Just got back from our Maui vacay (planning our wedding next year!) and ordered preferences would be Grand Wailea-by far the best property on Maui IMO, Marriot, Four Seasons, Fairmont Kea Lani.
All in the Wailea area.
And within walking from the Shops at Wailea. Nice steak dinner at Ruth Chris, and then time to pick up a new treat from LV :) DUO restuarant the Four Seasons was great too.

Boxermom~ I wasn't impressed with the Kea Lani either. Based on pictures, we thought we would be having our wedding ceremony there. But after the seeing the property, we decided on the Grand Wailea instead. Kea Lani definetly needs some remodeling/ touchups.

While the Four Seasons was very nice, it didn't blow us away the way the Grand Wailea did.

I was at the Fairmont Kea Lani last September and just loved it! The hotel was beautiful and the staff incredibly friendly. Can't wait to go back!

Wantmore...agree on the Westin in Kaanapali, we were there for a week in Oct 06 and it was all about Location, Location, Location! Loved the pool and the beach in front was the best. Great Mai Tai's also!

So glad to see this information! I'm leaving soon for Maui and I've never been. I have a book for reference but I don't want to miss out on anything. Love hearing about good places to eat so if anyone has any other suggestions I'd love to hear them!

Haile'emaile General Store (it's a restaurant) is in upcountry Maui and was wonderful. Make reservations ahead though because it fills up. It was recommended by a member here who lives in Hawaii and we loved it.

Maui...we went in '05 on our honeymoon...stayed at the Grand Wailea ~ really had a great time there....Nick's Fishmarket restaurant was really good ... and Mamma's Fishhouse is a must...we did the Old Lahaina luau and loved it! The seafood is the best over there...at our resort we ate at this placed called Humu's and had the spiny tail lobster which was out of this world!

ooh yes Humu's is amazing!

old lahaina luau, i highly recommend it.

hmmm what else. oh the sunday brunch at the maui prince hotel is really good too. we go there for special occasions.

for more of a local flair: sam sato's, da kitchen, tasty crust, saigon cafe.

Old Lahaina Luau was fun, and not as cheesy as the others. My recommendation is to make a reservation on their website to make sure there are spaces available (you can also request where you would like to sit).

Sensei's for Japanese/sushi is good too. If you go early for dinner (before 6?), I think there's a discount on the food.

And, if you are a nature lover, try the drive to Hana. There are waterfalls to see on the way, but the drive can be long (took us 3 hours to go from Kapalua to Hana one-way) due to the narrow roads.

And last, I highly recommend a message by the ocean if your hotel offers this service. It was so relaxing with the ocean breeze on a private beach.

Thanks so much for the additional suggestions!! We are renting a car so we can go to Hana. We have seen quite a few things that said this was not to be missed. We were fortunate that there was an episode on the Travel Channel that went over many things to do on the island. It just didn't mention a lot of food and I don't want to miss anything!

sansei's discounts i believe are 50% off from 5-6 on sunday and monday. 25% off after 10pm for the rest of the week.

Hi I hope you have a wonderful time, we were going to go to the Maldives for our honeymoon, but we are now going to the Four Seasons Maui for our honeymoon in Sept, I am so excited! Hawaii sounds wonderful!

Anyone stay here before? Just wondering how far you booked your rooms in advance, and if you booked through the hotel or a travel website.
There rooms are quite pricey, so I wanted to make sure I am getting the best deal.
We will be staying there for our wedding next June, for about four days. I called to inquire about reservations and asked for the 20 percent off (which we get for having the ceremony there), but the prices she quoted me with the discount were only about 10 percent lower than their website. She was very pushy to get me to book now, to lock in a "low" rate.
I tried to look up rates on travel websites, but June 4 is too far in advance for them to give me prices.

Just need advice on whether I should book with the Wailea now, or whether I should wait for a special promotion (if they even have any?) or try back with travel websites later in the year.

Suggestions?

ehh, im clueless. like you i live in the bay so i dont live in hawaii. however, i got engaged there in january and were planning our wedding there BUT i have family out there so i dont have to really hassle with hotels. i wish you the best of luck and congrats!!

^Congrats to you too! You are lucky that you have family there. Good luck with your wedding planning as well!

Hopefully someone will offer up some pointers on how to go about getting a better deal, if possible.

I think booking a year in advance for your room is not something that I would recommend. However, I would recommend that you just periodically check the Grand Wailea Hotel website as well as Expedia to keep an eye on room prices for June 2009. Sometimes Expedia is cheaper and sometimes the hotel's website might have a better deal but if you start keeping track of the hotel rates now you'll be able to tell which is the better deal.

I always use Expedia as a starting off point for hotel rates but always check the hotel websites as well. I would also recommend becoming a member of Expedia and the Grand Wailea websites because they might also have "coupons" for members. There are other travel websites that you can look at as well such as Orbitz and Hotels.com (but I think Hotels.com is related to Expedia.) Also check Tripadvisor.com for guest comments regarding hotels.

I got married in Maui almost eight years ago and loved it!!!!! We got married in Makena at a private beach house and stayed in Wailea. Congrats on you upcoming marriage!!