Has anyone stayed at Mauna Lani Bay hotel in Hawaii??

[Debs Hill]

We are considering a trip to Hawaii and would love to hear from anyone who has stayed here on points........
Was it worth it? What is the hotel/island like?
Anyone get a room upgrade?!!
Would you stay there again!?

Many thanks
Debsx

 

[disney gadabout]

Yes, we did 2 years ago. VERY upscale. It was absolutely wonderful! We stayed a week and a week in Maui. If I could do it again I'd take the ocean view instead of mountain view...well worth the points. Large room with mini bar and coffee maker. Large lanai with table and chairs. Beautiful grounds and beach. Excellent, but expensive restaurant. Great location. You'd sit on the beach and when the sun was intense they would come by with frozen grapes or cold towels! Magnificent spa!!! Use the points and enjoy!

 

[travelbug]

Yes, we stayed there 3 years ago (see my trip sig.) and absolutely loved it! The hotel itself is top-notch all the way, but not "hoity toity". We stayed on points and took a mountain view room. While I'd LOVE an ocean view room there, we weren't in our room during daylight hours much anyway. So I'd probably go for a longer stay in a lower point room, instead of a shorter stay in a higher point room.

As disney gadabout mentioned, the grounds are breathtaking. We loved strolling all over the place and just taking it all in. The memories are still vivid for all of us. We relive it pretty often.

On-site restaurants are very pricey, so we only ate on-site once or twice. We had simple breakfast stuff in our room, and otherwise ate off-site.

Service was friendly and attentive. Lots of special touches.

The resort is somewhat "isolated" from nearby towns, so we were glad to have a rental car. We did plenty of exploring, shopping, and eating out on our own. But our best touring of the Big Island was by way of a Circle Island Tour. It was a full day of guided touring, and we totally enjoyed it.

We would love to go back to the Mauna Lani. It was a splurge with points (we stayed for 8 nights), but completely worth it to us.

 

[Debs Hill]

It sounds very promising! We would probably do a week here and then a week at one of the other islands........can't remember the name of the other one in the conceirge collection, do you know what that one is like?

When you say the restaurants on site are expensive, how expensive?!!! What about the golf? Do you get breakfast included in the points price or is it room only?

Debsx

 

[mouseclick1]

I just came across this thread, and hava a question for anyone who has stayed there. We are planning on Hawaii in '07, and considered staying at the Mauna Lani for a few nights. I found the resort's official website, but it seemed to only allow a maximum of 3 per room. Is that really true? We would be traveling with DH and myself, and both of our teenage boys. There is no way I'm geting two rooms there! Would they really not allow a family of 4 to stay in one room?

 

[travelbug]

I just came across this thread, and hava a question for anyone who has stayed there. We are planning on Hawaii in '07, and considered staying at the Mauna Lani for a few nights. I found the resort's official website, but it seemed to only allow a maximum of 3 per room. Is that really true? We would be traveling with DH and myself, and both of our teenage boys. There is no way I'm geting two rooms there! Would they really not allow a family of 4 to stay in one room?

I wish I could help you with this question, but we were a party of 3. There were 2 queen size beds in our room (plus a sofa, which I don't think many rooms have), so I can't imagine why a party of 4 wouldn't be allowed. That would be really strange.
I hope you can work it out to stay at the Mauna Lani. I'd love to go back!

 

[Bama Penguin]

Stayed at the Mauna Lani for two nights in September of 2004. Main purpose of the trip was to tour the Volcanoes National Park, which is on the opposite side of the island.

Really enjoyed our stay. Everything (hotel, staff, beach, landscaping) is top notch. We loved the salt water stream with tropical fish that ran throughout the hotel complex. Didn't eat any meals at the hotel. The location is remote (20+ miles) to airport/town for other activities.

The number of points required for a nights stay is high IMHO. The two nights were something like 98 points. During the same trip, we did an exchange into Marriott Ko Olina on Oahu for an entire week and that was only 123 points. So in comparison those two nights at the Mauna Lani were expensive. When we get to go again, I would just pay cash and stay somewhere else.

Sorry for the late input, but I just saw this thread and decided to reply with an opinion.

 

[travelbug]

The number of points required for a nights stay is high IMHO. The two nights were something like 98 points.

I totally agree. The point requirements for the Mauna Lani have really gone up just in the last few years. Our 8-night stay in '02 used 301 points, which was a splurge. Now it would take 432 points for 8 nights. I'm so glad we went when we did.

 

[PBader]

We stayed at the ML in July 2004. It was wonderful. It is expensive to stay on points, we booked the ML experience with points and it wasn't as many, we had ocean view and daily breakfast for 2 and also 1 couples massage. Our 8 nights were 472 points. I believe their OV experience room is $585 + tax on their web site. Food was very expensive at the resort, breakfast buffet for DS was $25. An order of pancakes was $16. Lunch ran us about $75 for 3. There were cheaper offsite places to eat about 20 minutes either direction. Canoe House would probably be over a $100 for 2 and they had a dinner buffet that was about $50 or so each. And people complain about Disney food prices! We also stayed at 4 seasons on Maui and food prices to be the same if not more there. I think all of the top notch resort's food is like that.
I would check out their web site for pricing, you may find it cheaper to pay cash and rent your points to pay for your trip. Their Ohana plan is basically 2 rooms for the price of 1. They say their standard rooms are a little larger and are also the cheapest at under $400. Also take into consideration their rates include your comfy beach cabanas and snorkel stuff and they do a great job of pampering you. We have stayed places where our cabana rentals have been upwards of $40 per day.
We are planning to go back in July 2007. Hopefully to be there for the 4th, they release sea turtles that day out to their beach. I think that is one reason there is an abundance of sea turtles in their beach area.
Sorry it was so long,
Paula