Kauhale Makai (Village by the Sea)

#411 was a great suite

by TripAdvisor Member LisaVan

We had a great stay at the Kauhale Makai. From the second we walked in, we were happy. We had family that stayed at The Banyen which is rated four stars and their suite was half the size and they payed more than twice what we paid. (Their suite in every way was half the suite we had, including furniture and dishes etc. ) We even had a turkey dinner on christmas day that was easy to make in the large, fully equiped kitchen and then we sat down at our "full sized ie. can seat eat eight" dining room table. They had a view of a parking lot and we had two decks with waterfront views. We loved it. There are sugar ants, but very few and it's just part of the island. I liked the fact that it is a bit out of the hub of Kihei, the traffic along the main drag can be quite bad and this way you can just get on the highway to avoid it. We would stay at the Kauhale Makai again, although probably in one of Kel Howes suites as they are quite nice.

A Fantastic Place to Stay while in Maui

by A TripAdvisor Member

I gave a rating of 'Excellent' from our recent stay at the Kauhale Makai in Maui keeping in mind the price/value ratio. If you want 5+ stars and somebody to turn your bed down at night with chocolates on your pillow, stay somewhere in Wailea -- and pay dearly for it. What we received was honest accommodations that met our expectations and budget.

We stayed in a 2-bedroom, 2-bathroom unit (#312) for 10-days over Christmas that comfortably housed my wife, 14-month old son, and my parents. The unit was, for the most part, clean and outfitted with anything a family may possibly need for a week or more. We even found a Christmas tree in one of the closets that we assembled and decorated!

Having booked on Expedia, I was slightly nervous that we would arrive with no record of our booking and be hung out to dry (a fear compounded by my parents in tow), but the condo office called our home a few days prior to our departure to confirm our booking and to make late check-in arrangements; very good service in our opinion.

Once checked in, there was one problem with the unit and that was one of the toilets would not flush. A call to the lobby and all was fixed forthwith. Otherwise, everything was great; the A/C worked well, and all the appliances and other fixtures operated properly.

When booking, keep in mind that all the units are separately owned and as such, are all separately decorated. Ours was sparse – useful to us with the toddler – others were more lavishly appointed. One of the units was for sale during our stay (#333) and was more nicely decorated than ours but had a hefty price tag of $530,000 USD. Not chump change (but seems to be going rates) so it appears most owners go with the vacation rental option to offset some of that cost.

A few other notes to consider when booking:

-Try and choose units that are nearest the water. Ours was the second from the water and was well situated. Units at the other end of the complex are too close to the road and would be noisy.
- Try and book a north-facing unit. I know, it seems silly to avoid the sun while in Maui, but we were able to keep the doors open to the patio all day long and the unit stayed a comfortable temperature without using the A/C. Judging by the south-facing units having their curtains drawn and doors closed 100% of the time, they didn't have that luxury.
-The pool and kiddie pool are not heated. Fine for those scorching days, but on days where the sun is behind some clouds, dips in the pool are quick to say the least.
-As other reviews have mentioned, the beach is not the greatest. Consider this accommodation to be your base-camp and is situated well as such. It is really only 20-minutes to anywhere on the island, save Hana and the top of the volcano.

We would stay here again and recommend it to those looking for a central place to stay while in Maui.

Budget Condo

by TripAdvisor Member Sunshine99

06/06/04-06/12/04 We had a great time. I was very nervous about renting a condo from the Internet only being able to look at the pictures they had posted. Upon my search for a condo at a reasonable price I happened upon the following website. After looking though the posted rentals I came across the following rental
Absolutely fabulous!!!! I rented the small 2/2 for 4 adults and 1 child. I would have loved to rent the larger 2/2; however, it was rented. A girlfriend and her daughter rented the 1/1. I can not express how happy I was with the units. Anything you need from dishes, games, movies, cd's, towels (bath & Beach) are in the condos. Furniture is not the normal bamboo with flowers; it has the kind of furniture you would use in your own home. Loungable couch, comfortable beds and nice patio furniture, not the plastic kind.

The only thing I thought was average was the bathroom. But for the price and comfortable atmosphere, I can over look.

If you are looking for the Ritz this is not the kind of place for you. If you are on a budget and want a nice place to stay, look at the above website. The owners are very nice and helpful.

Can not wait to return.

Was worth it

by TripAdvisor Member DFWchick

I stayed in a 1-brdm condo, unit 405, owned by Kel Howes that I booked through him directly. I paid $500 for a week. The condo had a wonderful view, plenty of dishes, towels and misc items and was well kept, neat and clean. The furniture on the patio was not the cheap plastic kind and the condo was well decorated. I did see many not as well kept condos onsite.
While it would have been nice to be able to swim on a sandy beach outside of our condo, I paid less than half for this condo then I did when I stayed on the beach in Wailea. It was definately worth it and I intend to come back often. Thank you Mr. Howes.

Loved Village by the Sea - Suite 405

by A TripAdvisor Member

As per the previous reviewer, we have nothing but good things to say about Kel Howes condo #405. It was really great value, had all the kitchen utensils we could have possibly needed and also lots of beach towels, beach umbrellas and pool toys. It was spotlessly clean and very comfortable. The view of the pool and the ocean was lovely. We spent October 1 - 8 at the condo and would have absolutely no hesitation about going back. Great value.

village by the sea?

by A TripAdvisor Member

My wife and I spent our 15th anniversary at this condo for 8 days 10/14/04-10/21/04. We were a little dissapointed, late 70's decor, 2 rolls of tp for 8 days, one tiny bar of soap......we expected a little more. No tennis court as mentioned in ad. Really old, a nice little store that sells porn and liquor in the building. A nice employee in the store reminded us that we were "white" and some locals would not like to serve us? I would have spent the extra $100 to stay at a resort if I knew. Maui is awesome to say the least, we had a great time every minute we were away from the condo. Be carefull on the beach, sharp coral 2 feet out, my wife cut her foot. We will be back to Maui, not the Kahaule Makai.

Scary place

by A TripAdvisor Member

My wife and I looked forward to a romantic vacation in Maui and what we got was a dirty and unsanitary condo. We had bugs coming out of the sink, the bed sheets and pillow cases were stained. We slept in our clothes the whole time we stayed there. We even saw the pool guy throwing shock and chemical in the hot tub 1/2 before people sarted to use it. We basically left the condo in the morning and never returned till evening - Maui is a beautiful place that we will return to some day, but it will be far away from this place for sure. We stayed on the 4th floor, can't remember what the room was.

The other people staying there were very friendly, however, full-time tenants of the building are absolutely ignorant, do not bring children to this condo, you will be sorry.

Condo and beach review

by TripAdvisor Member PavelU

The condo itself is good. Full kitchen, TV, phone; partial ocean view, Haleakala view from the balcony (lanai).
The condo located on the ocean side of South Kihei road. There is about 200 yards of lawn between the condo and the ocean. The beach is not good: 5-10 yard wide strip of sand with sea weeds and small pieces of rocks. You can have about a mile of beach walk southward. The water is a kind of muddy.
Bottom line: if you don't care much about a beach (or don't mind to drive to Wailea or Kaanapali beaches), Village by the Sea is a good place to stay.

great price, ok quality

by TripAdvisor Member dasoju

i had stayed in a studio in this place on recent trip to maui, if you are looking for a discounted place with OK accomodation then this is the place, but you have to face quite a bit of discomfort for the discount, here are the things i had to put up with,

i was initially given a room with a nice ocean view, but when i entered the room sheets were really smelly, they were not laundered, soon i could barely sit on the bed, phone was not working, toilet was broken, i complained to the frontdesk they said they are going to take care of it, so i went out for dinner and returned back and found a note that they cannot repair it so they asked me to move to a another studio, so i moved to another studio it was clean and everything was in order, but when i got up in the morning my lovely ocean view was gone !!!, well it was my first day in maui so i decided to relax and not to make much fuss

studio's in this place are located such that you will face strong winds, winds were so strong that it was very difficult to close my door, so expect a very windy experience

the condo's are near to the beach but the beach is very windy and expect dust stroms on the beach so though the view is lovely we couldn't even stand on the beach, my wife and myself could barely take the photographs and had to run, so dont expect lovely sunset walks on the beach next to your hotel

it wouldnt be fair enough if i hadnt listed good things, so here are the good things the kitchen is very well equipped, condo had a beach umbrella and surfboards, bed was okay but not the best, there was a small swimming pool and jacuzzi from where you can see the ocean

my vacation was great and had such a good time that we didnt want to leave the island at all, but i really wish i had picked a better place to stay

if you are going to haleakala mountain for sunrise, pack warm clothing to keep you warm, i cant warn you more about how cold it can get at the top, and the best book to buy for your trip would be

Maui Revealed: The Ultimate Guidebook, Second Edition
by Andrew Doughty, Harriett Friedman

The Island of Aloha

by leepingnn

"Rainbows of Paradise"

Rainbows of Paradise is performed daily from 2:30-3:00 p.m. in two locations on the Polynesian Cultural Center: On the lagoon between the Islands of Samoa and the 1850s Mission Complex; and on the wide section of lagoon between the Islands of Fiji, Tahiti and Hawaii. (Because the two showings occur simultaneously, the order of appearance may be different than described.) There are no reserved seats.
Rainbows starts with a young Polynesian woman in an outrigger canoe throwing flowers into the lagoon, a tradition reminiscent of days gone by when great steamships transported visitors to these magical islands. It was said in those days that each blossom became a memory of visits to Hawaii; and if the blossoms returned to shore, then so would the visitors.

"Hawaii"

The Hawaiian greeting word, aloha, is known around the world and reflects the beauty not only of our fabled islands but also of the Hawaiian people. In the host islands of the Polynesian Cultural Center, the spirit of aloha abounds: You will meet some of the nicest young Hawaiians who are eager to share their stories and heritage. While their kauhale or village represents a historic lifestyle approximately 200 years old, and modern Hawaiians no longer live in so-called grass huts or hale [pronounce both syllables: "haw-lay"], Hawaiian culture has enjoyed a major resurgence since the Polynesian Cultural Center started over 40 years ago. The hula, arts and other aspects of Hawaiian culture you will learn at the Center is reflective of a proud race of Polynesians who graciously share their aloha with you.