When I told my wife that we were closing our holiday by relaxing at a Maui hotel that costs over $250 a day (AUD) she was so excited. The photos show a high aerial shot with blue water in front of a long building. I thought the one and a half star rating was because the standards are different compared to Australia.

The entrance is impressive with a huge green lawn but when we got to our 'Ocean Front Room' my wife cried for hours (really). The furniture looked a hundred years old, the carpet was stained, worn and dirty. The sliding glass door had to be dragged open and the flyscreen door was worse. We had holes in our curtains, the split airconditioner was cooling only and very old. The bath tub had five lengths of old adhesive from previous antislip stickers. Do you want me to go on???

We had two dead cockroaches on the floor and the room needed airing out as it stunk. The TV was a small CRT model with the only upside that we had a good choice of pay TV channels to choose. We were on the ground floor of the two storey building and we could hear people stomping around for hours at night.

There are many hotels and motor inns in Kihei so keep looking. Our room was on the water but we had a small window facing the water which was above shoulder height. When you sat outside the room, the hedge along the boundary made it impossible to see the water. There is nothing in walking distance so we hired a car.

There are plenty of good shops and tourist beaches about a mile or more away. This is one old hotel. The only internet was at the registration lobby which was across the road from our complex. You had to take your laptop over there to access the free internet. There was no internet access from the rooms.

There are two buildings facing the ocean front. The one in the photo looked better. Our building was 90 degrees to the water so only our room could really see the ocean. There was no food or restuarant facilities at the hotel.

In the attached photos I took the room looks respectable but in real life it is old and you would need to shop around. Enjoy the photos of the best parts of what was on offer. Ray

I had a fairly short notice business trip out to Maui and the Maui Lu was the only place available in Kihei. Upon arrival, I knew why. The entrance is deceiving. When I pulled into the registration desk I thought "this isn't so bad. It's quaint and rustic" The staff was friendly. It went down hill from there.

The room I stayed in was across the street. The parking lot hosts the smallest car spaces I have ever been in and it was full. I had to park across the street and cross Kihei Blvd at night, alone. It's not very well lit.

When I reached my room, I cried just a bit. The room is in DESPARATE need of new carpet and new paint. The bathroom gave me the willies, I dared not step barefoot on the floor. There was a small A/C unit that I promptly set to cool, but the room never quite got comfortably cool... Probably because my front door did not adequately shut. The Maui Lu still uses the old fashioned KEYS for your room and the deadbolt barely fit into the door jam. There were traces of an old bar slide lock but the area where the lock would fit into has been long wittled away leaving about a 1" gap between the door and the door jam. I am guessing this contributed to the mass of tiny mosquito like bugs flying around.

The beds were not comfortable at all. There was a wall print that was dated "1989"...I'm guessing nothing has been done to the property since then. The upstairs balcony had bubbled paint that exposed rotting wood and it was starting to fall. Read: the balcony was not 90 degrees straight, it tilted slightly to the outside. There was a small mini fridge - next to the old broken mini fridge in the room. The outdated rattan furniture had stains and grossness on the sides.

For a single woman traveling alone, I did not feel safe at all. I checked out of the hotel and found a place a few miles down the road for just a few dollars more. The location has potential, but for $200/night, I would expect a lot more.

I booked the Maui Lu based on the total price of the trip. I wasn't expecting a 5 star resort by any means. If you want that, then spend your $400.00 a night on the Hilton. But being on a budget and not planning on spending my entire trip in a hotel room, I was very pleased with the Maui Lu. The room was clean with maid service daily. We called a week ahead and asked for a king bed. They told us we would have to request that when we arrived. We checked in and were surprised when they said that our request for the king was noted and that is what we got. And it was a very comfortable bed at that!! The room was on the 2nd floor but the sweetest guy loaded our luggage from the car & wouldn't let us carry a thing. The entire staff was helpful and met all of our requests. Nice size mini fridge, coffee pot, but they only provide 1 coffee packet then charge $1.00 a day. Just bring your own coffee pods like I did. They do have coffee & tea in the morning in the lobby plus a microwave & toaster. Nice pool area, just lacking a hot tub. The beach is tricky to get to if you are in the main hotel complex and not in a beach front. You have to cross the street to get to it but it is somewhat secluded and nice. All in all, our experience at the Maui Lu was very good. Older hotel but they have done a fairly good job of keeping it maintained. I would stay there again. Like I said, the purpose of my trip wasn't to spend it in a hotel room but to explore the beautiful Island again. And the staff at the Maui Lu made that possible with all their great advise on what was happening and the good spots to go for things!

I stayed two nights here on business. My room was very large and oceanfront which was great, but just very old and dirty in appearance. After my first night I awoke to two dead cockroaches on the floor (that weren't there when I went to sleep). I was in a hurry for work and left them for housekeeping to clean up. After being gone all day I found the bed had been made and the garbage taken out, but both cockroaches were still belly up on the floor - they didn't touch them.

I would only recommend this hotel to people who get oceanfront rooms. The location of those rooms are across the street from the main hotel and are really right on the water. The beach is fairly vacant too, which is great. I wouldn't recommend it as it appears incredibly dirty, but probably worth it for the oceanfront rooms as they are affordable. This hotel is definitely not for everyone, but if you don't mind old hotels and are travelling on a budget, get an oceanfront room....but I guess you'll have to take the dead cockroaches out yourself.