We have just returned from a week at the Westin Ka'anapali Ocean Resort Villas on Maui. The resort was beyond our greatest expectations. From the edge of the property we had direct beach and ocean access to some of the best snorkeling on Maui. The one bedroom condo was very spacious and pleasing to the eye. The condo was equipped with a full kitchen, washer and dryer, balcony, and a jet tub. It very comfortably slept 4 with a king size bed and a queen sofa sleeper in the living room. The resort was located within a 10 minute drive to a great Fish Market and the resort was well equipped for out door grilling and dining with a Maui sunset as a backdrop.

The pool and the waterslide in the South Villas were very nice. Our kids are 11 and 14and they enjoyed it.

Enjoyed 7 nights booking with an owner through VRBO. We stayed in a 2 bedroom with an ocean view for about $325 a night. Great upgrade from a traditional condo as the villas still offer a resort feel. Not as grand as those resorts in the Kaanapali area but still very nice. I was a little disappointed with the room size, room layout and so called ocean view. The 2 bedroom is more like 2 separate hotel rooms than a single 2 bedroom unit. I've stayed at other resort villas where converting to a 2 bedroom unit flows much nicer and gives you the feel of one large unit. Overall a very minor issue as we didn't spend much time in our unit and only ate in a couple of nights. Ocean view?.....well if you leaned out a bit on the balcony you could get an ok view. Overall a great week spent just wished it could be longer. Did not use any of the facilities at the resort (restaurants, bbq's, workout room, etc) and just kinda hung out at the pool with side trips to Lahaina, Kaanapali Beach and the blowhole.

My husband and I booked 6 nights using our Starwood points to celebrate our one year anniversary here. BAD idea. I would not recommend this resort to anyone other than timeshare owners since it is primarily a timeshare resort. I had made a specific request for a higher floor ocean view. I was told we could not reserve anything ocean front because all of those units were ONLY for timeshare owners but they assured us that we would
get the best partial ocean view possible.I reluctantly agreed. That was my Mistake number 1.

Upon check in, I was told we were on the first floor. After having read many reviews about some of the potentially bad locations, being on the first floor was one of them. I asked the receptionist if it was possible to be moved to a higher floor since that was what we requested originally. She told me the hotel was 99% occupied and there was nothing she could do until the manager got in the morning. She then assured me that the room has a nice view regardless.

When we got to the room, I opened the balcony door and stepped into a small patio enclosed by foliage. You couldn't see
anything unless you peeped out between the foliage and all you could see then was the pool and another building. There was no ocean in site.

We went down to the desk and she was less than sympathetic. We were told that as long as you could see even a SLIVER of the ocean, it was considered partial ocean view. I told her I would have to stand on the chair and crank my neck to see even a tiny bit of the ocean. Again we were told there was nothing that could be done til the manager got in the morning.

We tried to suck it up and it was around 9pm at that point. We were hungry so we figured we would grab a bite to eat on the resort. Unfortunately both restaurants were closed and the only place to get food was cold sandwiches at the pool restaurant. We opted to just eat the food we bought for breakfast and ate it on our patio staring straight into the foliage.

After many calls to SPG and to management, we got moved to the 3rd floor. It wasnt spectacular but at this point, anything was better than the cave we were in. And we were made to feel like it was a huge favor to us .

Other than that, the service at this resort is generally not one you expect from a typical 5 star Westin. This was our first time at a timeshare and probably our last. They cater to the owners needs and requests and your Starwood member benefit doesn't really go a long way here. We were disappointed in the service .

The concierge also messed up the surprise champagne I requested for my husband and I on our anniversary. I asked that they bring it to our room while we were at dinner. They knocked on the door an hour before we left for dinner as we were getting ready. I was handed a bottle of champagne, with no ice bucket and no champagne glasses. Ok so this resort isn't catering to people celebrating anniversaries or honeymooners, but it
was as if they made it a point to show us that.

Then on our last day I called for a late check out because our flight was at 10pm. They said the latest we could check out was 11am..usually SPG members can request 4pm but we were told they don't honor SPG Member late checkout requests. Yet another blow to us for wasting our points here.

So over all, the resort is not BAD. This review is primarily for Starwood members that are considering using your points for this resort. Obvously everyone else onthis board is an owner and loved it but if you are going to use your points, save it for the other Westin or the Sheraton unless you have a family with you and don't care about the views.

The layout of the resort in general doesn't really lend itself to many nice views of the ocean unless you are in the buildings reserved for owners. Most of the units face another building. We liked the pool on the South Side better. It is more open and gets more sun. We would have stayed on the South side but those studio villas don't have a balcony.

We made great use of the kitchen and the bbq grills which was nice. But that was it. I would not return to this resort until I have children and own a timeshare.

Their website and others say "Stay and Play" at 3 resorts, meaning the Westin Maui and the Sheraton Maui. They offer shuttle service between them all. But when we tried to use the pool facilities at the Westin hotel we were turned down. The manager there (at the Westin Hotel) said they change their policy according to occupancy rates and they were at 95% so we could not use the pool. When we inquired at the Ocean Villas, the manager there (Carol) said the "Stay and Play" only meant you could eat at the other facilities. I told her then that I wanted a table for 6 to play volleyball at the restaurant b/c to me eating at their restaurant was not playing for my kids. They wanted to go down the pool slide. They seem to make their policies on everything change as they please. Even after several complaints by us and other families, we were still not able to use the other hotel pools like they lead you to believe. We were even told on the phone when making the reservation that we could use the other pools.
Gecko in our room too.