My expectations for Maui were pretty high! After all, we’d just finished 15 days in Australia and 5 days on the Big Island. Australia has gorgeous beaches, and the island of Hawaii offered so many special places. However, our time in Maui was better than expected! Staying at the Wailea Ekahi Resort, and its perfect location on the southern part of Maui, gave us the bittersweet ending to our trip and won Mr. Yoder’s and our children’s affection.
When I was researching the Wailea Ekahi Village, I could not find many reviews or photos. I hope this post will help those considering a vacation in Maui and this family-friendly accommodation. Here’s my honest review of the Wailea Ekahi Village in Wailea, Maui.
Why did we pick the Wailea Ekahi Village?
Simply enough, we booked the Wailea Ekahi Village because, at the time, it was owned and run by Destinations by Hyatt. Because our family is too large for most hotel rooms, Destinations by Hyatt was a perfect points redemption for us because it required a low number of Hyatt points for a 2-bedroom and 2-bath condo in an oceanfront resort.
However, the Wailea Ekahi Resort is now managed by CoralTree Resorts. Thankfully, even though we booked with Hyatt, they transferred the booking to CoralTree without needing extra payment. This is no longer the case, when booking the Wailea Ekahi, you cannot use Hyatt points. Check rates at the Wailea Ekahi Village.
Wailea Ekahi Village Review
We absolutely loved the resort — it was one of the best resorts we’ve stayed at with kids. While we found our condo to be a bit outdated and a long walk from the beach, the added amenities near the main pool made up for that, and that is where we spent most of our time.
Check-in for the resort is not on the property but about a mile away at 34 Wailea Gateway, Suite A102, Wailea. Our only complaint about the check-in process was that the office building is located next to a popular restaurant! Since we arrived at dinner time, parking was a debacle. If you can plan your arrival outside of meal times, that would be best!
We were told we’d have a two-bedroom that slept 6, but when we arrived we were pleasantly surprised to find that the apartment actually slept 7. Our apartment had a primary bedroom with a king bed and a second bedroom with a double and a twin. There was also a sofa bed.
Both bathrooms were spacious but outdated. The master bedroom only had a shower, no bathtub. The sink area was open to the bedroom, which wasn’t great because there was no space to change clothes in the toilet/shower area. It wasn’t a dealbreaker, just an odd layout.
The kitchen was rather small, but it had full-sized appliances, a fridge, a coffeemaker, and a toaster. Groceries are ghastly expensive in Hawaii, but having a place to cook meals does help the travel budget (click here to see what we spent on our trip). I’ll be honest though, after seeing the recently remodeled kitchen and pavilion near the pool, we only used the condo’s kitchen for breakfast and lunch. Being able to cook & grill outdoors while the kids were swimming made our vacation even more delightful! Mr. Yoder admitted that he had never grilled somewhere so beautiful!
If you are traveling with small children, I’d recommend booking a condo as close to the beach as possible, because the walk with all of your beach gear (or cooking ingredients) can be quite a schlepp.
Wailea Ekahi Village Beach
The beach at the resort was absolutely gorgeous. It had amazing views to the north and plenty of soft sand. Directly to the south of the resort, the beach is rocky and difficult to walk on, but it makes for nice photos. I liked the Hawaii vibe.
During low tide, the water was calm and safe for our youngest to swim. Since we only had 4 days on Maui, we didn’t spend as much time at this beach as we could have. Our kids preferred the pool and we weren’t upset because we could still enjoy a view of the water and relax a bit more without the stress of the ocean (am I the only one with anxiety when their kids are in the ocean?).
Overall, we had a pleasant experience at the Wailea Ekahi and we would love to stay again! The only thing we would change is selecting a condo closer to the beach. I’d recommend that those choosing the Wailea Ekahi request to be close to the main pool or book independently with one of the condo owners, like through booking.com.
Have you been to Maui? Where did you stay?
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