Hotel Vs Condo: Where To Stay On Maui
Before you can decide where to stay on Maui, you have to decide whether you prefer a hotel or a condo.
Here’s how to decide.
The advantages of a hotel are:
- More elaborate grounds and pools and lobbies – Hotel grounds are usually lush with beautiful plants and flowers, pools are usually large and interestingly shaped and there are often multiple pools, lobbies are large and may be lavishly decorated.
- Air conditioning – All major Maui hotels, but only some Maui condos, are air-conditioned.
- Shops and restaurants in the building – You don’t have to drive or even walk far to shop or to eat.
- More service – Hotels usually have daily maid service, available room service, and a bellman to help with your luggage or to park your car if you wish.
- Consistent quality of rooms – All of the rooms in any one hotel are similarly decorated and updated, so if you are staying at a top-quality hotel you are not likely to get a poorly maintained or worn-looking room.
The advantages of a condo are:
- More space – Condos give you more room to spread out, especially helpful for families traveling with children.
- More rooms – Condos usually have a living room, bedroom, and kitchen, and sometimes a dining room and extra closets. Two-bedroom condos often have two bathrooms.
- Kitchen – Since condos have a kitchen, you can save money on restaurants by eating some of your meals in the condo. Even if you don’t want to cook, you will have a full-size refrigerator to store carried-in foods.
- Sharing – Two couples traveling together can share one condo and split the cost.
- Price – Most Maui condos cost less per night than most Maui hotels.
- BUT – Some of the cheaper condos do not have air conditioning or daily maid service, so be sure to ask about that. Some people don’t mind using just open windows and ceiling fans, but personally, I would not stay on Maui without air conditioning, especially in the hottest months of June through October.
- AND – Bear in mind that the quality of condo rooms varies widely, both from one condo building to another and from one unit to another within the same condo building. Each unit in a condo is individually owned, and some owners do not keep their décor and furnishings updated as well as others. So when you make your reservation, and again when you check-in at the condo, ask for a room that has been renovated within the past few years.
What About A “Resort”?
There is no good definition of what constitutes a resort. Many places call themselves resorts when they are nothing but plain simple condos. So pay no attention to the word resort in the name of Maui hotels or condos, and use more specific criteria to choose, as discussed on the following pages of this website.
After You Decide on a Maui hotel or a Maui condo
Move on to these next three steps:
Choose your best area to stay in Maui – which part to stay on, the west side or the south side
Choose your specific Maui hotel or condo
Choose how to reserve your hotel or condo room
If you would prefer just an alphabetical list of links to the pages about each specific Maui hotel and condo, use this link:
Maui Hotels and Maui Condos alphabetical list
