thinking of going? I wouldn't want to stay North shore of Kauai in the winter.

Both are great, you can't really go wrong.

[fortmyersbride]

Mar 9, 2014 14:27:08 GMT -5 dbsk8dance said:

We've stayed at the Maui one and it is great. Has a pirate ship pool and you're right on the beach.

We love Kauai, but that one is not on the beach. You have to take a shuttle to the beach. (Might be fine with you)

When are you thinking of going? I wouldn't want to stay North shore of Kauai in the winter.

Both are great, you can't really go wrong.

Hmm, I think I'd rather be on the beach than a shuttle's ride away.

We'd be going in early Nov.

[redheadk]

Early November is pretty hot or miss on the north shore of Kauai if you want to go swimming at the beach. I love the north shore but it's rough in the winter.

[aurora]

Mar 9, 2014 14:45:52 GMT -5 fortmyersbride said:

Mar 9, 2014 14:27:08 GMT -5 dbsk8dance said:

We've stayed at the Maui one and it is great. Has a pirate ship pool and you're right on the beach.

We love Kauai, but that one is not on the beach. You have to take a shuttle to the beach. (Might be fine with you)

When are you thinking of going? I wouldn't want to stay North shore of Kauai in the winter.

Both are great, you can't really go wrong.

Hmm, I think I'd rather be on the beach than a shuttle's ride away.

We'd be going in early Nov.

Sounds like that's your answer, then!

I adore the north shore of Kauai.  It's one of my favorite places on the planet and we went there all the time growing up.  But, if I were choosing between beachfront lodging on Maui and shuttle-required lodging in Princeville I'd probably pick Maui (I've been there a few times, too). 

You can definitely find plenty of adventures and kid-friendly activities on both islands.

[aurora]

Mar 9, 2014 18:03:23 GMT -5 carrotsmakemefat said:

And let's not forget that Kauai is the rainiest place on earth. In the winter especially.

Out of the ~15 times I've been there (always in the winter) we only had constant rain and flooding that kept us confined to our rental once!

(Meaning that the other times it only rained frequently, not constantly.)

[vegas]

We've been to both. With kids I think kaanapali is the way to go hands down. We went with my 2 year old when I was pregnant with my daughter and it was awesome. It's a bit if a walk to whalers from the villas but they have free strollers if you feel like your 3 year old would so better with one. And free shuttles going to kaanapali and lanaina. We loved having. The kitchen and the space of a 2 bedroom and the grills around the property were surprisingly nice and clean. We grilled out one night and it was great. The kids pools are phenomenal, as are he adult pools.

One other that I'd check in to if you are leaning towards Maui is the marriott ocean club. Not sure if your points work for that timeshare but if so we prefer that location to the location of the Westin villas although we prefer the beach at Westin.

[scsarah]

We haven't taken kids to Hawaii yet, but given your time frame and choices, I'd go with the Ka'anapali. The Princeville resort is great, but as has been said, it's on the North Shore, and during the winter, the waves will be higher, and it will rain a lot more, and it may not be exactly the Hawaiian vacation you're dreaming of. On Maui, you'll be on the drier West shore, although they've had tons of rain this year, so it won't be as dry as usual.

Of course, both will probably be warmer than home, but I think the Ka'anapali will be better for what you're looking for.