Yesterday our family arrived in Maui where we’ll spend the next week. We have visited Maui several times and it remains our favorite vacation spot. We love everything about it! (Minus the time it takes to fly from Indiana to Maui!) The combination of the turquoise blue ocean along with the black rocks and mountains makes it so beautiful. There is so much to explore- bamboo forests, waterfalls, sunrise at Haleakalā, black sand beach, red sand beach, sea life (sea turtles, the most colorful fish, whales during whale season)- just to name a few! Or, you can relax on the beach or at the pool or satisfy your cravings with the best food! (I’ll share our favorite food spots below.)
My husband and I first went to Maui in 2010 and we both quickly fell in love. We’ve since gone 4 more times, bringing our kids with us each of those times. Maui is a great family friendly vacation spot.
Where to stay in Maui with kids:
Our favorite area to stay in Maui is the Wailea- Makena area. We’ve stayed at the Marriott Beach Resort the last several times and LOVE it! There are also lots of great condos in the area. My extended family found a condo in Kihei that has a beautiful ocean sunset view and is a more affordable option and only a 10 minute drive from the famous Wailea Beach.
The Marriott Wailea Beach Resort is a great choice for families. We’ve walked through all of the other resorts in the area and think this is the best one for kids and families. Their are so many wonderful ammenities. The pools at the Wailea Beach Resort are amazing! The kids pool has a splash pad area, 4 water slides- 2 which are huge and quite thrilling and 2 smaller slides great for younger kids, a waterfall you can swim through, and an upper swimming area. There’s a pool tile treasure hunt throughout the kids pool area and there is a permanent food truck where you can get food and drinks from. There’s an adults only pool and another pool area with an infinity pool and an upper pool. There is food and drink service at all of these pools. Honestly there is a pool for everyone! There are amazing loungers, shaded chairs, etc. The Wailea Beach Resort also has a great game room (think mini arcade where everything is free), lots of board games, etc. There is a Starbucks in the hotel, a spa, and several great restaurants. The open air lobby is beautiful with amazing views, the best photo spots, swinging chairs, large chess, a koi pond, and plenty of seating to relax in. Our kids loved running around the grassy area.
We got 2 conjoining rooms for our 3 night stay at the Marriott Beach Resort for our family of 6.
The resort is situated on the famous Wailea Beach and the hotel provides complimentary chair service as part of your stay. We had sea turtles swim right up to us while swimming here. During whale season, it is common to see dozens of breeches from the beach and hotel every day! There is a cute little coffee shop that also sells breakfast items right by the beach. We love to grab our coffee and sit here and watch for whales during whale season or walk along the path the runs for several miles through the Wailea-Makenna area.You can rent paddle boards and snorkeling gear here also.
If you take the trail to the right when walking out of the resort, you’ll come to Ulua Beach.
Honestly our favorite family vacation days ever, have all been right here at the Wailea Beach Resort. I wish they were paying me to say this, but this is just the point of view of a mom who has spent a lot of time trying to research the best places to take my family! I’m writing the blog post that I was searching for when I looked for the best hotels for families in Maui. Maui is so beautiful and there are endless things to see and do. The Wailea Beach Resort makes traveling with kids more relaxing because there is so much to do on site and within short walking distance. The beach, the pools, the restaurants, are all right there. It’s also not to far to the road to Hana or Haleakala. Both are things I’d highly recommend. (Separate post coming about those things.)
If you are looking for the best place to stay in Maui, I hope you’ve found this post helpful! If you’ve stayed at the Grand Wailea, I’d love to know what you think. Walking through it, it looks nice, but we’ve loved the Marriott Wailea Beach Resort so much that we can’t imagine staying anyone else.