Maui Honeymoon 08/23-09/06: Week 2, Part 2 - Honeymoon on the South Side

After we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves at the Wailea Elua condo, the day we'd anticipated for months had finally come...checking into the Four Seasons! Normally we are not luxury travelers. We come from the mindset where a little is good, but a lot isn't necessarily better. We enjoy great food, a beautiful atmosphere, and a little dose of pampering...but fine dining and people waiting on us hand and foot isn't something we really crave all that much. Having said that, this was our honeymoon after all, and we figured if we weren't going to live it up then, then when?

Prior to arriving, I had researched the Four Seasons Wailea at length. I finally arrived at the decision to book through whatahotel.com, as it offered the best bang for our buck. It included a one category upgrade, early check-in/late check-out, daily buffet breakfast, and a total of $250 hotel credits. This was all for the same price as booking directly just for the room! We had an excellent experience with this third party, and Richie was a huge help with booking and communicating with me and the hotel.

We had originally planned to begin our honeymoon at the Four Seasons. But we chose to end it there instead, since the last leg of our trip was considered the "off-season" for the Four Seasons, and their rates dropped significantly. We were able to save $100 per night and upgrade our booked room from garden to partial ocean view by rearranging the dates!

Not only that, but I was lucky enough to win a social media contest, where we won a free day at a Missoni cabana by the Serenity Pool with champagne and a fruit plate, and an 80-minute couple's massage in an oceanside hale! It was only valid during the off-season so that was another major incentive to rearrange our dates! Here is a link to the contest we won and the choices we were able to choose from: http://www.fourseasons.com/maui/dreaming_of_fsmaui/

Now back to our check-in day...we had requested an 11:00am early check-in, so we left the condo and headed on over. We pulled up and the valet offered to grab our bags, so we let them. We headed to the front desk, where we were greeted with hot towels and ginger lemonade (delicious!!), and what felt like a myriad of other things. There was so much stuff thrown at us all at once...it was like a juggling act! While the services offered upon arrival were lovely, they really could stand to spread them out just a bit because it was just too much to handle. I think we both just found it to be formulaic.

After speaking with the front desk, we were disappointed to find out they could not honor our early check-in. They did say we could use the pool while we waited, which I had double-checked prior to arrival. We looked a little silly because we had to go back to valet, find our suitcases, open them out in public, and dig through them to get our bathing suits. The valet was really busy too, and the whole ordeal just seemed unorganized.

After getting everything we needed, we changed in the bathrooms by the Serenity Pool, just to the left of the valet. The bathrooms there were very nice, and had little useful goodies like feminine products, etc. We walked around the Serenity Pool, and it was completely packed, so we were really happy to have won the cabana for the next day! The view was beautiful from this pool. However, the way the seats were arranged didn't allow for many guests to relax and soak it in. I think this is intentional to push the cabana sales, but even some of the cabanas have an obstructed view.

Once we realized finding a seat at the Serenity Pool was futile, we headed down to the fountain pool. We were able to track someone down, where they set us up in a cabana facing away from the ocean and toward the fountain pool. We didn't mind though since it was still a nice view of the grounds. By this time, we were getting pretty hungry. No one came around with a menu, even though the waitress had quickly passed us each time. Finally the couple next to us left, so we grabbed their menu, and suddenly the woman approached us to take our order. We shared a barbeque chicken quesadilla, and had a couple of drinks. We relaxed and enjoyed the shade since it was another scorcher! Everything seemed to be in the $20 range for both food and drinks, so we were happy to have the resort credits!

Soon enough, the front desk called to let us know our room was ready. We headed up in the afternoon to check in, and get ready for dinner. We were happy to hear we were upgraded one category to a better ocean view room. They offered to walk us to our room, but we felt we could find our way, which we did. We opened the doors, and the room was quite spacious. We were greeted with a bottle of champagne, a red rose, and a congratulatory note for our honeymoon. That was a nice touch, but one we expected from my research! The bed was comfortable as well...lots of cushy pillows! The view was nice, but I think we are spoiled with Napili Kai. The ocean view with Napili Kai is just in an entirely other realm from the Four Seasons, or any large hotel I imagine. We didn't really expect Napili Kai views, but there is something to being close enough to the ocean that you can hear the waves. You just won't get this at the Four Seasons based on the setup. We also found the decor to be a little blah. When we are in Hawaii, we want to feel the aloha. That doesn't mean rattan furniture and tiki torches everywhere, but these rooms just felt like they could be anywhere to me, San Diego, Las Vegas, etc.

I decided to take a shower and clean up for dinner. The bathroom was enormous and felt very luxurious. Still, I had a couple of unfavorable observations. The music dial that is provided was malfunctioning. Some stations (including the Hawaiian station) didn't work, and all the genres were off. If you put on soft rock for example, it played jazz. We could have called maintenance, but I didn't bother since I could just play Pandora on my phone or iPad. Still, for the price of the room, I think they could have functioning amenities! Now about the shower...for such a large bathroom, I was confused with the the shower. There was a large soaking tub, but the shower didn't have a decent ledge to prop up your leg to shave, that is unless you're an acrobat! Maybe I am unique in my thinking on this, but I don't understand when hotels don't offer a good ledge for the ladies...especially one as high end as the Four Seasons. I would think they'd address little conveniences like that!

Finally, we were ready for our sunset dinner reservations at Ferraros. I had mentioned in our reservation, which was made well in advance, we were celebrating our honeymoon. I requested rail seating so we could enjoy the sunset in all its glory. We were seated with a nice ocean view, but it was quite a ways back, and was obstructed with a large umbrella post. I was a a little bummed since it wasn't what I requested, but it wasn't bad enough to make a big stink about. While the setting was very memorable, that was about it. I ordered a drink, and when I finished it, the waiter asked if I'd like another. I agreed, and he brought me something completely different the next time. I think he just saw it was some sort of green drink, but I would think a waiter working at the Four Seasons would be little more tuned into the details. I could have said something, but I decided not to for whatever reason. Maybe I was just feeling like I was being too picky at this point. We both ordered the caprese salad, and that was really good. The mozzerella tasted like it was freshly made just for our dish! For our entrees, my hubby ordered the special, which was some sort of fish with a foamy looking sauce. I ordered the mushroom risotto. Neither of us cared for our dishes. We did catch a beautiful sunset, though. Our waiter came back again, and asked if either of us cared for dessert. At this point, I was miffed. Not only were we seated towards the back and had lackluster entrees, but now we weren't even going to get a comped dessert, which I read was customary for celebratory meals. Still, I wanted to try a dessert and see if it would salvage our experience. So we agreed to share some sort of apple crostata. Again, we were disappointed, as it was just not good. There is no other way to go about it. Of course after the waiter sealed another $12 or so on the bill for dessert, he then brought us a "congratulations" cupcake. I was majorly irritated by that. We wouldn't have ordered dessert if they intended to bring us another sweet. Still, we ate that too (like the little piggies we are), and it was disappointing as well. We settled our bill, and were then brought lemon doughnuts. Now I was just confused. They were warm, so we tried them, and again we didn't find them to be worth the calories. Needless to say, we won't be going back for dinner. Lunch is the only way to go with Ferraro's in my opinion!

After we were sufficiently stuffed, we mosied on back to the room and called it a night. Hopefully day two would offer something more...

We woke up to a calm and pretty morning. We cleaned up and headed down to the breakfast buffet, which was included in our stay. They had many offerings, but I was hoping for things that were a bit more special or creative. I just found it to be your run-of-the-mill buffet. Nothing stood out except for the fresh made smoothies, but those were an extra $10, of course. Still we were looking forward to today because it was our cabana and massage day!

After breakfast, we made our way up to the Serenity Pool to claim our winning cabana! We were seated in a Missoni cabana, overlooking the pool and ocean. We were very pleased with it! The fridge was stocked with two champagne splits, orange juice, waters, and Evian misting spray. They had a large TV and headphones to watch with sound, so as to not not disturb the other guests. One of our headseats was broken, and within an hour they replaced it with a functioning one. There was a big football game on and it was funny to see the same thing playing on each cabana television. The weather started to take a turn for the worse, and most of the day was overcast and windy. There were a couple light showers as well. We took a dip in the pool, and were surprised to find how cold it was! We got out fairly quickly. I spent most of the day in the robe that was provided, trying to keep warm. Later on they bought us a fruit plate to munch on, which was nice. It was a neat experience, but I'm glad we didn't pay for it!

Soon enough, it was time for the afternoon massages, which were also part of our contest package. We left our cabana and went to get our 80-minute oceanside hale lomi-lomi massages. We were disappointed to find out upon check-in that the actual spa facilities would be closed for the entire duration of our stay. Even though I read it was small spa, I was really looking forward to that part of our trip! Still, we met at the spa, where we changed and were walked down to the hale for our massages. I was thrilled to find that the winnings even included gratuity! These treatments were one of the major highlights of the trip! The massage was truly one of the best experiences I've ever had. I've only ever done 50 minute massages, and the extra 30 minutes really put it over the edge. I don't know if I have ever been so relaxed. The pressure was perfect, the sound of the crashing waves were so peaceful, and before I knew it I was lulled to sleep! I relive that massage often when I daydream about our honeymoon, and hope to revisit the experience again on a future trip! Even though it would have been very pricey had we actually paid for it, I think it would be worth the cost!

After our treatments, we headed back up to the cabana to enjoy the rest of the day, albeit a gloomy one. We were a little hungry, and shared a plate of nachos. The cheese sauce was down right cold. I wonder how long they sat waiting for us before the waiter brought them over... Still, we were hungry so we ate and didn't complain.

Since the weather wasn't improving, we ended up leaving the Serenity Pool. Neither of us were hungry, and we ended up just going back to the room. We wound up sitting on the lanai and popped our bottle of champagne while watching the sunset. After the sun had gone down, we got freshened up and headed to the lobby lounge. Earlier in the week when we stopped at Ferraro's during the day for a drink, the waitress was sweet enough to give us complimentary drink coupons to the lobby lounge. We felt this was a good chance to use them, so off we went! We sat down on one of the couches, and listened to the live music. It was probably twenty minutes before we were acknowledged by the waitress. Finally she took our drink order, and I ordered something so sweet I couldn't finish it...I think it was lychee something-or-other. We had coupons for another round, but since I couldn't finish mine, and my hubby downed it for me, he wasn't in the mood for another drink. I was reaching my limit for eating and drinking this trip too. We left the remaining coupons on the table for another lucky couple, and decided to hit the hay early.

We woke up the next morning to another gloomy day. We had the complimentary outrigger canoe tour booked, but ended up cancelling it the night before. We probably should have done it, but just didn't feel like getting up and moving super early since we had adjusted to the time change. Still, we were determined to maximize our time at the Four Seasons since it was our last full day, and we were paying for the resort experience. After another buffet breakfast, we headed to the fountain pool. We had reserved a complimentary cabana prior to breakfast. Nearly all of them were taken and we were off in a back corner, but at least we got one! We decided to get poolside foot and neck massages, which were very relaxing. I had hoped we would be able to get them at the same time, but the same lady did ours back to back. Probably went a little overboard with the spa treatments this trip, but what the heck? When in Rome, er, Maui, right? Once our massages were done, we just laid back and read. Rowena, who is the gal that walks by with little freebies throughout the day, was a doll. She passed by with cucumbers, otter pops, bite-sized corn muffins (which were awful), and pineapple chunks. After about two hours, the heavens opened up and the rest of the day just poured and poured. It would have been nicer to have sunny skies, but we actually enjoyed reading the rain. Rowena still came by hourly in her little rain parka with a smiling face. Finally the rain was just too much and our chaise chairs were getting soaked. We popped over to Ferraro's to get out of the rain. I was still just full and tired of eating and drinking, but there wasn't much else to do. I ended up ordering a lava flow, and regretting it almost immediately! I couldn't finish it...I really had just reached my threshold of indulging this trip! We ended up walking over to the game room area, where we played a little shuffleboard. We had fun with that, and I actually started to get pretty good! We finished the day with another mellow night, and organized everything for tomorrow's departure.

The time had come for our last day on Maui. We had hoped to have a late check-out at 4:00pm, which we requested. The front desk called the night before though, and said they could only honor a 2:00pm check out. We were fine with that, since we felt like we had experienced enough of the hotel. But, I don't care for how they set up their late check-outs. No one finds out until the night before.

Our final morning, we went back down for our included breakfast. I still wish the smoothies were included because that's all I really wanted. But we had spent enough money this trip, and so I made do with what was available. We admitted to each other that we were really ready to come home. We missed our dogs and our families, and felt we had a nice amount of time to relax from the wedding build up and frenzy. While there were parts of the Four Seasons that were very enjoyable, the overall feeling we had was that it didn't live up to our hopes and expectations. Nearly, everything we did like about the hotel (sunset views, spa, lunch at Ferraro's, ginger lemonade in the lobby), we could have enjoyed while staying somewhere else more affordable. We found ourselves wishing we stayed next door at the Grand Wailea, which was about a third of the price at the time. The pools looked so fun, and the kids seemed minimal since they were back in school.

We ended up leaving the resort fairly early. The valet was very sweet and wished us a safe return home. He sent us off with a little pouch of jelly beans. We had fun popping them in our mouths and playing a "guess the flavor" game! We decided to spend the day doing the rest of our souvenir shopping since we still had several people on our list we didn't find anything for. We wandered around The Shops at Wailea, and then made our way into Kihei. My hubby had complained about his wedding ring being too tight, so we initially thought about purchasing a Koa wood/tungsten ring to replace it. We ended up deciding against it, and I'm glad we did. I had a suspicion that he just needed time adjusting to wearing it since he had never worn jewelery before. Sure enough, now that months have gone by, he said it feels foreign not to have it on!

We realized later on that we should have stayed at the resort longer, since we had a late red-eye flight back home. We finished our shopping excursion fairly early, and didn't want to get all sandy at the beach since we wouldn't have anywhere to clean up before our flight. We ended up driving around Kahului. I browsed through Kmart, Walmart, and Ross just for something to do...didn't find anything worth buying. Eventually we made our way over to the airport, where we returned our wonderful Mustang convertible, and hung out at the airport for several hours. We were ok with that though because we had made plenty of memories, we had each other, and we were excited to see everyone back home!

Our flight took off just after 9:00pm. We had a two hour layover in San Francisco, and I had been stressing about the flight from San Francisco to San Diego. It was a tiny little plane, and I am already a very nervous flyer. Thankfully, we had smooth rides both from Maui back to California, and from San Francisco to San Diego. The small plane did require some people to move to the back to balance the weight though. I was a little anxious about that, but it worked out beautifully! The quick flight was actually very peaceful and scenic. The sun was rising and the clouds below us were soft and pillowy. At last, we were home sweet home!

After coming home, we originally we thought we would skip a year, and explore a new place of the world. But now that several months have gone by, we find ourselves craving the simple, slow, and familiar comfort of Maui. We hope to book another September trip, crossing our fingers for slightly cooler temperatures and clearer snorkeling conditions. We will be taking a more laid back approach with this trip...one that is more "us." Costco food, Napili Bay, and lots more snorkeling! After all, we love Maui for all the island beauty and peaceful surroundings, not all the first class fuss and hoopla! Let the countdown begin!

Four Seasons first impressions & our room...