Maui Honeymoon 08/23-09/06: September 2014

Well it looks like I’m finally getting around to my trip report! I think I’ve been putting it off because I feel like it’s going to be somewhat negative…after we’ve spent a year and a half anticipating the trip, I think the actual experience didn’t quite live up to expectations. Nonetheless, we DID have an incredible time and had plenty of amazing experiences! Never missed a sunset on the west side, and always got up early to enjoy the mornings from the lanai. In spite of some of the not-so great moments, I thought I’d still post, as we did have a blast. Plus, certain things might be helpful to those planning their own trip! I don’t remember the exact order we did everything, so I’ll try and break it down the best I can! In case you haven't noticed, we basically had one continuous meal throughout the trip! LOL! Oh well, you only live once, right? (Please forgive my stream of conscious format!)

We started our two week honeymoon adventure at Napili Kai Beach Resort! We had an incredibly smooth flight from San Diego to OGG and even landed 40 minutes early. Things were looking great! Then we got to Alamo to pick up our standard sized car, and it was only an extra $10/day for a convertible so off we went in our white mustang with the top down, jamming to Hotel California with wind in our hair! Maui, we have arrived!

We had every intention to stop at Costco before making our way to Napili, but our luggage took over the car, so we decided to head for the hotel. Check-in wasn’t until the afternoon (3pm??) and since we landed around 9:15am, we had plenty of time to kill. We drove on over, dropped our bags, and headed to Hula Grill for lunch!

We almost went to Front Street for lunch, but we wanted to have our toes in the sand for our first island meal :-). Well, the last time we went to Hula Grill, I had tummy trouble but thought it was a fluke. Sadly, I think whatever they serve just doesn’t agree with my belly. All in all, we were VERY disappointed with the TS restaurant chain this trip. At Hula Grill, we got the ceviche, crab mac nut wontons, and split a burger. Nothing was very good, and the server even anticipated that we wouldn’t like the dip served with the wontons. It was gross! Thankfully he brought out an alternative. My guess is most people aren’t a fan of the horseradish-y taste. Anyway, I can’t say we will be returning.

We also ate at Leilani’s during our stay on the west side. I used to just LOVE Leilani’s because of their happy hour sliders, and the receipt for the free Hula Pie on the next visit. Well, it turns out that BOTH of those things were ELIMINATED the WEEK before we got there. So anyone looking to return for those specials will be disappointed like I was. Still we ate at Leilani’s for lunch, and split nachos and fish tacos. The tortillas were stale and the nachos were just meh. I remember them looking so delish when I saw someone order them on our last trip. These didn’t look the same this time. I don’t know…just seems to have gone downhill.

On a more positive note, we were able to check in to Napili Kai about an hour early. We had a wonderful gift card to the Sea House, 2 bottles of champagne, and a welcome plant, all waiting for us from our loved ones back home. Later in the week, we made guavamosas out of the champagne, and they were about the best thing I’ve ever had! Still suffering from my belly ache, we just took it easy in the room and watched the sunset for night 1. We were in Puna 2 on the first floor right next to the pool. We had a killer sunset view and spend nearly every night sitting on our lanai watching the sunset. Just spectacular. We really got lucky with some fantastic sunsets this trip! I also should mention that it was the HOTTEST it has ever been when we’ve visited this time of year. I have never felt the need for A/C, but this trip would have been a nightmare without it. I didn’t get nearly as tan as I normally do, mostly because we’d spend some time on the beach and then get too hot. So, we’d end up coming up to our lanai for a little lunch snack (usually consisting of chips and gelato….no wonder I gained 7 lbs).

We had every intention of snorkeling a ton like on our last trip, and rented equipment from Snorkel Bob’s for 2 weeks. Well the conditions were just terrible for snorkeling. We even had a guy surfing in Napili Bay at one point! We made it out to snorkel a grand total of 2 times…once in Napili, and once in Honokeana. We wanted to do Honolua, Kapalua, and Black Rock, but didn’t feel motivated enough with the conditions the way they were. Maybe it’s the decompressing from the wedding chaos, but we were total bums this trip. I think being so lazy was exactly what we needed though!

While at Napili Kai, we ate at the Sea House almost every morning. It really seems like they’re under new management or something. We’ve always adored the Sea House but there have been times in the past that service wasn’t at its best. We never fussed though because the food, prices, and views were great….and we were on island time. Still, a lot of reviews complained about the service and I could tell a definite improvement in both the service timeliness and the friendliness of the wait staff. We went there for breakfast and happy hour several times! I was bummed that the heat was so intense though because I ordered my favorite onion soup once and just couldn’t enjoy it. Oh well, there’s always next time!

We ventured up to the Honolua Store one day. Yes, the new façade lacks the original charm, but we were still happy with the breakfast. Our walk up there was perfect. Since the high temperature was a deterrent for a lot of physical activities, we welcomed the light mist that followed us along our walk to and from Napili Kai and the Honolua Store. I ordered a cinnamon roll, and DH ordered his beloved biscuits and gravy. Good thing we walked there and back because that was a meal that most definitely needed burned off!

One day at Napili, DH participated in the putt putt party. He loves golf and won the tournament both last trip and this time! We scored some drink coupons on both occasions, which was a definite plus! I’m not a big fan of putt putt, so I decided to get a massage at Makai Massage & Bodyworks while he was playing. Now, this was where I had a major letdown. I’ve never had a hot stone massage before so decided to give it a shot.

Well, let’s just say everything about the massage was a joke. I wasn’t expecting spectacular since it’s not a full service spa, but c’mon! The sheets on the massage table smelled like mothballs, the masseuse would leave me unattended for long periods while testing the heat of the rocks, and even admitted to touching her own stomach with a rock she used on me. Now I’m not saying she has cooties or anything, but that just seems unhygienic to me. Plus, she was such a chatterbox. I get that some people talk throughout their service, and I usually do during a facial. But the client typically initiates conversation. It’s the masseuse’s job to read what sort of experience the person is looking to have! Needless to say, I highly recommend you DON’T get a treatment here and go next door to the Spa Montage. It’s insane to me that Makai charged the same amount as the Spa Montage.

Later in the week, we ended up doing a couples deep tissue massage at Spa Montage. Let me just tell you…what a complete 180. Spectacular grounds, beautiful massage hale setting, wonderful masseuses…the compliments could go on and on. It really boggles my mind that for essentially the same price, we were able to not only have a fantastic massage, but also spend the day enjoying the spa pool and full service amenities.

Some other things we did while on the west side was walk up and down the boardwalk in Ka’anapali. I think we have definitely decided we are not Ka’anapali people. We much prefer the laid back feeling of Napili and the south side. Everything there and on Front Street felt particularly touristy this trip. We were hustled by time share people, and we aren’t even old enough to qualify for a timeshare! The Hyatt definitely has some MAJOR construction going on! I just felt like that hotel was way overbuilt. We walked through the Westin too, and while they have a great pool complex, everything was SOOOO commercial. We noticed at several hotels, they had water Zumba being instructed, thumpy music, etc. It’s just my personal preference, but I want to come to Hawaii and listen to the waves and relax…not have it interrupted by constant techno.

When we visited Front Street, it too seems to have gotten more touristy/commercial. We walked up and down the shops, and noticed many of the former stores were replaced with skincare shops manned with aggressive salesmen/women. Plus the new outlet center left me feeling cold. I don’t want to visit shops I can go to back home! We had snacked too much the day we went to Front Street, so we didn’t even have room for Ululani’s….definitely failed there! We also really want to try Honu on our next visit. We’ll have to grab some of the discounted Costco gift cards for Honu next time! The crab mac ‘n cheese is still calling my name.

Some of our other meals included Pineapple Grill and Merriman’s! We had such a large gift card to the Sea House and ended up using it for breakfast nearly every morning. So, we decided to go to Pineapple Grill for dinner rather than breakfast. I made an open table reservation and requested a nice seat since it was our honeymoon. Well they really rolled out the red carpet for us! The only knock I’ll give them is it was really dead in the restaurant. We felt sort of silly making a reservation. Still, they had great service, EXCELLENT food, and offered us a complimentary pineapple upside down cake…it wasn’t great, but it came with a congrats card signed by all the staff. Really a thoughtful touch. The manager checked up on us a couple of times too, which was very nice!

We decided to head to Merriman’s for a happy hour dinner on another night. We had the same waitress out on the deck as the last trip. I remembered her and she had moved to Maui four years ago. We had a great time talking to her…she’s blond and seems to always have her hair in a topknot. I didn’t catch her name, but if any of you go there for happy hour, keep an eye out for her. She’s awesome! We got the pupu sampler and it was just about the best thing I’ve EVER eaten. I don’t like sashimi, but even I was going crazy over the poke. The pork and sweet onion quesadilla was so insane that we ordered another one to follow up the sampler. My favorite drink there was also the “Kula than a Mojito!” YUMMMMM!

Well, we had such a great time for our happy hour, we decided to really splurge with a dinner at Merriman’s. All I can say is we were incredibly disappointed. Having just come off the heels of the Pineapple Grill treatment, and the amazing Merriman’s happy hour, we were pretty disgusted. I was really close to complaining with the manager, but didn’t want to be one of “those” people. We arrived for our reservation, which I made on open table. Again, I requested seating on the rail as it was our honeymoon. Well, we were seated in the back, and our waiter took about 20 minutes to get our drink order. We are in our mid-twenties and the guy treated us like we were going to be his “cheap” table for the night. Super condescending… nose in the air kind of service. Plus, I had ordered another drink and he never brought it, then charged us for it! When the bill came, he removed it, but didn’t offer any real apology. To boot, I’ve seen in reviews that people celebrating a special occasion are offered a complimentary dessert on the house. We were not offered anything. This especially stung, as the couple who arrived at the same time as us, were asked if they were celebrating anything special. While they said no, they were still seated on the rail…without a reservation. Meanwhile, it’s our honeymoon, and we were shoved in the back. Our entrees were disappointing as well. Maybe we’re just more bar food people, I don’t know. We definitely will be back for happy hour and to visit our friendly waitress, but Merriman’s can keep their dinner and stuffy waiter for sure! Usually I have lower standards, but not when we’re dropping a couple hundred bucks on a meal!

On the other days on the west side, we just really took it easy. Our favorite parts of the trip were just sitting on the lanai enjoying the beauty that is Maui. We loved snacking on things just lounging around. The macaroni salad at the Napili Market deli counter is really good too for anyone interested! DH enjoyed his ahi sashimi from there as well! We discovered Maui tacos too, and I just LOVE their original fish tacos. So good….beat Leilani’s by a mile! We also bought some inner tubes and a pump at the Honolua Store since the little store at Napili is shut down. We really loved floating in the surf! It was super relaxing, and also gave us a chance to get some sun without feeling like we were going to melt!

To sum this part up, I think we definitely have an idea of how we’ll plan our next trip and the things we’ll want to do. Definitely won’t eat quite as much…the decadent food really took its toll, and we’ve been eating like rabbits since we’ve been home! Having said that, I think next time we’d like to try Honu, Aloha Mixed Plate, return to Merriman’s (for happy hour ONLY), and go to Costco for the rest! They had a beautiful caprese salad in the refrigerated section at Costco! We stopped there on our last day and saw it. I sure wish they carried it in our Costco back home! We also will definitely have to make up for our lack of snorkeling!

Next up, I’ll go into our second half of our stay in Wailea. We stayed at a condo in the Wailea Elua complex (which was fantastic) did the Road to Hana (and Pipiwai Trail), and ended at the Four Seasons.

More to come!