Hotel Review: Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas – Maui

We’ve reviewed this hotel before here on Rewards Canada and it continues to be our go to place in Maui. We love the resort, we love the fact the rooms are actual condos with full kitchens and washer/dryer, so you get the best of both worlds! A nice higher end hotel resort with the amenities of a condo. Anyways, this won’t be a very long review since we’ve covered the hotel before but have to say it still impresses us despite some hiccups at the start of the stay.

As with our 5 previous family stays at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas we booked the hotel via Maui Hawaii Vacations (MVRBO). Why? Price and benefits! Sure the stay doesn’t earn Starpoints on the actual hotel rates (it does earn on any additional charges like food) but when you compare pricing to what you would have to pay it is more than worth it. Naomi at Maui Hawaii Vacations has for many years secured amazing rates for stays at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas. Her rates are usually about half of what you pay with Starwood and yes you may find similar rates on VRBO rentals from Starwood Vacations owners but those stays don’t get the benefits that Naomi does. With the half off rate from Maui Hawaii Vacations comes daily housekeeping (Starwood bookings do as well, owner stays via VRBO etc. do not), parking is included (typically Starwood bookings do not include this) and the resort fee is waived. Now you can see why we book it via Naomi and choose not to earn Starpoints on the hotel rates.

On to the stay! Our YYC flight on Air Canada arrived late to Maui so we didn’t get to the hotel until well after midnight. At that time it appears most rooms had been checked into and we were left with a ground floor unit right near the busiest part of the pools and pool service center. We booked an Ocean View and requested a higher floor with Naomi and while many years ago before everything grew in this room may have been an ocean view, it sure didn’t have that anymore. This is the view now from that room. Do you see any ocean?

The family was not happy, with our general dislike of ground room floors and of course the view. We asked the front desk if anything else was available and the only room faced onto the construction side where the new Westin Nanea is being built. We were exhausted and just wanted to sleep so we stayed in the room but in the morning a quick email to Naomi and the manager of the hotel put a plan into action. The next night the Westin still had no true ocean views available but starting on the third night of our stay they did so for the last 6 nights this was our view. Much better!

Both of the rooms we had were in Building 7 and since our last stay in the Summer of 2013 you can tell the rooms have been updated. There appears to be new carpet, new furniture, definitely new and much larger TV’s and updated shower heads. As always stays here are great, the beach is fun with great snorkeling (we swam with Sea Turtles a few times) and the service is always good. Food, again great at the Ocean Pool Bar & Grill and Pailolo Bar & Grill. We didn’t hit the high end Pulehu this time round. Watch for another post on our Maui Eats and Treats coming soon.

A big thanks goes out to Naomi, Angela and Cynthia for looking after us and making sure our stay was to our liking and that we enjoyed it!! Well we sure did! Thanks ladies!

If you do want to book this resort via Naomi be sure you mention this post. We don’t get any referral bonuses or anything but it is always nice to let them know how you found out about them!

The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas

SPG Category: 6

Points required for a free night: 20,000 – 25,000 Starpoints

Cash+Points Requirement: 10,000 Starpoints + $180 per night

Links:

The Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas

Maui Hawaii Vacations