Hotmail
Hawaiian luxury
Wailea is paradise, but it's not cheap!
 | A view of the sun setting poolside from the Grand Wailea Resort, Feb. 6, 2006 in Wailea, Maui, Hawaii. |
Marco Garcia / AP file |
WAILEA, Hawaii - If these islands are heaven, Wailea is paradise.
At the base of a dormant volcano, this extravagant and romantic resort town on the southwestern shores of Maui provides a perfect postcard view from every angle. If you're fortunate enough to stay here, it will be hard to leave.
But don't leave home without the essentials: swimsuit, golf clubs, a good book - and a lot of money. Paradise, after all, rarely comes at a discount, and Wailea has the highest hotel rates in Hawaii.
Framed between the unspoiled, rolling hillsides of Haleakala and the peaceful Pacific Ocean, Wailea is home to some of Hawaii's most luxurious hotels and spas where celebrities, honeymooners and the world's wealthy come to indulge and unwind.
Despite having three times the land of bustling Waikiki, Wailea has just five oceanside resorts. All of them - the Grand Wailea Resort, the Four Seasons Resort Maui, the Fairmont Kea Lani, the Renaissance Beach Resort and the Wailea Marriott Resort - feel private and peaceful.
The opulent and open-air properties all have lush tropical gardens, fountains and flaunt sweeping ocean views against a backdrop of spouting humpback whales and uninhabited Kahoolawe island. But they are each very distinct in their architecture and feel.
Perhaps the granddaddy of them all is the 780-room Grand Wailea Resort. Built in 1991 on 40 oceanfront acres, the sprawling resort features the largest spa in Hawaii - the 50,000-square-foot Spa Grande.
What's outside the hotel is just as impressive as what's inside. It's an oceanside oasis, featuring nine swimming pools, seven water slides that make it a favorite among visiting families, caves, bridges, waterfalls and a children's beach.
Next door to the Grand Wailea is the 380-room Four Seasons Resort Maui, where rooms run $365 for a mountainside room and can go up to a whopping $9,500 a night for the palatial 5,000-square-foot Maile Suite.
|
But not every room on Wailea will set you back that much. Rooms can be found at all five resorts for between $300 and $400 a night. Some guests do nothing on their vacations but relax at the resorts all day, which makes their stay relatively affordable because they have few other expenses for entertainment aside from food.
Farther along Wailea Alanui Drive is the Fairmont Kea Lani, which resembles a gleaming white Mediterranean castle. It is the only resort in Hawaii that has nothing but suites and villas. The one-bedroom suites start at $385 a night and the posh villas start at $1,600 a night.
"Within the Wailea area, they have the some of the finest golf courses and hotels in the world," said Rex Johnson, president and chief executive of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. "A lot of that infrastructure is newer than we have in Waikiki and is therefore able to exact some of those higher rates they get."
Frequent visitors to Wailea say that the steep hotel prices are not just for the luxuries of a gentle bed, purple orchid petals scattered in the bathroom, priceless views and waking up to the sound of waves. It's also the exceptional service and the attention to detail.
Four Seasons claims it has an average ratio of 1.5 staff members for every guest room; you may want to bring a wad of cash in small bills for tipping housekeepers, valets, bellhops and wait staff.
Wailea is also a haven for tennis and golf.
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
-
Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM HAWAII TRAVEL |
 Hawaii Travel Section Front |
| Add Hawaii Travel headlines to your news reader: |
Resource guide