We stayed at the Mana Kai , room 611 in Kehei, Maui from 7/27-8/6/2007.
Rented thru Alii Resorts.
We wanted to stay at a beach front condo--- wanted to walk out the door to the beach. (ie, not have to cross a street or walk a mile) This place was awsome!! The photos were right on, in that what I saw in the photos, was what I saw when I walked into the condo. It was breathtaking!! The view was spectacular!! We were able to go out on the beach and snorkel, body surf, swim, relax.

We went to sleep with our slider door wide open.....watching and hearing the ocean and awoke w/the same. It was quiet, peaceful, romantic and fun.
We were off the main crowded beaches. Some of the reviews that I read from some of the condos on the crowded beaches were that it was too noisy and busy.

Our bedroom faced the ocean, right off the living room. Most of the condos we looked at had bedrooms over the parking lots.

My 13 yr old son was in heaven in that his room had a closing door, had air conditioning, a TV, DVD player.

The only drawback for me was the tradewinds. Laying on the sand on the beach with sunscreen, I got totally sand blasted!!
However, these tradewinds made Kehei comfortable. My husb doesnt prefer the intense heat, so he was very happy there.

The room was not all updated and highly fancy, but that didnt matter to us. It was clean with a spectacular view and right on the beach!!
If you want a beach front condo, with a breathtaking view, this is the place!!

My favorite place to eat was "Jaws" , a taco stand (well truck, that is!!) which was down towards Makena. He made the best fish taco ever!!
After, we encountered a local selling coconuts. He shucked one, we drank the milk, he talked about the young coconuts being the best and how the milk is supposed to be clear, not white. Then he cut the coconut for us to eat. It was the best!!

Now, if you want to snorkel with sea turtles------Go to Kaanapali area and snorkel at Black rock(or black point). We swam and snorkeled w/huge sea turtles!!! It was amazing!!!

Dont forget to visit the blow hole past Napili.

We just returned from an 11 night stay at the Mana Kai Maui and can't say enough about what a great condo it was! We were on the 6th floor, Deluxe-Ocean Front View and boy what a view it was! Please don't worry about the no A/C - you leave the huge sliding glass doors open 24/7 and the Ocean breeze keeps it just perfect - not only that you can hear the waves continuously all night long!

The maid service was great - they were there every day and even cleaned up our dishes when we did leave them. We had no trouble with any locals, the resort has hired security which maintains a visible presence near the pool and on the grounds and they are constantly watching for locals. The front desk was always friendly and available when we needed them (we arrived late afternoon) and didn't have to leave till late at night as well. One nice suprise was the day we left - they kept our luggage for us and let us use the facilities that whole day (we had a 9 pm flight) and they even let us clean up and shower so we wouldn't have to get on the plane all sticky and sandy!

Zacks was a great little convenience - and yes some items were pricey - but the necessities were the same prices as any local convenience store. Their coffee was always hot and fresh, anytime of day!

This was our 5th trip to Hawaii (our 2nd to Maui) and we have always stayed in condos - but the location and service of this resort / for the price you pay - has beat out all the others for us. We have two teenage boys that went with us and in the past we have spent a lot of time driving them around to find a good beach with good snorkeling and boogie boarding. Not this time! They were content (and even asked to stay there and not go anywhere else for the last 4 days) to stay at the condo and beach for the majority of the time.

The snorkeling over the reefs just to the right of the beach was exceptional. Some of the best we've seen, especially early in the morning when the waves were calm. We had a couple really great boogie boarding days as well right there.

Yes they were working on the elevators all during our stay - I have to agree with the rest of the reviews - it was a nuscience however - hey you're on Maui - it was worth a little inconvenience, and they are scheduled to be completely done with the elevator work in early September. It looked like most of the other remodeling in the hallways had been complete, the ones we ventured to anyways. They were working on a couple of the rooms but to me it's always good to see a place working to improve. Two missing things - which are not necessities, but nice to have - bar-b-que grills and free wi-fi. We didn't mess with the internet (even though the teenagers wanted it), you had to call a number and give them a credit card, and the teens survived. As far as the bar-b-que grill - we headed over the Kamole Beach 3 for an evening picnic and used the grills there, which made for a nice change - just not as convenient if we could have grilled right there.

Overall - it was a top-notch stay and we are definitely planning on returning, and would recommend this resort to any of our friends and family!

We stayed for a week at the Mana Kai as part of a two week honeymoon in Hawaii, the other week being on the Big Island. We stayed in a hotel room with a view of the carpark as well as the ocean, but we barely spent any time there so it didn't matter and was a complete bargain as a result and quiet as we were on the 7th floor. The room had a coffee maker and the bathroom was clean. It was quite small but it did the job and the rest of the hotel made up for it. The hotel has a great shop that sells just about everything as well as a restaurant that served breakfast, lunch or dinner. The food was amazing but it wasn't cheap so we only ate there a couple of times, but were glad when we did. The best part about the hotel is the proximity to an amazing beach, with great snorkeling and some useful shady areas. We did without a car for half the week and didn't find it restricting. You need a car to visit other towns and sights such as the Hana Road and the Haleakala volcano, but for the beach days it just wasn't necessary we just walked into Kihei for dinner and walked to Wailea for a change of seen. We would come back to this hotel for its value for money and great beach.

My husband and I stayed here July 16-18. The Mana Kai Maui is a combination condo/hotel, so there are "regulars" and "hotel guests." We booked our stay through Travelocity and received a corner room on the 8th floor, which was the top floor with a fabulous view of the ocean. There are exterior corridors to access the rooms on one side of the hotel, allowing for balconies on the other side of the building. Our room did not have a balcony, but we could watch the sunset from the corridor outside our room. Our room was slightly smaller than an average hotel room with a bathroom and small refrigerator. We didn't mind - we were in Maui for the beach, not the room.

The grounds are nice with a large lawn with beach chairs and a decent size pool. The soft sand beach is just steps from the hotel with decent snorkeling off the rocks, but watch the rough waves. There are a number of tidepools that form in the rocks that we found fun to explore. We ate lunch in the on-site restaurant, which was pretty good. We received coupons for the restaurant when we checked in. There was also a "happy hour" at the bar everyday with half-priced sushi. We enjoyed talking with the bartender and sushi chefs.

The Mana Kai Maui is in a great location, a bit removed from the touristy feel of South Kihei Street, but close enough to explore that part of Maui. We also caught our early morning snorkeling tour of Molokini from the Maui Prince Hotel, which wasn't too far down the road. (Snokeling Molokini okay - we had the best Maui snorkeling in Kaanapali at Black Rock in front of the Sheraton).

Two downsides to our stay - First, they are installing new elavators, so only one of the two was working during our stay. It takes a bit longer and you have to share with staff and their carts. Second, I don't think they have 24-staff at the main office. We had an early flight the morning we checked out and even though our paperwork said the office opened at 7am, no one was there and no one answered the numbers left at the courtesy phone. We saw another group of people in the same position who found a staff member and we left our keys with her since she said the office wouldn't open untilo 8am. Other than those issues, we had a pleasant stay.