Located about a 20-minute drive northwest of the town of Lahaina, Napili Shores is an excellent choice if you prefer something a little more laid-back than the fancy bustling high-rise resorts that are proliferating north of Lahaina. The Shores is an older condo development, very well kept up, that offers the most significant amenities without layers of extras, and at a more reasonable cost. We observed that it attracts a horde of repeat guests and that many of the condo owners themselves spend a good part of the year in residence.
The units are a mix of one-bedroom and studios with balconies, arranged in two-story buildings that mostly face an immaculately maintained central courtyard (see picture). The buildings closest to the ocean are canted to provide ocean views. The courtyard has two pools and a Jacuzzi, plus a fish pond and very attractive landscaping. At the seaside end of the courtyard the beachfront is rocky, but a short connecting path leads to a nice sandy beach immediately adjacent.
There is an ocean-front gazebo restaurant that serves breakfast & lunch (with a line forming each morning for 7:00AM breakfast!) and a full restaurant-bar at the street end that is open for lunch & dinner (see pictures). Food was quite good and prices reasonable by Hawaii standards. Other amenities include an on-site Expedia agent for booking activities and inexpensive ($1 per boarding) public bus service down to “high-rise row” and Lahaina town. There is a coin laundry and a small ‘necessities shop’. All rooms have phones with free local calling and modem jack, but only some units have broadband internet (apparently an option provided by some unit owners).
Our two-week stay was very enjoyable, with only one sour note, a noise problem that causes us to downgrade the overall rating one notch. The units are not air-conditioned and must be kept open on both ends for the pleasant Hawaii breezes. Unfortunately, the rectangular box construction amplifies external noise, most annoyingly the nighttime parking lot comings & goings. Restaurant/bar patrons and condo guests subjected us to a chorus of chatter, banging car doors and beeping alarm-set horns that seemed to be right in the bedroom with us. Recommendation: Get a unit near the beach end and well away from the street-side restaurant area.









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