The Kapalua Villas Maui

This was the most beautiful villa ever! I didn’t want to leave! Clean, well stocked with the basics you expect, just wonderful. The most beautiful grounds ever! The view will take your breath. Ask for villa 1423! Close to so many restaurants, several beach entrances! The staff is awesome from Shannon the concierge to Darrell checking us out!

We booked a trip for our 15th wedding anniversary through Costcotravel.com to Maui. This was our first trip across the ocean, first time utilizing Costco for travel and first tropical vacation. Pros: Easy to book the trip along with extras through the Costco website; good price (so we thought, more later); easy to compare different places to stay along with amenities and options. Cons: Everything was great until check-in. We had no trouble getting our boarding passes, good communication from Costco with our itinerary, (don't forget to set up an account with whatever airline you are using in order to check in for your flight and get your boarding passes if you are doing it electronically. We had Delta, first class tickets, as a forewarning, we've traveled Alaska and there was a physical wall between first and business allowing for a smaller amount of people to be in a space, on Delta, there is a mesh net, that was kind of a bummer), getting our rental at the airport was simple and straightforward, (we used Alamo, the attendants were a little standoffish and rushed but were efficient and we were out quickly). After getting our car, we had read/researched that lots of people make Costco their first stop, however, it was just the 2 of us for a week and because we flew first class, we were allowed 2 70lb checked bags each. We bought our Costco needs on the mainland and packed them into our check in luggage. I figured all we would really need for our trip clothes were swimsuits, 1 nice outfit for dinner out and a change of shoes along with undergarments. None of the clothes took up too much room, so I packed alot of those into our carry-on back packs and left room in the checked baggage for canned good and dry goods. Our first stop actually happened to be Walmart, which going north on Airport Rd is just off to the left-hand side. We bought several items, like condiments, snacks, eggs and whatnot from here. The prices were not outrageous, pretty comparable to mainland really, and while it is not a Super Walmart, it did have some fruits/veggies and fresh items. Meat was a little iffy looking, so I decided to wait to buy meat from a store closer to the Villas, since they were just over an hour away from the airport. Driving to the Villas was amazing! The land was beautiful and different, amazing beaches along the way, lots of things to look at. We had no issue finding the Villas or the office, but this is where our "so far, so good" day came to a crashing halt. Kapalua was the best value on the website, and it was also closest to what we were looking to do which was snorkeling, perfect right? The beaches there were rated as the best, (and they were beautiful and full of color to swim with. We have the burns to prove it!), however, the price was a trick! We pulled into the main office to check in, a cute couple obviously on their honeymoon had pulled in right before us. It was around 5pm so only the front attendant was there. The couple in front of us checked in, and being the snoopy person I am, I listened in while looking out the windows at Maui. I overheard the husband say, "I didn't know anything about the extra charges. Costco never said anything about that." The attendant regretfully and politely states, "I know sir, it has been an issue for a while now, we keep telling their representatives they need to be more clear about the resort fees, I'm very sorry." Here I started thinking to myself, "I wonder how those fees weren't included in their package? Sucks to be them!" After some anger and frustration from the newlywed couple, they complete their paperwork and their payment and leave to go to their villa. Now it's my turn. So I sit down to complete the paperwork and the attendant hands me an itemized bill and asks for a credit card for the almost $600 cleaning/resort fees. I looked at him incredulously and stated, "Oh no, I booked online through Costco, it's all paid for." I then get the sympathetic look and the apologies along with the same explanation that the first couple just ahead of me received. He states, "They do tell you about it, it's just not well stated or visible. We've asked them to make sure and tell travelers about the fees but unfortunately, they have not." I reread my itinerary again, don't see what he's talking about, my husband is hot mad cause it was $600 we hadn't planned on spending and I go back and read one more time. Sure enough, it's right there, but the way I read it was that the cleaning fees and resort fees were a part of the bill that we had paid. From the itinerary: "The package price excludes a USD 35 mandatory daily resort fee and a mandatory checkout cleaning fee of USD 225 plus tax for One-Bedroom units, and USD 275 plus tax for Two-Bedroom units for travel on or before Dec. 31, 2019. For travel on or after Jan. 1, 2020, the package price excludes a USD 250 plus tax for One-Bedroom units, and USD 300 plus tax for Two-Bedroom units. All fees are payable directly to the resort upon checkout and are subject to change by the hotel without notice. Daily housekeeping is available for a fee and may be arranged upon check-in. Non-Refundable Rate requires 100% payment at time of purchase and no changes or refunds are allowed. The price includes hotel taxes." Totally skipped the "excludes" portion of the first sentence. We've already traveled to Hawaii, have a non-refundable room, so what else could we do but hand over the credit card and pay the $600 fee? Luckily for us, we can afford it, but what about those that are on a shoestring budget to start with? This would have completely destroyed their entire vacation. We get to our assigned Villa, took a little back tracking around to find the right route, grab a handful of our groceries and luggage and walk down the stairs to our front door, where we are greeted by a spider that we dubiously named "George". I believe George was large enough that had we wanted to, we could have shaken hands,and George would have won the strength contest. No biggie, George is on the outside where George's are supposed to live, we'll just make sure to walk a wide path around him. Our door had a keypad on it and we were given a code at the front desk for the door. Keeping one eye on George, hands full I reach out and punch in the code...red blinking light. Okayyy, must have hit a wrong number. Try again, while also attempting to look as non-threatening to George as I can...red blinking light. 3rd time, enter the code hit the * key cause maybe they forgot to put that in the instructions...red blinking light. Husband, still mad about the $600, "Here give me the code"...red blinking light. So, we set all of the items we brought from the car down on the ground and call the 800 number they had provided at the front desk. Hit the number for maintenance because I figure they must have a way to get in. The woman that answered was super polite and professional. She stated she would call the maintenance man and he would be right over. About 5 minutes later, our maintenance man showed up, attempted the code we were given a couple of times...red blinking light. So, he enters his secret code and lets us in. He was fantastic! He called the front desk, got a new code, made sure it worked, made sure we were able to use it and then left. He was our hero of the day! The condo itself:Beautiful. Location of our condo:eh. As stated, we purchased an Ocean View Villa. I fully understand that I did not purchase a "beachfront villa", however, that being said, we were smack dab in the middle of the golf course in the Ridge Villas, literally way up on the ridge. When we booked, there was no other choices other than golf, ocean front or ocean view. If we looked out one set of windows, we saw the ocean, far away yes, but could still make out boats coming and going. If we looked out the other set of windows we could see the golfers hitting their balls into the sand traps then looking to see if we saw them do it...we did just so they know, we could totally see them whiff the ball. We were disappointed by where the condo was located, it did deliver an ocean view, just not what we expected. It was 2 story and had an AC unit on the main floor and one up in the master bedroom. Thank God for AC! However, those poor AC's ran 24/7 for us at the lowest temp setting, highest fan setting, and still could not keep up on the temp in the stairwell or the upstairs bathroom. Every time we used the upstairs bathroom, you walked out weighing at least a pound less from the amount of sweat that poured off of you! Beautiful, huge bathroom with a 2 person tub, 2 person shower, large walk in closet and a washer/dryer combo in the closet. Super handy for keeping clothes contained. We were provided with clothes washing soap and were told upon check in to let the front desk know if we needed more during our stay. We were also provided, larger sized sample bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body and hand wash soap that were of good quality and lasted us most of the week. There was also a iron and ironing board along with 2 hair dryers provided. The king sized master bedroom was large and comfortable. It took us 2 nights to get the curtains completely closed all the way but that was probably more on us than anything. The king bed was comfortable and clean. Good t.v. and dressers available. Another perk was that if you shut the door, the AC unit cooled the room down nicely! Bad part, 0600 the golf course workers were out completing yard maintenance and we could hear all the equipment being ran. So if you're not a morning person (we aren't FYI) that part kinda sucks! The kitchen was pretty, granite counters, good large sink, fridge with water/ice maker, nice stove/oven and a dish washer. Dish soap was provided along with basics. Decent dishes, silverware and basic cooking utensils along with pots and pans were provided. There was a rice cooker, coffee maker with coffee and a couple of teas, sugars provided and measuring cups. Very utilitarian but serviceable. There was not however anything "extra". We've used VRBO in the past to reserve houses and such for our stays, so we expected this unit to be much like what we had experienced before i.e. a few staples lying around such as condiments, salt, pepper, seasonings, things people buy and leave behind. Nope, this place was stripped bare! There were no left behind baggies, tupperware, foil, plastic wrap or anything. Thankfully I brought a few baggies for things I was planning on bringing home and we had brought stuff so we didn't literally have to buy everything we needed, but if you didn't come prepared, you would have to buy something for everything if you were planning on cooking and having leftovers, or taking sandwiches or snacks with you out on the road. After exploring the villa and putting everything away we had dinner and went down to Kapalua Beach...it was amazing! Beautiful sands, easy walk, beautiful sunset. Went back to the villa, husband went to get a bottle opener out of the drawer and was surprised by 3 cockroaches running around in the drawer! He quickly killed all of them and told me what he had found. Umm...gross, but it's Hawaii so maybe a few came in while we were unloading the car? Putting a snack together later, I had the pleasure of watching 2 other roaches run up the wall and hide behind the microwave. Okayyy, gross, but again Hawaii, had left the door open to get stuff into unit probably all we would see. Next morning come downstairs and turn on the light, have the pleasure of watching 3-5 roaches scurry out of the sink and the counter and up the walls...yeah, that's too many for this mainland girl! Call the front desk and let them know, not only have we killed several roaches, we now have several hiding around the kitchen can they do something about this? Again, the people were super friendly/helpful. They were there within about an hour, my husband answered the door, they had brought toxic spray. My husband asked if they had anything more natural since it was the kitchen and we really didn't want that on our eating surfaces. They said they did and that they would come back later with it if we were ok with that, we agreed and took off for the day. When we got back that evening, making dinner, again found 2 cockroaches in the same drawer along with 1 up in the cabinets that held the plates. Called the front desk again told them still had roaches, they again were super friendly, said they would send someone in the morning. Next day, one of the attendants came and looked around trying to find the roaches, we showed them the few we had killed and where we had seen them. They sprayed again, we left for the day and when we came home, there were new roach traps around the kitchen...roaches are smart they don't go into traps. Still found roaches every morning and evening from that point on, but gave up on trying to get rid of them since we knew they had tried everything they could. I suppose most would chalk this up to "It's Hawaii, they have roaches." I really do get that, but we had to spend $225 at the beginning of our stay for cleaning services, I feel like that should include pest control. My mother-in-law goes to Hawaii every other year for a month at a time and stays in Kihei, at no point has she ever seen a roach in her unit. The unit was quiet at night, the workers bees were out promptly at 0600 every morning keeping the golf course trimmed and the property kept up which even over the air conditioners running 24/7 would wake us up. If we tried to go out to the lanai to look at the ocean, the golfers would often try to chat with us, which we hated but understood they were trying to be friendly since we just saw them smack their ball into the sand pit, pick it up and toss it back onto the green. Overall, we had a good trip because we were together, we were on Maui, we were able to snorkel at different beaches and see beautiful critters, but we would not stay at Kapalua again (we spent too much time in a car to go to places), nor would we stay at Kapalua Villas again. Too many hidden items we did not know about and not what we were ultimately looking for. If we were to travel to Maui again, we would probably stay in Kihei, (after all of the traveling, I felt it offered the best of both worlds, snorkeling, kiting, beaches and more convenient than Kapalua); we would probably use VRBO to find a more suitable condo/building and we were do the cruise to La'haina on Trilogy. We went on the Molikini, Turtle Town cruise, which was ok but not great. We had chosen it because a. it was cheaper, and b. it went to Molikini where we read it was incomparable to any other snorkel spot. We went out on the Leilani, who's crew and captain were great! We had small pastry/fruit breakfast along with coffee, juice, soda service on the way out, went to Turtle Town first since it was such a nice day. Snorkeled with turtles and saw beautiful fish, there then once we were back on the boat, we were served a decent lunch of pulled pork sandwiches or hot dogs along with fixings and drinks. We traveled from Turtle Town to Molikini Crater. The water was probably the clearest water we snorkeled in the whole time, the issue was, there was only a small circle of water we were allowed to snorkel in, even with very few boats around. Molikini is a protected wildlife refuge, so we were required to stay 5 feet away from the rock itself, could not travel towards the front of the boat because of the 100ft drop off and current and had to restrict how far to the left of the boat we went in case other ships came in wanting to anchor in. Thankfully, our captain had gone backwards, we had gone to Turtle Town first, allowing for most of the tour boats to get to Molikini and then go to Turtle Town after us, because if we had been at Molinkini with the crowds, I'm not sure that we would have been able to swim around there at all! We had about 50 people on our boat and we were all running into each other at Molikini just floating around because space was so limited! If you are questioning at all if the La'haina trip on Trilogy at $220 is worth it, totally go for it! It's a splurge but it's what you are there to do and enjoy! We did the Road to Hana backwards on one of the days and the first half of the drive was probably my favorite part of Maui. If you start out backwards, it’s like going into a tropical jungle! The road is mud and dirt, gravel and hard to find for a good portion of the back way, but it takes you into the mountains and gives you a different view of the island. The waterfalls and pull offs are beautiful, pack your lunch, make sure you have lots of gas and have nerves of steel! The road disappears at times, sharp blind corners are everywhere and after about the halfway point, there’s tons of cars coming at you! We saw chickens, goats, cows and shrimp all along the way. We found a coconut in the road, bread fruit in the road and ginger in the water! Probably my favorite day! Maui is beautiful and really depending on what you are looking for and what you enjoy doing, you will find it here. If you don’t mind driving, roaches and a golf course outside your windows, Kapalua is for you. If you prefer not, then maybe Lahaina or Kihei would be a better choice!

Words cannot describe how beautiful it is here. Our villa was clean and spacious. Sitting on the lanai we could look over the well groomed golf course and see the ocean. Absolutely lovely place to stay.

When I booked for my room I had left them a note so the resort know that we going to have 3 people ( dad, cousin and I). When I check in they gave me a room that there’s no door to the shower nor the bad room. What am I suppose to do? Looking at my dad make? The jet cozy is not working and the tub is not clean. The room smell like someone pee all over the living room area. Walk around the kitchen area seeing roaches everywhere. Some dead one under the stair. Push the table out to pull out the sofa bed and saw trash from the previous person understand the table. The bed is super soft cuss my back hurt so badly. This is the most uncomfortable staying I ever had!!! Over charge on cleaning fee and facilities use. If you ever book this place always remember you will pay extra $400-$500 more for cleaning fee when they clean nothing for you. There is no daily clean up and no daily new towels. This is the worst place I ever booked and will never recommend this place for anyone else. Will never come back.

Spectacular condo, large enough for family of 5. Easy location to the best beaches in Maui. On a golf course with ocean views and privacy. Walking distance to great restaurants. Merrimans, RItz, Montague, Sensei, Plantation House. Short drive to Lahaina town and Whalers Village