My wife and I stayed in the Napua Tower Club section of the resort during our recent week long vacation. The Napua Tower is an "elite" level of rooms with the requisite bump to an already substantial price. The rooms were spacious, clean (with the two notable exceptions) and had good views of the garden area, pools and ocean.

The staff at check in was courteous but not as helpful and informative as one would expect. We were pointed to an elevator with assurance that our luggage would follow us. An hour later I called down to the front desk to remind them that I did in fact expect the bags to arrive sooner rather than later - which was promptly addressed.

The room: The toilet in our room did not flush as the chain in the toilet tank was broken. Six hours after requesting to the front desk for the issue to be fixed I simply stuck my hands into the tank water and fiddled for three minutes to fix the problem.

Two inches of water and several long strands of hair were found in the ice bucket and mold growth was evident in the grout of the shower. Neither were deeply disgusting but things that should never happen at a resort with the Waldorf Astoria label.

Otherwise the room was very nice and newly renovated. The bed was quite comfortable and the bathroom very spacious. The lanai was the most enjoyable aspect of the room as it provided wonderful views and comfortable chairs.

Food: My God! Terrible Terrible Terrible. I fully expected the prices that were charged at the restaurants in the resort but the quality of the food was just shamefull at any price. Utter disappointment to each of the three restaurants.

Beach and Pools: Couldn't be better. Five star beach and pools.

Various Charges: Everything at the Grand Wailea has a price. Nickel and dimed is the feeling one gets. I'll never understand the logic of a $25.00 resort charge on top of the room rate.

In the end this is a very nice resort but certainly not remotely the same caliber of the Four Seasons right next door. This hotel is probably just too large to be a five star hotel and the staff although pleasant and helpful if pressed, are not what they should be.

We have stayed at the Grand Wailea 'off-and-on' for the past 10 years, but not since the Hilton acquired the property. I must say, that we were very pleased with the change. The front desk staff seemed much more attentive than in the past. The concierge service has been 'beefed-up'. The little 'personal items' that one would expect in a hotel of this price had been lacking in the past, we did not feel that way this time. We stayed in a deluxe ocean view (?front) room, and had a wonderful experience. The room was spacious, recently redecorated, and well maintained. (on our last stay in 2005, we felt the rooms outdated, and the cleaning lacking). For whatever reason, we also did not sense the normal 'crowding' at the pool or the beach. It may be because it was not summer, spring break or christmas, but for whatever reason, we, (along with the friends that we travelled with), had a marvelous restful stay, and will be returning!

JTH

I feel it helps to know who is writing a review, so others can judge if they are looking for the same things: we are in our late 40s, like luxury, good food, clean facilities and top service. If we are paying a top price, we expect the best.
We spent 7 nights (April 13-20) at the GW with 2 thirteen yr old girls, staying in adjoining Napua Tower Club rooms (We had to pay $25 per night to guarantee connecting rooms. They tried to charge us PER ROOM for this, ie $50 per night, but took it off when I complained). The girls had 2 queen beds, we had a king. These rooms are very large, well equipped, clean, with fabulous bathrooms (see my pics). We could see the ocean only from our balcony, which really didn't bother us that much as we are from Sydney and surrounded by ocean but it may matter if you are coming from somewhere else.
The service in the Club areas was very good. (We noticed that guests in other rooms had to carry their own luggage, for example)
Breakfast was included in the Club lounge - it finishes at 10.30am which was about 1/2 hr too early, I thought (teenagers like to sleep in!). Also they start clearing away at 10.20, which was annoying. It is not a full breakfast, but we found plenty there - fresh fruit, a wide selection of cereals, breads, one hot dish, pastries, juices.
We also made use of the Club lounge every evening for cocktails and canapes (on from 5-6.30pm). Great spicy bloody marys and my DH loved his vodka martinis! Hot snacks (chicken skewers or spring rolls) were not good, but fresh veggies and dips were just fine.
We made use of the excellent gym - large with the latest equipment, plenty of towels and water.
The spa was superb (except the rooms were too bright for my liking) - very clean hydro baths and spa pools, really worth having at least one treatment there (we had two each, including one duo massage). The therapists were good, which is not often the case in hotel spas.
The food was either average or very bad (in the Japanese restaurant). The only decent meal we had on Maui was at Spagos at the 4 Seasons next door. Huma Huma, the GW signature restaurant, was fine - nothing terrible but not really notable either. The bistro was a bistro - sandwiches, french fries, lousy burgers. I don't understand why Americans put strange orange cheese on everything, but that's another discussion!
Our teenagers had a FANTASTIC time and we were SO THANKFUL for the adult pool. When one man had his 3 year old in there, we complained right away - it took a while for staff to get him out (what was worse, HE was staff on a day off!), but we kept complaining and finally he got out. The kids pool areas, with slides and rope swings, a "river" and hot tub is really great - for kids! Our girls loved it and were old enough to hang out there on their own - and that is the ONLY way I could survive this place. Having to be around the family pool area would have been awful for us.
We were also extremely lucky, it seems.....
For the first 5 days I would guesstimate that the hotel was about 1/2 full - plenty of green lawn, chairs by the ocean and adult pool, no waiting for restaurants and the gym was empty. Then, on the day before we left, a convention arrived.
It was appalling and the whole character of the place changed immediately.
Suddenly the elevators took much longer to arrive, we had to wait longer for our food to be served, it was harder to find pool chairs... on and on, you get the picture.
This was sheer luck (though I would never go to a resort like this during high seasons like spring break, Xmas, Easter etc) and we are most thankful.
Also, I really resent the $25 per day per room "resort" fee - what is THAT about? I knew about it, but I still don't get it. And yes, you have to pay for shade - umbrellas or cabanas. That's just another blatent rip-off.
Bottom line? A great place if it's not too full and wonderful for teens. (I do not understand why honeymooners would choose a resort this size. Problem with 4 Seasons, however, is that there is no adult pool - go to Tahiti or one of the smaller isles!)
Hope this, and the pics, help (it would really be helpful, I feel, if people would only post pics of rooms and bathrooms. Views not really help me decide on a hotel, unless of course the view is so awful it needs warning about!!)
We had a great holiday cause the kids had so much fun and we got lucky with the crowds.

This place was so amazing. It was royal paradise. Everything was first class, even the beach! I HIGHLY recommend it. We went during labor day week and it was still fabulous. we didn't take our kids buts I saw parents with kids and they didn't seem out of place. I will definitely go again, probably with the kids next time- Toi Menten