Priceline Hotel: 3.5* Maui (Kaanapali-Lahaina) Royal Lahaina Resort

[JEMSTAR]

I'm still fairly new to Priceline/Hotwire, and I've never been to Maui so I'm not sure what kind of prices I should expect for a decent hotel, and what is considered a good area to stay in while there.

I'd prefer to have easy access to beaches and entertainment, but I don't mind if the hotel is quiet as long as it's clean and well-kept. It's 2 of us going, so either a 1-bedroom or studio is fine.

I'd like to know if anyone out there has won bids they consider to be a REALLY good deal (and I've heard that if I stay anywhere not name-brand that its horrible).

I feel completely lost on this one!

Thanks in advance!!!!!

[thereuare]

It's 2 of us going, so either a 1-bedroom or studio is fine.

Are you looking for a condo property for this stay or is a 'standard hotel room' fine for this stay? (typically 'studio' and '1 bedroom' are terms applied to condo-type properties)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[Romelle]

JEMSTAR.

Have you used the Priceline and Hotwire Calendar of Wins here yet? Center of page. If you put in your dates, or maybe even a wider span for the full 14 including your dates, and check both PRICELINE and HOTWIRE results, you may find some reportings from other bidders. Also, if you click on the specific reporting, it will take you to the actual post.

Romelle

PS - I just checked April 4-18. There are several posts for PRICELINE, but none yet for Hotwire.

[JEMSTAR]

Are you looking for a condo property for this stay or is a 'standard hotel room' fine for this stay? (typically 'studio' and '1 bedroom' are terms applied to condo-type properties)

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

Hi guys,

Sorry for the confusion, I think I would have been happy at a condo property of a standard hotel too. I just wanted to update everyone with the following:

I used Priceline with your above link, and was accepted an offer at the 3.5* Royal Lahaina in the Tower for $115/night for my stay - which I am very happy about!!

It was actually the hotel I wanted to begin with as I've heard many great reviews from friends as well as tripadvisor too so I'm happy with the price.

Now with this horrible weather in Canada, I am looking forward even more to this in April.

Good luck all and Thanks again for the great advice on this forum!!

[JEMSTAR]

Hi guys,

I used PRICELINE link on this site, as usual. I did have to go through re-bidding and used re-bidding tips from a previous post but finally:

I was accepted an offer at the 3.5* Royal Lahaina in the Tower for $115/night for my stay - which I am very happy about!!

It was actually the hotel I wanted to begin with as I've heard many great reviews from friends as well as tripadvisor too so I'm happy with the price.

Now with this horrible weather in Canada, I am looking forward even more to this in April.

Good luck all and Thanks again for the great advice on this forum!!

[yellowdog]

Congratulations on your success!

Thank you for sharing your win with the board and using our PRICELINE link to begin your bidding :)

We hope you're satisfied with the outcome and will like the hotel.

Enjoy your stay.

Yellowdog.

[Sota327]

How do you know you will get a room in the Tower? My concern about the Royal Lahaina has always been that I would get one of the Cottage Rooms, which are not favorably reviewed, old, dated and apparently in need of repair.

[JEMSTAR]

I called the Lahaina and have confirmed the booking with them now in the towers - they seem to be accommodating the request as they wrote back in an email.

I'll definitely update everyone once I stay and I'll do a review for everyone here after too!

[AaronJB]

Thank you for the follow-up; glad the hotel was willing to work with you on the request. A follow-up review after the stay would also be greatly appreciated.

[pixieray]

Hi Jemstar! Thanks for the info! I actually booked a room at the Royal Lahaina through Priceline bidding as well, and when I called, the front desk receptionist that I spoke with said that we were definitely in a tower room, but when I called back again yesteday, I was told that this would only be a request, not a guarantee, and it would just be dependent on what's available at the time. They made a note of my request but that was it. Do you know who you spoke with? And did you just ask for an email confirmation? Thanks so much in advance.

[thereuare]

Thanks for the info! I actually booked a room at the Royal Lahaina through Priceline bidding as well...

pixieray,

Please share your win with the board as a NEW TOPIC so that the information can help others, just as you have been helped by JEMSTAR's post.

Please use the PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links on the board to begin your travel purchases.

[JEMSTAR]

Aloha Everyone,

Obviously, I must have missed all the messages on the forum, and I need to adjust the settings to send me updates on my email :-P

In any case, I came on here to let everyone get an update on my stay and what I thought of the Priceline deal.

Pixieray: I'm sorry if I missed your messages!! I actually never called them, I just emailed the guest services and they emailed me back so that was what I used as my receipt of confirmation when I got to the hotel.

So we had a fabulous time in Maui and the hotel was in a great location away from the hustle and bustle of Whalers Village, but close enough that it was a nice 15 minute stroll over (or 2 minute free trolley ride) At check-in, I did encounter a bit of a hassle with the one front desk gal - not sure if it was just the time we got in to check-in was a tad later (9:30pm by the time we finished up with the rental car pick up and also the costco stop) but she said that the room available to me would be for the cottage area and that was that. She said if I had wanted a tower room, then I would have to pay an additional $50 more per night. I was definitely not up for that so I asked to kindly speak with a manager. I pulled out the email, and also indicated that the price paid was for a 3 1/2* rated room, and not a cottage suite. He read over the email, and because it did not indicate that it was only a request or a notation on my file, but that the email agent had said he would make sure I was placed in an ocean-view tower room (without upgrading costs), he had nothing he could say and he changed the room over. This did take us an additional 45 mins worth of discussion, but it made my stay much more comfortable.

I didn't end up seeing a cottage suite at all, so I'm not sure what it would have been like, but I ended up on the 9th floor of an ocean-view room and we had a great view and it was all nicely reno'd - It looks like one of the rooms they take a picture of for their hotel portfolio.

The pools are nice, and the grounds are decent considering you never have to pay any additional resort costs. They don't have a whole bunch of kids running around either, so if you want it a bit quieter, we found that it was less crowded than the other grounds we visited. The only thing we thought they could use was availability of some beach chairs to use on the beach, and not restrict the use of them just for the pool area, and also that they had no umbrellas or cabanas for a bit of shade during peak sun times. The grounds had a lot of grassy areas and some trees and hedges and this part of kaanapali beach is really nice as its not full of kids like closer to the Whalers village area. The food in the hotel restaurant was really good and not as expensive as I expected. They also have a cute little ice cream shop that you can grab some snacks at too.

The shops in the little (VERY SMALL) shopping area were on the older side, with no charm or non-existent as a couple vacant stores were there. We liked the Front Street area in Lahaina better for that kind of stuff.

This is as much as I can think of at the moment and if there are questions, let me know and I'll try to come on and answer them asap.

Jem