In March of 2007, we spent a week at the Whaler Maui Condo #802 and loved every minute. Although it has taken 10 months to write a review, we still think about this "fabulous" condo and our wonderful experience. We are now planning our next trip to Maui and I realized another day could not pass without sharing our great experience.

We have been to Hawaii over a dozen times , but this trip was the first time we booked a condo directly with the owners. After reading TripAdvisor and our prior knowledge, we knew that the Whaler was "the" perfect place to stay. We were a bit apprehensive booking directly with owners because of our lack of experience and reviews posted by other travelers.

I searched Google for "Whaler Maui Condo", and found the perfect condo and owners. Janell could not be more delightful! The Condo was immaculate and gorgeous! Everything was better than expected. Janell even called shortly after we arrived to see if there was anything else that we needed.

The condo is newly remodeled contempory and is stunning. Although,we spent most of our time on the very large wrap around lanai. We were so mesmerized by the view of the ocean and whales, that we rarely left the lanai.

We highly recommend the Whaler Maui Condo #802, and Janell.

We celebrated a late 30th anniversary by staying at the Whaler from Jan 23 to 28, 2008. This was our 1st visit to Maui, and we expected a little better for what we paid.

Strengths of the Whaler: (1) central location to the beach and water activities, (2) studio rooms with kitchenettes, (3) very responsive maintenance and housekeeping staff, (4) beautiful blue-tiled linai, (5) pretty flowers on the linais, (6) washers and driers on each floor, and (7) right next to the Whaler Village with shops & restaurants.

Weaknesses: (1) the incessant beeping from construction equipment on the southeast side of Tower # 2, (2) small ants in the kitchen, (3) on-going basement garage repairs, (4) and some rooms below the 6th floor on the southeastern side of Tower # 2 have limited views of the ocean, like maybe 30to 60 degrees.

The bottom line in my opinion regarding the Whaler is that the views from the various rooms range from 5-star (oceanfront, above the 6th floor or outside of Tower 1 overlooking Black Rock) down to 2-star views. I felt we got a 3-star view on the 5th floor of the southeastern side of Tower 2; however, the constant beeping of construction equipment made it feel like 2-star lodging. Fortunately, trees obscured the rooftops of shops in the Whaler's Village, and we had greater privacy and more of a natural view with some of the ocean visible from our linai. We asked for a room on a higher floor, and were offered a 9th floor room on the inside of Tower 2. The insides of both towers face each other, and there's a significant loss of privacy. We kept the 5th floor room, kept our privacy, but had to live with the incessant beeping of construction equipment. Got some relief on Sat. & Sun. when there was no construction. Therefore, I would definitely inspect the view from a room, and make sure there was no audible construction noise nearby before paying for any room.

We stayed at the Whaler on our honeymoon. We had a room on the 11th floor in Tower 2. The room was huge and spacious and nicely furnished with a kitchen, bathroom and dressing room. The lanai (balcony) was huge with amazing views over the beach. We got a room which had all day sun and it was beautiful to sit and watch the sunset from our balcony. I would recommend asking for a room high up to be able to enjoy the view.

We had the best spot of beach on the whole of Kaanapaali Beach. The beach out front was beautiful soft golden sand and not overcrowded. It was an easy walk to Black Rock (outside the Sheraton hotel) which has the best diving and scuba spot straight off the beach. We saw heaps of little tropical fish and even sea turtles.

The Whalers Village is right next door which has everything you need.

We found a nice place on Kaanapali Beach on Maui from VRBO. That site is great. You get pictures and descriptions of places for rent by the owners. When I compared the prices, it was a way better deal through the owners than calling the hotels direct. We ended up choosing a studio, unit 315 at The Whaler Resort on Kaanapali Beach. It was perfect. The place had just been remodeled with top notch everything and the coolest mosaic picture in the shower. They made a huge double size shower that my wife fell in love with. All of their furniture and tile floors and carpet was new and everything was clean. The bed was king size and we slept like babies. We really liked the idea that this complex had full kitchens in all the units since eating out in Maui gets pretty expensive if you have eat out all the time. The kitchen had nice granite counters and new cabinets and appliances. All the pans and eating/cooking utensils were there and we did not need anything extra. We really enjoyed getting steaks at the Costco on our way out of the airport in Kahului and cooking them on the gas grills they have by the pool. We had fun talking with the other people who were visiting and sharing places and things to do there. The balcony, they say lanai, was really nice too. There was a table, higher than normal, and two high style chairs with a chaise lounge. The table height was perfect and we could sit and not have the balcony rails obstruct our view. We spent a lot of time out there for our meals. You could see the pool and ocean/beach and watch the sunsets every night. They have a fish pond and the gardens were very pretty with all kinds of tropical flowers. We visited the gym they downstairs one day to just see it, but did not work out. Who wants to work that hard in Maui? It was decked out for a good workout though. Tennis courts looked nice but we did not play. There was a big flat screen tv on the wall that you could angle in any direction and they had a big selection of movies. There was also a stereo with lots of music cds including some really authentic island type music. They also had a nice feature with the elevators that went right down to the parking garage. The unit was very close to the elevators so we appreciated that. They had grocery carts in the garage to put all your stuff in so single trips were all that was needed. The best part though is the path that goes all the way down Kaanapali beach. There are tons of restaurants and things to see and do. They give surf lessons and parasail rides from the beach. We ate at Hula restaurant and it was very good with live music outside. We went down to the Marriot hotel and had maitais at their really nice pool area. The snorkeling was also a blast. Black Rock at the end of the path was the place to go. We saw sea turtles that did not seem to mind us at all. It got a little crowded at that end with everyone wanting to snorkel in the same area but was still really worth it. The drive over to Hana was interesting and scenic. My wife got a little scared at the skinny roads and it was hard to get past cars coming from the opposite direction. Worth a one-time drive though. Great picture areas on the whole dirve. We ended up going all the way around the island from Hana. It turned into a dirt road but you got to view the really dry, almost eerie side of the volcano. Other than that I could really recommend unit 315 at Whaler Resort. We are already looking for a date to go back. Oh, they also had a really generous and very thoughtful welcome basket for us when we got there. There was a bottle of sparkling apple cider with lots of chocolate covered macadamia nuts, a photo album, cards with stamps and even a mousepad with the view off the balcony on it. We were very impressed. A couple we talked with by the bbq area said they got a pineapple so we felt very special with our basket stuff. As they say there....ALOHA!