Wailea Beach Resort - Marriott, Maui

I don’t usually leave negative reviews, but this stay was too frustrating not to share. From the moment we checked in, things went downhill. The front desk told us our reservation had been canceled. It wasn’t. We booked through American Express Travel, and after spending over an hour on the phone with Amex, they confirmed our reservation was active the entire time. The mistake was on the hotel’s end. Instead of starting our vacation, we spent our first hour trying to fix something that wasn’t our fault. To make up for it, they moved us from our two queen ocean view room to an oceanfront king. The view was beautiful, but for a family of four, it wasn’t an upgrade. One of us ended up sleeping on a pullout sofa for five nights because we no longer had two beds. That wasn’t doing us a favor. It was trying to fix a mistake. What really bothered me was how it was handled afterward. Terrence at the front desk told my wife that the hotel had “done us a favor” by upgrading us. That comment completely missed the point. We weren’t asking for anything extra. We just wanted the room we booked. Saying they did us a favor instead of simply owning the mistake was disappointing and honestly disrespectful. The problems didn’t stop there. The Marriott app never worked correctly during our stay, they blocked us out of our room and day 4 and had us go back and remake new keys which probably had to do with the mistakes they made at check-in. We also believed breakfast was included through our American Express booking which is why we ate there each morning, but no one explained otherwise. On our fourth morning, we sat down for a simple breakfast with our kids and were surprised with a bill for almost $200, including an automatic 20% gratuity on a buffet breakfast which is unheard of. At checkout, we were also told they couldn’t honor the late checkout benefits tied to our reservation or my Marriott Bonvoy status. After everything else that happened, it was just one more disappointment. The only bright spot was housekeeping. They were amazing. They were friendly, our room was always spotless, and they were the only team that consistently delivered great service. Also, the pool situation is frustrating since they seemed understaffed the guests would leave towels on chairs for hours and the one staff lady couldn’t keep track and wouldn’t clear them so we ended up standing two of the days for majority of the time while our kids were in the pool because we couldn’t get to a chair. I’ve stayed more than 40 nights at Marriott properties this year, and this was, without question, the worst customer service I’ve experienced. The resort itself is beautiful, but great views don’t make up for poor service. Sadly, because of the way we were treated, we won’t be coming back. I hope management reads this because this resort has so much potential, but the guest experience did not match what Marriott promises .

Blinnk Photo made our vacation! Our photographer, Jen, was amazing. Not only was she incredibly nice but the photos she took turned out to be fantastic. We especially loved the video she secretly prepared! We highly recommend Blinnk to anyone wanting a visual memory of their heavenly stay in Maui.

Had a honeymoon photoshoot. Love the photos! Great experience from the photographer. She was very professional. Andy was very friendly and helpful in helping us choose the photos we love. Highly recommend their services!

Good location on the ocean, expensive drinks, cute shops. Large property, lots of walking. Room was clean and spacious. Staff is friendly.

Writing this review halfway through a weeklong stay and tl;dr this is a gorgeous property with service that doesn't feel quite as special as it used to - and at the price you pay to stay here, it really is a bummer when anything feels off. The problem - and to be clear, it is an incredibly lucky "problem" to have - is that we've been coming here for years and have had some truly exceptional stays; unfortunately, this stay has been nice but with some hiccups. Check-in was haphazard (agent forgot to talk through breakfast & loyalty amenities and we had to double back down later; a different agent made a big show of giving us an extra breakfast coupon but she had not in fact given us an extra breakfast coupon, she also semi insulted our clothes in a way that was meant to be a joke but didn't really land; we weren't able to apply upgrade certificates and ended up in a very standard room which is the first time we weren't offered something special when an upgrade wasn't available - this is obviously just how it goes sometimes and having loyalty doesn't actually entitle you to anything you don't explicitly pay for, but as repeat customers who have been offered *something* as a sorry-we-can't-upgrade-you-but-we-appreciate-your-loyalty every other time we've been here, I'll admit we felt a little disappointed right off the bat). There have been some clear cost-cutting choices made by the property (no more free mai tai coupons at check-in, changed beach rental cost structure, constant attempts to upsell into pool-based experiences, removal of property lounge chairs likely in an effort to encourage purchasing of cabanas, no more impossible breakfast sandwiches at Starbucks, no more slippers in rooms, fewer bath amenities in room by default, etc). None of these are massive deals in the grand scheme, but when you've come to expect a certain standard of stay and that standard declines from one visit to the next, you do notice. To be clear, this is still a magnificent property on a beautiful island and the fact that so much is accessible via walking and you can really choose your own adventure (this is as wonderful a choice for couples as it is families as it is a work group) means that at the right price (or points redemption rate), others should absolutely consider staying here; I probably will continue to come back because I'm a creature of habit and this is one of my happy places. But increased prices and decreased service standards do mean that I'm no longer guaranteed to pick this property over others, and I may consider other properties after this trip.