Our family of eight stayed in a 3 bedroom penthouse villa J205 which is beautifully appointed. It comfortably accommodated all of us. The concierge services are great. We ordered some food basics to be in fridge when we arrived. There is an ABC store across the road and a safeway in Kihei. There is a very nice, separate children's pool on the upper level below the penthouses & next to the well-equipped gym. GWR passes can be pre-purchased, but we were glad we hadn't ordered them. The beach is beautiful and the snorkelling and scuba diving is great. We booked through VRBO and the owner was fantastic.

It doesn't get much better than this for appartment living.

Three of us stayed in a 4th floor 2 BR 2 BA Penthouse with ocean views and what fabulous views they are!. We could see across to the island of Kaho'olawe with the crater like Molokini in the foregroud - truely beautiful.

We were greeted with fresh iced tea and cool towels on our arrival and given a personal tour of our appartment by the general manager himself. Previous reviews have detailed the appartments and suffice to say they are absolutely wonderful and leave you to want for nothing. The master bedroom in our appt. was quite significantly nicer than the second bedroom (2 small beds) so if you are doing a two couple stay you need to bear that in mind.

The complex is fairly large with two block of penthouses towards the top of the hill and a number of smaller villas further down. However, everything is well spaced and the landscaping is absolutely superb - particularly baring in mind the whole thing has only been open 2 years. There are 2 pools - a small family one near the main reception and a slightly larger and gorgeous one near the beach. When we were there (mid September) both were virtually deserted - in fact the whole place was extremely quiet.

On one side is the Grand Wailea with all the attendent restaurants and bars etc and on the other the Marriot. It is extremely easy to walk along the beach path to the other hotels for meals or drinks and we had a wonderful meal at Ferraro's at the Four Seasons.

It is worth bearing in mind that these are appartments and not a hotel so while there is an attendent at the pool you can't get any drinks or food there. Its easy to just wonder next door to the GW for lunch or at the back of the complex to the Shops at Wailea where there are a number of great restaurants and bars.

Only very minor point was that in the evening the Marriot put on a deafening Hawaian music show which must be ear splitting if you're sitting next to it. It slightly takes the edge off sitting on your Lanai having a V&T with the sunset - fortunately, it only lasts about 1 1/2 hours.

We've stayed in many different condo's and appartments and this was definitely one of the best - we're already planning to return in November!

We discovered the Wailea Beach Villas (WBV) through LuxuryLink.com but ultimately booked our two bedroom, two bath penthouse directly with the resort.

As a family of five (three teenagers) we typically book two hotel rooms or a suite. After pricing out the cost of two rooms at the Grand Wailea (next door) and the Four Seasons, as well as a suite at the Fairmont, our discounted offer from the reservations agent required serious consideration. Please note the WBV is not inexpensive, but once you pencil out the cost savings of being able to make breakfast and lunch, let alone the prospect of enjoying a 1900 square foot unit, this decision became simple.

The first thing you notice is the lack of crowds. There is no need to race to the pool/beach and secure a spot. It is peaceful and reflects the tone of Wailea--understated elegance, tranquil Hawaii, beautiful facilities.

The pools: While the family pool does not boast of waterslides, it does provide a great option to the beach for families, especially with young children who want a pool with a shallow spot. The adult pool is nothing but tranquility. There were rarely over five people at the pool and it overlooks the beach. Simply beautiful.

Beach: In the morning it is peaceful and great for snorkeling; the afternoon the wind picks up and provides some fun waves for bodysurfing. The pool/beach attendants have a can-do attitude. They set up our chairs, umbrellas and towels everyday. They graciously provided boogie boards and sand toys upon request.

Our unit: We had the smallest in the facility and it was amazing. The panoramic view (we had fifth floor unit) is worth a million bucks. The kitchen has everything you would ever need. We enjoyed breakfast each day in the unit and made lunch that we took to the beach. No $50-$100 breakfast/lunches for us. Each room was oversized. The balcony with table and chairs provided a great spot to enjoy our morning coffee or a card game with the kids. The washer/dryer was a hit. I could have packed half the clothes with a light load of laundry a day.

We ate four of our meals within an easy 10 minute walk; three phenomenal meals at the Four Seasons and a memorable meal across the way at Tommy Bahamas. We barely used our rental car.

The front desk and Tracy's concierge staff were fantastic.

Bottom line: do not pass up the Wailea Beach Villas.

We rented two different units at the Wailea Beach Villas both on the first floor of the penthouse building. The complex is the best place we've ever stayed, bar none. You get all the services of a top notch hotel with all of the conveniences of a condo- the best of both worlds! The concierge staff was great, the shops at Wailea were closer than most hotel resstaurants would be, etc. My mom has difficulty walking far, so the the staff even drove my mom down to the pool and beach in their golf carts. Everyone working at WBV was friendlier than anywhere else we went on Maui.

These condos are amazing! There are 2 sub zero refrigerators in the kitchen, full laundry, and each owner has decorated with wonderful furnishings. Each lanai has it's own Viking gas grill. We sat out on the lanai and watched the stars every night. We even got to watch the fireworks from the Marriott next door.

Some owners bought a membership that gives them access to the Grand Wailea pools- very beneficial if you have kids. They loved being able to go over there for all of the water park stuff, then come back to the WBV for more quiet time.

We were lucky enought to stay in a 3 bedroom unit on a corner (M112) for part of our stay, so the lanai was over twice the size of most. It also had an extra patio space with foosball and a ping pong table- the kids thought they were in heaven!

WBV are expensive, but since we were going to need 2 rooms at the Grand Wailea, the overall cost ended up being lesss since we didn't have to eat out for every meal. We rented both units thru VRBO, and would do so again.

I think my mom would have moved in if she could have. We'll can't wait to go back!