Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa

I’m currently staying at this resort 8/23. One of the worst pool areas in a hotel Ive ever stayed in. Limited pool seating with umbrellas, People get down and reserve seats at 8am sharp. Then leave them unattended against hotel policy. Nobody enforces it. Get down at 8 am sharp and do the same for an umbrella or you will miss out. Pool side seating is tight and buggy even with 15-20 mph winds! Cabanas rentals are a 3rd party operation. $400 a day for a pool side cabana with old uncomfortable chairs and rusted out refrigerators. But worth it if you don’t want to sit in someone else’s lap! lol Snorkeling black rock is nice but get out early before the crowds. Rooms are outdated and the entire place could use some updating. Had a great massage, but there are no locker rooms or showers, steam rooms. The luau was great!

The pros are the location, it’s quiet, the kids like the pool, it’s next to Whaler's village - it’s why we’ve stayed at this resort for the past three years. It’s easy! The rooms are nice and I genuinely can’t complain. However, this property has gone downhill a bit and you should be aware of what you’re signing up for. I swear it was slightly nicer for the first two years we’ve stayed here! - the buffet is a step above continental, exorbitantly priced and not even that good. They got rid of the full service breakfast restaurant (which actually had decent food) and replaced it with this nonsense. I don’t mind paying Maui prices for food but can it at least be decent?? Again, thank god for Whaler’s village and other nearby restaurants. $50 “buffet” for adults and $25 for kids. You can prob get a discount on this depending on status. - the coffee bar (this resort only has one) is swamped every morning with two employees working. Not sure why they don’t hire more people?? - front desk usually has 1-2 people max working so be prepared to wait ages to check in. - they offer resort pass so you get lots of randoms (and people that don’t even bother with day passes that wander in from the beach). So you end up with a nice pool that’s plagued with chair-saving shenanigans, strangers washing their sandy feet, etc. It’s giving Carnival cruise. Marriott could easily solve this problem with wristbands like other resorts do but they don’t seem to care. Again, if this was a cheap resort I wouldn’t complain. - I can’t see us staying here again as the value isn’t here for me personally. I’d rather pay slightly more $$ and just get a better experience overall. Bummer!

We had another great stay at the Sheraton when we returned to Maui. This was the first hotel built on Ka'anapali Beach and it opened in 1963. You can sense some of that retro vibe in the architecture and design but the hotel underwent significant re-development in the 1990s and room renovations were completed as recently as 2020 so it still has a modern feel. The hotel has a prime location on the northern end of Ka'anapali Beach where the lava rock promontory known as Black Rock is found. This is a sacred spot to the Hawaiian people and every night at sunset, there is a torch lighting and cliff diving ceremony to honor this tradition. We booked an ocean view room that included a balcony overlooking the pool area, beach and ocean. It was quite expensive and the view was not as good as the Oceanfront rooms in the Moana complex where we stayed last time as these offered more private balconies with unobstructed views of the ocean but these rooms were even more expensive. I would be tempted to book a "Resort View" or "Partial Ocean View" room next time as this is what we essentially had with the room we were given. The grounds of the resort are beautifully landscaped and there is an extensive pool complex including a lazy river with a waterfall you can sit under. We had no trouble finding loungers. One day we rented personal cabanas that offered shade and this was worthwhile especially if you plan to spend the entire day by the pool. My cabana had an annoying tear in the canvas on its roof allowing sun to poke through at times. I should have demanded a replacement but wasn't sure if this was possible so instead, I just put up with it. Bar service was pretty good although drink prices are not surprisingly very high. Some cans of beer from the market in my room fridge solved this problem. The beach is sandy and was much wider in October compared to when we last visited in the month of February when there is erosion from winter swells. The snorkeling at Black Rock is some of the best and easiest I've ever experienced. In addition to many colorful tropical fish, I saw a number of sea turtles swimming right next to me. Go past the buoy and around the corner where the lava rock ends and the snorkeling was at its best with a ton of fish to be seen. If you are here during whale season (late December to mid May), you can amazingly listen to the sounds of the humpback whales as they reverberate off the rocks. The best time of day to snorkel was in the early morning when very little people are in the water and the fish and turtles were active (although sharks can be more active at this time as well). It can get annoyingly busy later in the morning and afternoon. Whaler's Village is a 15 minute walk on a paved path along the beach. Shopping and several popular restaurants can be found here but they tend to be overpriced for the food quality presented, nevertheless it is a convenient option. Overall, a great experience once again and I would certainly stay here again should be return to Maui.

My family stayed for 8 days and we had to move rooms 3 times. The first two rooms were on the first floor and smelled of mold and mildew. Our eyes started burning as soon as we walked into the room bc the mildew was so strong! My daughter’s pull out sofa had blood on the mattress. The 3rd room was better but the overall health and safety of this hotel is concerning. The pool both rooms had mold on the walls and the door frame is rusted from the floods that happened earlier in the year. Our ice and vending area on the 5th floor was absolutely disgusting (see photos) and no one should be getting ice from that vending area. We had trash that was sitting outside the door of our room when we checked in and it sat there for 3 days. The location is obviously why people stay there, but do yourself a BIG favor and stay at the Westin just down the beach, it’s MUCH cleaner and safer!

Great location to the beach. Loved our room and the ease to get around. Amazing lazy river. Some things that customer service helped us with but were not the best (hard to complain in Maui but some things to improve) housekeeping did not come daily, when we called they said housekeeping was too busy to come for the day. The housekeepers were always working very hard and when they could come the room was perfect. Disappointing to come back from a long day with no towels. Also, one half working shower by the beach/pool so sand is everywhere. Tried really hard to wash off before tracking sand but with only one shower that barely works it was hard (leaving more work for house cleaning). Kind bell hops/vallet and workers. Also, chairs at pool were covered with towels but no one in them for hours. many signs saying things would be moved but they never were. Difficult to get chairs without looking around for someone to leave. Paid $30 to rent chair on beach when wanted to. Nice to have the option to rent one or buy a cheap one and use daily at a store.