Fairmont Kea Lani Maui

Thank you Kea Lani staff for making my vacation amazing, Thank you Isaiah, Bryan, Micheal, Angelo for your amazing service.. it was nice to work just as hard at a hotel and receive the same amazing service back take care and see you later !

Our family likes to book nice resorts to stay in when we go on vacation. Atmosphere, good restaurants and nice pool areas are very important to us. The Fairmont Kea Lani does extremely well in all categories. The open air lobby is beautiful and grand and looks out over the coy pond, pool and beach. The rooms were clean and spacious with comfortable beds. The pullout sofa is not the most comfortable but it worked fine for our teen. They offered turn down service every night so we did not have to pull out the bed. The bathroom is spacious with lots of storage. They give you refillable water bottles on arrival. Water refill stations are located everywhere around the resort. I saw some negative reviews about that and I don’t understand those reviews at all. We found it a nice touch and liked that they are doing their part to help the environment. The pools are great. We liked the top pool better as it was a little quieter. The slide is fun and the swim up bar was nice for easy access to a drink. We rented a cabana on our first day to be able to secure a chair easily and assess the situation for later days. As long as you were at the pool by 9-10 each morning, chairs were easily found. If you want an ideal spot under an umbrella then get there by 8 😃 I passed by the Grand Wailea one morning on a jog and saw people lined up at 7am to secure chairs. It’s is not like that at the Fairmont….thankfully! (At least not while we were there). If you go out for an excursion and arrive to the pool around 11, there will still prob be chairs but they will not be under an umbrella and will not be located super close to the pool. The pools are also open 24 hours but the slide does close at 5. We did not feel the cabana lived up to the cost. Our waitress was not quick and it took forever to get a drink. We found the swim up bar to be more convienient so therefore only booked a cabana on the first day. We dined at the breakfast buffet and Nick’s. We really enjoyed Nick’s and liked the breakfast buffet but only did it once as we are not huge breakfast eaters. We also tried several dishes at the pool and surprisingly really enjoyed the burger! It was very good! The grounds are beautiful, the beach is nice and felt private because no other resorts shared it. (Side note…gulf coast beaches have prettier sand in our opinion) The staff was nice and attentive and the housekeeping staff knew us by name which we thought was a nice personal touch. Valet is offered but we parked every day as it was extremely easy and the lot is close to the lobby. We usually always do valet but didn’t feel it was needed at the Fairmont. Plus the resort parking is free! For the cons….not a ton. Food is pricey but we expected that. If you need something for your room and call, you basically talk to a computer. I feel a 5 star resort should be more personal. Service was nice but not over the top. We have stayed at Four Seasons properties before and their service outshines the Fairmont but so does their price tag….so it’s a give and take. Would we go back to the Fairmont? In a heartbeat.

This was our second trip to the Fairmont with our kids (3, 5, and 7), and it was overall good but not amazing. Our original room had a major bug problem, so before we went to dinner off-property I asked for a new room. The manager agreed (although quibbled about giving us too much of an upgrade from the original room we had paid for) and said they would prepare the new room while we were out at dinner. I told the manager we had packed all of our bags and asked that everything be moved to the new room while we were out to dinner and that a rollaway bed be setup in the new room. She said they would do so and that they'd text me when the room was ready. We came back several hours later and I checked back in with the front desk since I never got a text. I was told the room was ready but the bags had not been moved. So, after a long first day of travel, with several little ones, we trudged up to the old room to make sure the bellman came to move the bags. When we got to the new room, there was no rollaway bed either, so I had to call down and wait for that to be brought up. The resort is pretty and the pool area is great for kids. However, it was crowded, and they do sell day-passes to locals, which made the pool area feel packed. Moreover, some of the locals brought their own music and speakers to the day cabanas they booked, which is not quite the vibe most families are looking for. As far as I could tell, none of the employees told anyone with their own music or speakers at the pool to turn it off. I understand maybe selling day passes during slower times of the year, but not during the summer when the hotel is already packed with families. Service was fine overall. I can't think of any employee that went out of their way to go the extra mile or make the stay particularly memorable. We setup our own pool chairs every day, and I don't remember any employee ever offering to do so for us. Service at breakfast was again fine but a little slow, which was not surprising how busy the buffet was each day. Housekeeping was also hit or miss. There were a few days where housekeeping had not come by the time we got back to our room around 3 pm and turn-down service tended to be on the late side as well, so there were several nights we did not get that since we were usually back from dinner early with young kids. Our first trip to the Kea Lani with the kids was amazing, but this trip just did not meet our expectations. We've stayed at the Four Seasons next door many times and that hotel (service, food, etc.) are leaps and bounds above the Fairmont. However, the pool area at the Four Seasons is great for toddlers but not very good for kids as they get older, which is why we've down the Fairmont for our last two trips as our kids have gotten a little older. There were just a lot of little things that missed the mark this trip, which is not acceptable with the $1,000+ nightly rates they are charging right now. Given our last experience at the Kea Lani, we will be trying a different hotel on our next trip to Hawaii.

We recently stayed at Fairmont Kea Lani Maui and overall had a very good experience. At the beginning of our stay, we had a few issues, but I want to give special recognition to April and the team for addressing our concerns quickly and professionally. Once those issues were resolved, the service throughout the rest of our stay was excellent. The staff was friendly and attentive, housekeeping did a great job keeping the room clean, the shuttle service was very convenient, and overall the resort delivered a great family vacation experience. Our kids had a lot of fun, and we genuinely enjoyed our time here. The reason I’m giving 4 stars instead of 5 stars comes down to a few areas that I believe could be improved: First, the sofa bed in the suite is very uncomfortable. The room itself is spacious and beautiful, but the sofa bed could definitely use an upgrade, especially for families traveling with children. Second, I think the pool areas, villas, and some of the resort facilities could benefit from modernization. While everything is maintained well, some areas feel dated compared to newer luxury resorts. A renovation would significantly enhance the overall guest experience. My final suggestion relates to the waterslide area. The current setup makes it difficult for parents to keep a clear eye on their children throughout the entire slide experience. Improving visibility and supervision around the slide area would make it more comfortable for families. Overall, we had a very enjoyable stay. The service was excellent, the food was good, the property is beautiful, and the staff genuinely cares about guests. With a few updates and improvements, this could easily be a 5-star experience

A “5 Star” that acts like a 3 Star. The Fairmont has spacious rooms, but the overall experience was underwhelming for the price. The pools were fine but nothing memorable. We skipped the resort restaurants because there were better-rated options nearby. The service had no “fine touches” that said luxury. Think the service level of a Courtyard Marriott. Nice, but not special. The valet staff was excellent and the clear highlight of the service. Beyond that, service felt basic, especially at the pool and beach. We chose the Fairmont for its beach access and chair service, but the beach chair service ends at 4:30 p.m., and there is no food or drink service on the beach. To get anything, you have to walk back up into the resort, which is inconvenient. Pool service was also very limited. Several times there was no attendant available, so we had to get our own towels, and servers were hard to find. Across multiple visits, I was only checked on once. For a resort centered on the pool and beach experience, the service did not meet expectations.