Makena Beach & Golf Resort Maui

We fell in love with Makena. For our 10 years anniversary celebration we stayed here for 7 days and it was truly an amazing experience. Great staff and outstanding service. from Brittany, Brooke, Raymond and Ford and everyone else at the valet service– all thumbs up! All were accomodating, friendly and very informative. They actually saved us a trip and possibly be stranded on our way to Lahaina when they informed us of the road closure while waiting for our car — we were thankful that evening to all of them. The ambiance, the location, the secluded beach, the view… gorgeous, gorgeous! We are so happy to be able to enjoy Makena before their conversion sometime this year.

We had an amazing time at this resort. Incredible views from the fifth floor balcony. Room service was great, everyone was very friendly and helpful! No resort fee. The resort is beautiful, has good food too! Would definitely choose to stay here again!
Tip: Ask for a room on the 5^th floor if you want amazing views but keep in mind the rooms on the L floor are way bigger!

This place is amazing. They have a private beach (well almost private) that is gorgeous! They have the most beautiful sunsets. Customer service was amazing. The hotel is really beautiful inside … Real tropical feel with waterfalls. This was the best hotel of our trip that’s for sure. We can’t wait to return.

This hotel was really lovely. It’s definitely not the newest or the fanciest in Wailea or Makena, but our room was gorgeous with a great view of the ocean. One of my fondest memories of the trip was going to sleep and waking up to the sound of ocean waves. The room was plenty roomy and had everything we needed. We had an issue with tiny ants the first night, and the staff was very responsive. We still saw an ant or two the rest of our trip, but nothing disturbing, and what can you do? They’re ants and this is the tropics. Air conditioning worked great (a personal pet peeve of mine), and the bed was very comfy. I would definitely stay here again.
We barely noticed the pool — this is HAWAII. We have pools at home. The beach was lovely and I highly recommend the covered beach chair situation — it was amazing!

Best vacation I ever had I love the location it was secluded from all the other resorts Felt like I had Maui all for myself can’t wait to go back. The beach the breakfast in the morning Lotta good memories. Definitely recommend it for anybody that’s trying to relax and get away from all the hustle and bustle.

The staff is wonderful! We had our Christmas party here last week and I can’t rave enough how great everyone was. Sandy Taniguchi was our primary contact at the hotel. Without her assistance, our party would’ve been a flop. She kept in constant communication with us and made sure all the details were covered. She even responded to emails while on vacation! Talk about dedication!
Every employee that I encountered there was friendly, cheerful and accommodating. The reservations dept, valet, front desk, banquet personnel, and wait staff at the buffet were all wonderful.
The rooms are spacious and have updated décor. (Personally, I hate stepping into a pricy hotel and seeing 70’s Hawaiian-​ish prints everywhere.) I appreciate the separate closet/​coffee area.
Only downside to this resort, their daily breakfast buffet. Food was mediocre at best. I would pass on this and probably head out to a different resort.

Hard to say more than what’s already been said, but we fell in love with this place. Totally laid back, no crazy crowds on their amazing beach (unlike other hotels), staff was kind and helpful, and we loved the free shuttle. Rooms aren’t fancy, but you won’t find a better price for the views– we could see Molkini (and whales!) from our balcony. After checking out other beaches/​hotels, I would come back here in a heartbeat. So sad to hear they’ve been bought out and the resort will be replaced with luxury apartments– glad we got to stay here at least once, though!

Loved the secluded location, plenty to do around, and great places to eat.
Location: Located near Wailea, and close to other big name resorts such as Four Seasons + Fairmont. I loved this location because it was a little bit further down the road and thus there was less people. It’s about a 2 hour drive to Haleakala, 1 hour to Paia (to start the road to hana), 30 mins to the airport, 10 mins to Kihei, and 1 hour to Lahaina (time calculated based on driving the speed limit of 45).
Beach Access: My favorite part of this hotel was the walkway down to the beach. It was a small secluded beach with hardly any people around when I was there. There wasn’t much waves so it’s not great for surfing. However, it’s great for relaxing and just playing in the ocean. If you bike down the road (the hotel has 4 bikes to rent for free with a 3 hour time limit), you get to another beach where they do a lot of the kayaking and it was great for bodyboarding + snorkeling.
Rooms: Acceptably clean + spacious. Each room had a balcony + ours had a view of the ocean. I loved keeping the screen doors open to listen to the waves. However, it does get noisy around 8 am when maintenance starts doing their thing. Pretty quiet if your doors are closed. We were on the first floor and you could hear people upstairs, so I would request a higher floor next time.
Beds: More on the soft side but it wasn’t too bad. I really loved the firm pillows though. Sheets were clean.
Bathroom: Outdated but really okay. Just don’t do your make up in the bathroom, super harsh lighting. The hotel provided Tommy Bahama lotions, body soap, shampoo, and conditioner. Dried out my hair and skin, so I would recommend bringing your own stuff if you have dry skin.
Hotel: Everyone was very friendly and helpful. The bell desk + this little shack by the pool have beach towels so you don’t need to take the ones from your room. The little shack by the pool also rents snorkeling equipment ($ 20/​day, $ 9/​hour), paddle boards, and scuba equipment. Sorry I didn’t get those prices, I think it was like ~$ 40/​hour for paddle boards but I could be wrong.
Food: We ended up eating a couple meals at the hotel restaurant but we sat in the bar section because the burgers were sooooo good. Definitely try those if it’s late and everything else is closed. They also have live music until 9pm. The food was reasonably priced for it being hotel and in being Maui. I think it was around ~ $ 15 — $ 40 for stuff on the menu.
Other amenities:
— Free Wi-​Fi
— Starbucks Café (with really good panini)
— Every day they have different complimentary activities (Yoga, Luau, Ukulele lessons, etc.) at different times
— No Resort Fee! Yayyy~
— They have a car to take you around but you’ll have to request it early.

This place has THE MOST AMAZING BEACH ever!
Soft sand, great beach shak service — offer lots of things to do, snorkeling, kayaking, etc… the guys are extremely nice; the water near Makena was warm and very clear.
The hotel itself is also nice; free: valet, towels and bottles of water at the bell boy/​girl desk.
We had room service twice a day, as the bathrooms get super sandy and dirty after every trip to the beach.
Breakfast buffet is plentiful and awesome, the ladies that made the omletes are super sweet and will even chat away with you if you start talking to them.
CONS:
Concierge: they gave some shitty recommendations of restaurants — Monkeypod being the main one. (We are vegetarian btw… maybe thats why)
Starbucks lady (a little older) that works there has big attitude! — get Starbucks from elsewhere if you can… and enjoy it in their lobby or beach.

Forts time in Hawaii for our honeymoon and we would highly recommend this place. Staff was great. Buffet breakfast was pricey but typical resort pricing, but delicious with plenty of options. Pool area looks small but we always had a good spot (and estates during prime season– winter/​Christmas). Right on the beach is very convenient and beautiful view as well. Within walking distance or resort shuttle service of shopping areas or other resorts nearby. Is a bit quieter than other resorts nearby but good if you want the peace&quiet. No complaints!!!

I stayed here towards the end of October and I mostly have positive things to say.
This place probably has the best value without compromising quality in the Wailea/​Makena area. Once I compared what is included compared to the other resorts in the Wailea area, it was obvious.
Makena Beach & Resort has a more «authentic» feel of staying in a resort in Hawaii. I’ve been to the Marriot and other resorts along the Wailea area and yes those resorts are more modern and luxurious looking, but in doing so loses the Hawaii identity in my opinion. Sometimes you forget you are in a beach resort in the other places. Here at Makena, you definitely know and feel you are in a resort in Hawaii. From the design of the hotel with the center garden atrium, to the décor of the entire place from the halls and rooms. They do a great job of not being pretentious and «sticking to their guns» in terms of what they are offering to the guests.
All the staff members are also very nice. All the valet personnel, front desk, and everybody had an authentic vibe of niceness and eagerness to help without giving off any fake undertones that they are simply doing it because it’s their job. A++ for the staff mos-​def.
We had room with partial ocean view and 2 beds. The beds and linens are great and no complaints. The room – well it was roomy. Never once did we feel crowded. Each room here I believe has a lanai and it also has plenty of room for everybody to hang out. You can probably fit 8 people out there comfortably without issues.
WIFI and LAN wired connection is included and free for all devices. No device limit, connect as many as you want (or at least we never saw a limit). Speed is ok, just like most hotel these days, you aren’t going to get 10Mbps+ but definitely more than enough to do what you have to do. Even VOIP if working remotely.
Bathroom is spacious and better than most standard rooms in comparison. Why? The bathtub and the shower are SEPARATE. So someone can be taking a shower and another can be using the tub. The shower door is frosted so you are safe from being seen. The toilet also has a door so to keep away from everybody else.
Daily water and starbucks ready to make coffee is provided after each morning turndown by house keeping.
The toiletries included are Tommy Bahama products, which might be a major plus for those who are picky about their shampoo, etc.
A small fridge (NOT FREEZER) is provided. Just like many hotel fridges, it sucks, but will do the job to keep your stuff cool/​cold. However, unlike other hotel fridges, as mentioned, (at least ours) was only a refrigerator with no freezer section.
There is an ice machine of course so you can get ice, BUT your keycard is required and it will not work after 10PM. Very strange why they do not allow 24hour access to the ice machine. Maybe because it is noisy and they do not want to upset other guests? Just make sure you get enough ice before 10PM. I believe access is granted again at 5 or 6AM.
The resort has plenty of things to do. They have daily activities, many of them free, that guest can partake in. They also have free bicycle rentals. Be warned, the road here although nice and smooth have many inclines, and although there are portions where it goes downhill, just remember you will have to go uphill on the way back. It was nice to offer the free bicycle rentals, and being able to cruise with the beach to your side and the gorgeous Hawaii weather.
The rest of the grounds are kept up nicely. The center atrium like area has a lush garden with a pond of fish that you can feed with the complimentary fish food if you ask the front desk. This center area has a lot of photo ops. Of course there is a pool and a hot tub. It is not as extravagant as the other resorts in design and vastness, but to me a pool is a pool and you have the Hawaii beaches anyways. Speaking of which, this hotel has direct access to the Makena beach.
There are so much other amenities and offerings, just take a look at their site.
I definitely would recommend this place and I would definitely consider going back. Just be aware, this is the southern last resort in the Wailea area. You most likely will have a rent a car anyways so it’s no big deal. The drive to the Shops at Wailea (you know the place that has a Louis Vuitton, Prada, Bottega etc) is exactly 3 miles away. That is why the location might be irrelevant because who DOESNT have a rent a car when they go to Hawaii?
My only complaint, there is a $ 60 DAILY additional person room charge. Really? $ 60? That’s way too much. You just get an additional water, and starbucks instant coffee mix for the $ 60? So even if you reserve a room with 2 beds, it is priced only for 2 people. Add someone else, thats $ 60 DAILY. I wasn’t too happy about that. Thus the reason for the 1 star deduction.

I don’t know where to begin. This was my favorite trip to Hawaii so far.
The pool staff were amazing! Lucky and Jay were extremely friendly and recommended a lot of great places to try and also told us a lot about Hawaii. Go see them both they are amazing!
Hands down my favorite part about our stay here was the valet. Not because it was free, and not because they greeted us with water and towels every time, but because they treated us like friends! Trinity, Carlton, and Kawika, hands down the best valet I have ever gotten to enjoy. They have amazing recommendations for food, and were also honest when we asked about somewhere and thy didn’t care for the food. I trust their opinions 100%!!!
The beach for this hotel is also amazing, it’s absolutely perfect! Not to crowded and just a short walk from the pool. This is a must stay before it gets turned into condos in the next year!!!

I had booked a 4 night stay at Makena resort through Expedia. It is a stunningly beautiful and well maintained property with top class hospitality crew. We were upgraded to the room with oceanfront view, which overlooked the Makena beach and the lovely mountains with windmills. The housekeeping staff do a wonderful job with every area of the room. The bathroom is slightly basic; however it is equipped with a nice assortment of Tommy Bahama branded toiletries.
The resort offers plenty of activities, many of which are complimentary. I would recommend the oceanfront yoga. My dad purchased a tennis lesson at the resort’s Tennis Center and was extremely pleased with the instructor. Another great benefit is the easy access to Molokini crater and Turtle Bay, two of the major snorkeling spots.
I went snorkeling through a third party company — Kai Kanani sailing and their boat picked us up right at the resort.
This place is an awesome bang for the buck for Maui visitors.

First off, I would like to just say, the staff at this resort are astoundingly nice and helpful. My husband and I stayed in several places on our honeymoon and the people at this resort were just so incredibly friendly.
For the price, this is a good resort. It is a lot cheaper than the resorts in Wailea right next door. That is why we chose this resort, it was far more affordable. However, if this resort wants to compete with those, it really needs to up the ante. The need to update the rooms and use better products in the bathrooms. Also, we are in Hawaii, does it not make sense to put Kona or Maui coffee in the rooms?! Not Starbucks! You can get that ANYWHERE. I thought that was so odd. Use this moment to highlight something this island does so well!
Our first night we ordered room service and the food was just awful. We thought it was just dinner but the breakfast was just as bad. It was free however, so I can’t complain about that too much. Every other meal we ate off the resort. The resorts in Wailea offer a multitude of wonderful options so you’re ok there. But again, if this resort wants to compete with the near by ones, they need to step up the food quality.
The golf course was closed for renovation while we were there, which was not listed on the website. We didn’t plan our trip around golfing but we would have loved to hit some balls on a less expensive course than what we ended up having to do since it was closed. (We weren’t devastated but annoyed none-​the-​less because we weren’t aware beforehand).

This resort is beautiful! I’m only giving it 4-​stars because we only stayed here for one night and we didn’t have a chance to explore Makena Beach & Golf Resorts’ full amenities. Our flight was cancelled last minute, so my boyfriend and I had the privilege of staying here courtesy of our airline. The moment we got out of the car, a staff greeted us and placed a lei around our neck. The lobby overlooks a beautiful open-​garden courtyard with waterfalls, lush plants and koi fish ponds. We were given a King room overlooking the beach; the lanai is big enough to order room service or enjoy the view. From what we saw during our stay, Makena Beach & Golf provides A TON of amenities (fitness center, free parking/​wifi, tennis court, gift shops, pools, spa, etc.). We hope to plan another stay at Makena the next time we visit Maui!

This resort is excellent. We booked it through Costco travel. We didn’t like it at first because it was really hot and an open air concept and the rooms were a bit old. But the Hawaiian charm grew on us.
They really seem to take care of the resort with care given that it seems like an non-​chain older resort.
With our costco travel package we were given the breakfast buffet. The breakfast buffet was superb. We were able to eat breakfast by this beautiful pond every morning.
The breakfast buffet was pretty awesome. They had a large selection of fruit, cereal, different types of proteins. The best part was that they actually switched up the proteins each morning: bacon, scramble eggs, sausage, eggs benedict, etc.
The exclusive access to Makena beach is probably the next greatest thing here. It’s right off the beach and it’s right next to big /​little beach as well.
As for the room. It was pretty well kept. We were expecting a larger room. The room was slightly older; but the view was great. We were able to enjoy a great view of the ocean. The patio is pretty great here. It’s nice to sit out and enjoy drinks here.
Service here is excellent. We had somethings in the room break down like the toilet and A/​C but we didn’t even notice it because they were so quick at fixing them.
The gym is not too bad. There’s suprisingly a good range of equipment like free weights (they only go up to 50lbs), weight lifting flat and incline benches, crossover cables, an elliptical, some treadmills. More of the regular hotel gym plus a couple things extra.
What’s great is that all the resort fees are free. There isn’t a resort fee here for the additional amenities the ask for; it’s included in the price of the pool.
While we were here we also watched a couple weddings. Two took place while we were there.
Some Unilocalers are right. The location isn’t great. It’s on the most southernmost part of Hawaii. Farthest away from the shops of Wailea, Kihei, Kaanapali, etc. Therefore, be sure to rent a car or you’ll be bored.
Wifi is free but it’s slow at times.
Otherwise, we would love to stay here again if we were given the option.

The Makena Resort… What can I say besides WOW. First of all we were not supposed to stay on Maui but a diverted plane and a next day departure changed all of that in a very positive way. (that’s a separate review)
The resort is beautiful and it is right on a beautiful sandy beach. We were given a King room with a great balcony and an amazing view, wow again what a sunset!
The grounds were beautiful, a totally open air interior with Koi pond and a fantastic waterfall. It made for a romantic evening and morning walk through the property and beach. It is a golf beach resort with a couple of nice swimming pools, though the hot tub is a bit underwhelming.
Our phone chargers were in our luggage that was on the Ill fated Hawaiian airline flight so we called the desk in the hopes that they had one laying around. To my surprise the head of security Jason Khols called and said they didn’t have any at the hotel for my phone so he brought us his personal charger to use for the night… now that’s great Customer Service.
We had a great dinner and enjoyed a terrific Kiowai breakfast buffet the next morning. We had our breakfast on the patio enjoying the fountain and the many birds on the grounds.
We would love to come back here and spend more time!

The Makena is located about 5 mins down the road from the high end resorts and shops of Wailea. That could be a plus or a minus for some of you. It is more quiet and secluded with nothing really around it but it severely lacks a nice pool area and any fancy or celebrity chef restaurants.
We stayed for 5 nights and overall had a good stay. They offer many freebies that I think keep people coming here. Free parking, even valet which is a big perk. Free wifi and no resort fees. The rooms are pretty basic but the beds were comfortable and the rooms come with a mini fridge which is nice.
The staff, especially the valet were always friendly and helpful. I think in the future we will spend a little more to stay somewhere else. Even with the freebies they offer, the pool area is an embarrassment with its portable spa that was in terrible shape and should be in someones backyard. Whoever designed this area had zero imagination compared to all the great pools of the higher end resorts like the Grand Wailea or Four seasons.
The Makena is just feeling a little old and tired. If you are only looking for a place to sleep and not interested in spending time at the pool or nice restaurants, this may be perfect for you.

I love everything about this hotel, but the greatest part is their staffs, they are simply wonderful. We were greeted with smiles everywhere, you can tell they are genuine.
Our first night stay were a bit disappointed because we were arranged to the ground floor room with 2 coconut trees blocked the beautiful ocean view, we waited until the next morning to talk to the front desk. After talking to Ron at front desk, he did not try to persuade us to stay at the ground floor room we had spent a night, instead, he quickly checked if there are other room available and helped us to switch to the 5^th floor room without hesitation, and he was so polite and so nice, after he knew we were planning to explore the road to Hana that day, he even offered to let us borrow his own Road to Hana CD which was really sweet.
The hotel is not the newest one but it is clean and well-​maintained, the breakfast buffet is really good, I was very excited to have their breakfast everyday during my stay. The best part is the short walk to the Makena beach and short drive to the ahihi kinau natural area reserve (or you can borrow the bike from hotel), you can borrow the towels and asked for bottle waters directly from Valet, they are super nice crews, too! I really like the location where you feel you are away from the tourists.
I will definitely return!

We stayed here for our week in Maui and had a lovely time. Upon arrival, we were greeted with a warm aloha and a lei
The hotel staff was VERY friendly and helpful. They answered all of our questions and had many great recommendations.
The concierge was great and helped us book all of our activities for the week! We really appreciated all Roeys help and patience.
The valet was super helpful and always made sure we had cold water before we left!
The hotel was very clean and had several activities throughout the day!