The Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas, Lahaina HI

Nice place, seems slightly dated now. Great location, nice pool and great place to watch whales on the beach.

Our first trip to Hawaii and we had a wonderful time with beautiful ocean view. We could see the whales right from our balcony. Everything you need, beautiful grounds, pools, beach and loved having the shuttle. The concierge was awesome with booking us a luau and whale watching. We had an amazing week here and everyone was very nice and helpful! Dukes restaurant was also amazing!

Terrible customer service. Booked an ocean front room and got a room facing a parking lot. Not sure how this is considered ocean front. I asked to cancel my last 2 days of stay to change hotel to something with an ocean front, but was denied.

False advertising at its finest.

Look at the photos and you be the judge.

What a terrible hotel. They are marketing ocean view, but I got a room overlooking a parking lot. I got a room for 4 days and after staying for 1 day, I said I am not happy please allow me to cancel the remaining 3 nights. They are not accommodating me.
I am forced to pay $1000 without able to cancel to overlook a parking lot in maui. Do not book with this hotel.

I am including pictures taken by my window.this is what Westin consider Ocean view.not even partial ocean view but actual full ocean view.

Marriott and its branded hotel, condos has a decent number of properties on the beautiful Kanaapali coast line. They come with outdoor activities such as water slide, pools, hot tubs. The coastline provides a long strip of beaches that is excellent for everyone. The condo units come with kitchen, dining area, washer and dryer. There are bbq grills outdoor for guests to use. There is also a small gym with decent equipments. Parking is complimentary for guests.

Fae at the front desk made us feel very much welcome! Thank you for going above and beyond to make sure our stay is amazing.
Location is great and the rooms are in prestige condition!

Great villas that include a kitchen and washer and dryer. Great for families! Less service than a hotel. Pools and hot tubs are great. Beach is super close.

Everyone is always so nice! Resort is kept up and you sit at the pool and watch the whales

About 1 year ago today, my wife and I were very excited to be staying at the westin Ka'anapali ocean resort villas in Maui.  when checking in we were greeted with an attitude from the front desk person, she acted like she did not even want to be there. We then were talked to by the people across the way from the Encore Membership which is affiliated with Marriott vacation International. My wife and I already have 2 time shares and thought this is a beautiful place let's give it a chance hear what they had to say.of course completely high pressured, with what they had to offer was not in the cards, so they offered us another stay for 1895.00 for 5 night and we had 2 years to use it, well of course we took this deal because it's a beautiful resort.there lies the issue.

As Everyone knows, this terrible Disaster happened to the beautiful city of Lahaina. This is why we come to Maui to spend our time with dinner entertainment in Lahaina. So we contacted Marriott vacation international and stated with this disaster all we wanted to do is see if we could get our money back or at least change islands, because even with two years to use our vacation these poor people are going through so much with such lost, plus the air quality is no good and I have issues with asthma and couldn't go there even if I wanted to. Plus at this time the people of Maui have very much stated that they are grieving and do not want any tourists so of course we listened and we as a family do not want to be any kind of berdan to them. They are beautiful people and we listened to what they have to say.

So when contacting the vacation International, To start out they are completely rude and have absolutely no sympathy for the people of Maui. Not an empathetic bone in their bodies  for these people of Maui, why would they, we are talking to people in Florida. It's all about the money. First we asked if we could get a refund because of this Disaster that has happened, they expect you to come to maui with all of this morning and lost and all of the other issues that maui is having and continue like nothing has happened. So yes they stated that they will not give us our money back and if we want to go to another Island we need to pay more money and lose a day.so now we are at 4 nights and paying more money. We are on the phone with them for hours and this is what this company does, They do not care about you or the people of Maui at all, it's all about their money.

The people of Maui have the right to know what these companies are doing to the people who come to your Island, They are forcing us to come back even if this is something we should not do. How can we have any kind of fun knowing that these people have lost their homes living on the beaches with nowhere to go in most cases. Shame on you Marriott.

To the people of Maui we have helped through many of your foundations and will continue to help, we as a family love your Island and want to come back but will not until you have decided for us to come back.

As for Marriott Vacation International, I am just getting started on letting people know what you are doing. I Guarantee 100% we are not the only people you have done this to over this disaster. You took  $1895.0 of ours, you truly should be ashamed

Great locations and you can also use the neighboring two resorts which are also Weston's. The Pailolo Bar and the middle resort Villas North is the best bar. Penny is awesome! Saw Wales right from our ocean front room!

Really nice and spacious. We were lucky to have a room on the main floor right by the beach and the pool!

Currently checked into a 2 bedroom lock off villa. We were booked for a 2 bedroom lockoff ocean view villa. Upon arrival the bellhop at the front was very kind and helpful. But, when checking in the staff member who helped me was not very friendly (Jissell). She gave me my room number and I inquired as it was a first floor unit and judging by the lush landscape of the resort there was no way you could see the ocean from the first floor. I asked her if we could be moved to a higher floor and she said that was an Oceanview room and there was nothing higher available. Trusting her and trying to be positive we made our way to our room to be greeted with a $7,000 lanai view of a parking lot and foliage (I would have to be 6foot 2 or better to see the ocean). Trying to be reasonable I took pictures from the lanai and also found a map online with the buildings description showing the first two floors are island/ocean view rooms (not at all what I paid for or was confirmed for, my contract says an ocean view room). I walked back down to the main lobby service desk and realizing you get a lot further with kindness I approached another service member (who was friendlier) but still no smiling and minimal hospitality and asked her if it was possible to move our room at minimum to the 3rd floor so we can see the ocean over the foliage. After being told there was nothing multiple times I started tearing up in frustration and utter awe of what I'm experiencing (I know this sounds dramatic but rhe options were losing my ability to be kind or tearing up) I asked if I could speak with a manager. Instead she reached out to room control and found a unit 1 room over and 3 floors up from ours, but it wasn't available until the following night. So now we will have to check out of our room at 10 and then be without a room until the other unit is cleaned (potentially 4pm), so we have to repack our stuff and store with the bellman /service desk for hours (including >$200 of perishable groceries) and be without a room to put our toddler down for a nap, etc. It's just a huge inconvenience (with no apology or anything).

I'm just saddened and disheartened with there service we have been provided. It feels as though we are being treated as second class citizens because we are not owners. And I understand owners have benefits and perks, but do they not recognize you won't have new owners if you treat guests this way? I realize not all ocean view rooms are created equal, but when your map and legend literally labels it as something other than ocean view, and you can't see the ocean you paid for its not good customer service and not delivering what you promise.

As a Healthcare provider if I practiced like this resort I would have lawsuits left and right and people would die. I get it's not the same line of work, but shouldn't we all be held to standards of our profession? No matter what it be?

I'm hopeful things will turn around so my family and I can make the best of our vacation, but am realistic. Certainly not the Westin or even Marriot standard of service.

If you are looking for reviews to help you make a decision whether to book at this hotel or not, suggest you vote for NOT! This review could save your vacation!

I’m not one who likes to post bad reviews, but this appalling experience at Westin Kaanapali Ocean Resort Villas is worth taking time out of my precious vacation to write this. There are 2 parts to this review - our experience & the hotel room itself.

Our experience

Just saw all the other reviews about their terrible experience with the front desk manager. Wish we checked the reviews earlier, they are 100% right.

We booked a room with 1 king 1 double & 1 sofa bed for $600 per night at this hotel (see screenshot of the reservation) on a third party website we have used for 7+ years. Never had a problem with any of our trips until this time. The front desk staff quickly escalated this to the manager on duty - Julie Anne Ibale. She repeatedly stated they do not have a room with this bedding configuration (the room we were given only had 1 King & a sofa pullout). The best they could offer is to add a roll away bed to the room. We checked out the room. There was almost no walking space if a roll away bed was added. For $600 a night, we - 2 adult and 2 kids really didn’t want to be packed in like sardines, so we asked for a cancellation so we could go somewhere else. This was happening at 9pm at night. Julie asked us to contact our booking agency to sort it out. However it was past midnight on continental US at that time, the call center was closed. She further denied our request to cancel our stay even after we expressed we are not willing to squeeze into this small room for 2 nights on our vacation.

I’m sure there are multiple ways she could have de-escalated the issue. But the only solution we were offered was to squeeze into this room for $600 a night - see picture of the room we stayed in, OR lose $1200 (2 nights) if we stayed somewhere else.

The room

This Westin feels like a 2 star hotel compared to other choices on Ka’anapali beach. We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on the south end of the beach during our first few days of the trip. They had beautiful modern updated rooms, ocean views, heavenly bedding and most importantly, great customer service. All for the same price - $600 per night.

The room at this Westin was at least 10-15 years outdated, amenities were cheap. We found stained coffee cups (TDLR: unwashed) when we tried to make a coffee. And guess what, the balcony was fake! (You can’t step out). Great marketing I must say, the rooms were called villas! Really? !

Summary

We frequently travel for business and leisure, stayed at countless Marriot & Westin branded hotels. This one will be our LAST!

Julie Anne Ibale made sure the hotel kept our $1200 even though it would ruin our vacation. I hope she is happy, her management team will also be happy. They managed to remove the “hospitality” element out of this business. The Westin/Marriot brand is basically reduced to just terms and conditions, and a dry as F*#% transaction. NEVER AGAIN!

If you have stayed at a Westin/Sheraton before.you should be used to the good service offered here. What you may not get at other Westin/Sheraton locations is the fantastic local. This is on the western side of Maui, near Lahaina. There are complimentary shuttles from the resort to shopping and restaurants and other places that you may want to visit while on the island, such as Whaler's Village, Cannery Mall, Some outlets and the Wharf. The villas have everything.you will need for your stay, including a kitchenette, washer and dryer, a nice 2 person Jacuzzi bathtub in the villa. The resort has multiple pools and hot tubs, including pools and hot tubs reserved for adults as well as those for the whole family as well. There are several entry points to the beach so you don't have to walk far from you villa to the beach, and a few restaurants on the premises directly. We really loved Auntie's Kitchen, which had great service (Katie was a fantastic and friendly server), good prices, large portions and very tasty food. I definitely recommend this place for your Maui vacation.

We stayed at the south building. Check in was very smooth. We did check in late at 9pm and there was no line. We were able to bring our own luggages to our own room. I went in to get the keys first. Then we drove to the building and parked underground. Parking is free. We had access to the pools and beach. We saw a turtle at the beach! They do have some good snorkelling spots. We loved taking our toddler to the playground and kiddy pool at the north side. They have a free cycle box near the kiddy pool. It’s a good method to recycle beach toys! Beach chairs start to fill up at 7-8am. Everyone was nice and pleasant. Room was nice and spacious. It was clean and no bugs were seen. We were on the fourth floor. Housekeeping only came to our room once to clean. I am guessing you can request them to come in more often. The resort was able to provide us a crib and a high chair after we arrive. The crib mattress was good enough for my daughter to sleep on. We did not dine at the restaurants on site, but we did try Maui Fruit Ninja which is a must! It is located near the beach access and they are there on Tuesday and Friday.

We checked out at 10am, but our flight was at 9: 30pm. They gave us lounge pass to use for the day. This was a bonus! We were able to use the pools and have access to showers.

I was really worried about reading other reviews, but we had a wonderful time and we will 100% come back again!

Very beautiful resort, quiet and the resort grounds is kept pretty clean. Nice pool area and the staff is very helpful and pleasant. Our room wasn't cleaned very well. Sheets were blood stained. Toenail clippings and popcorn seeds found on the carpet. Crumbs found along the kitchenette floorboards. Hair on shower walls and stained towels. The room was pretty much dusty everywhere. We did have a great oceanside view with a tiny balcony. The condition of the room brought my rating overall to 4 stars.

Beautiful and very clean rooms. Immaculate common areas. The pool is beautiful, and sunset views are spectacular. FANTASTIC staff - all very friendly and helpful. They really go the extra mile for their guests.

The NBA finals are on. The beach Sparts bar does not have the finals on after asking multiple times. A rerun of a Stanford women’s baseball game should not override an NBA finals game.