Last updated on November 20th, 2017 at 03:41 am
Over the past two years I’ve been to Maui 4 times, 3 of which had a hotel stay or two. Though rare for me, one of the trips was for work, which meant I had no say in the hotel I stayed at. My employer booked me into the Maui Seaside hotel, which is located in Kahului Maui. Because most of the flights were identical to my flight to Kona, so I’ll spare you the details.
Anyway, the choice of Maui Seaside was purely based on price: $100/night. Of course, with the price being half of what other places were charging, it’s easy to image what kind of quality you’d be getting. Service wise, the staff was friendly during my stay, but I found certain elements odd… For example, upon check-in, I asked to have the front desk to hold my large suitcase since the room wasn’t ready yet, and rather than take it from me, they had me follow them behind the desk and to the storage closet. I found this extremely odd from a service and security standpoint, as not only are you in an employee only area, for a good portion of the time the employee’s back is turned to you while you stand in the room with the bags. Someone could easily steal bags from the room in this instance, though I doubt this actually happens.
As far as the actually property goes, all you have to do is look at the hotel’s website, and you’ll easily see what your experience will be like; basics, outdated rooms.
That’s actually an ongoing theme with this property, as the amenities of the property are very basic too. The property does have a small pool in a central courtyard area, a couple of iMacs in the lobby, and a casual restaurant on-property. The parking is entirely open air, and wraps around the various buildings of the property. During my stay, the parking lot was completely filled, and I’m not sure there’s sufficient parking stalls for all of the rooms. The stalls themselves are also very narrow, so a standard size car barely fits in them. As far as the buildings go, the primary buildings are arranged in a U shape around the pool, while there’s one or two others that are taller than the main buildings.
My room was actually in one of the other buildings, which meant a little walk from the lobby. The building does have an elevator, but the first floor is below ground level, and the second floor is still above ground level. This means you have to go up or down a flight of stairs to access the elevator, not fun with a heavy suitcase.
My room, on the third floor was a standard room. When I walked into the room it was HOT & STUFFY. Apparently, they keep the tiny window mount a/c unit off when the room isn’t occupied. The same goes for the refrigerator, which was off and open when I entered the room. I promptly cranked the a/c to maximum speed and set it to the lowest temperature. I also turned the ceiling fan on high, but it took over 2 hour for the room to cool enough to be just slightly cooler than the outside ambient temperature.
Facing into the room, looking left (next to the closet with the fridge), is the bathroom.
The bathroom was small, but not as claustrophobic as some others I’ve seen. The vanity was a good size, though the toiletries were pretty poor. The shower/tub felt really cheap and flimsy; it made a really hollow sound and felt like you’d break it if you hit it hard enough. The water pressure and temperature were ok. Honestly, the toilet paper dispenser was mounted in a strange position… It would have been better if it were mounted on the vanity so you don’t have to reach behind you to get to it.
The rest of the room basically looks like the website images, but cheaper somehow. This is probably because all of the furniture was painted white and looked like something out of a Hawaii resort from the 80’s.
There’s a small flatscreen TV on a small dresser. Next to it is a set of desks with a single chair, and on the other side is a round table with two more chairs.
Between the beds is a single nightstand with a clock radio, a lamp, and a really old school phone. This was actually very indicative of the overall tech in the room. While there was a modern HDTV in the room, it was connected to a terribly low-quality signal. And though there’s free WiFi throughout, it was insanely slow and even difficult to connect to at times.
As you can probably gather from the review thus far, this hotel wasn’t a favorite of mine. In fact I didn’t like the hotel at all… It didn’t meet any of my minimal criteria, but then again, perhaps I’m a bit stuck up? But is it too much to ask to be able to walk into a room that’s a comfortable temperature? Don’t get me wrong, I feel bad giving the Maui Seaside a poor review, as it has been owned and operated by the same local family for its entire history. Unfortunately, the property just doesn’t meet my standards and isn’t a place I’d be able to recommend to anyone.
As I hinted earlier, I believe you get what you pay for, and this is clearly true with the Maui Seaside. $100/night (or even $144/night at rack rate) isn’t exactly cheap, but when compared to other hotels on the island, it is really cheap. Despite this, I would never stay here on my own. I’d much rather pay a bit more and stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Maui Kahului Airport hotel. It’s also a limited service hotel, and while I hate the Bistro, at least I know what I’m getting… Oh, and the room is nice and cold when I walk in ?
But if you’re a budget minded traveler and won’t be spending much time in your room, and/or don’t mind walking into a sauna hot room, then you may like Maui Seaside hotel. The prices is definitely among the lowest on Maui, just know what you’re getting.
I’ve stayed at the MSR a number of times during MRs and quick remote-work weeks. It’s pretty easy, given you can take the bus ( about $6 for a day pass ) about 2 blocks away from the hotel – or – if you can use the free shuttle. I used the free shuttle a couple of times and I probably won’t again. You cannot reserve the shuttle when you book your stay. You need to call a day or two out from arrival and get put on a list – IF they remember to write your name down. The last time I did this – I called two days before arrival. I arrived and waited over 45 minutes. I called MSR and they said remarkably that they did not offer a shuttle. The truth is – is that they do – but just during “normal” times – which means not late at night or early morning.
Well it turns out in this case, that the shuttle and driver had been sitting there all along. Being the experienced MSR guest, i went straight to the pickup spot w/ my carry-on – while the driver and his assistant combed the baggage area half-heartedly for me. When i called back to MSR, they said the driver was there – and then I found them standing by the van. OH, sorry. I then was driven to MSR and had to listen to the assistants relationship drama over her cellphone. Nasty.
I find the attached restaurant to be OK and it’s fine for my solo MRs. I’ve been over to the Courtyard nearby, but not sure it is really worth the premium, unless I was not solo.
Overall its a family run place, WYSIWYG. Don’t expect much. It’s not horrible for my needs.
There is a good taco truck parked up the harbor which is a nice 20 minute walk aside the busy freeway hehe, but worth the trip.
Aloha Coffey77! Completely agree, WYSIWYG, though I think you confirm the fact that I’m stuck up ? I actually feel like the difference in price between the MSR and Courtyard is worth it, beyond the fact that I’m an active member of Marriott Rewards.
No matter what, though, your shuttle experience is inexcusable, and is just another reason I wouldn’t stay. That type of service, or lack thereof, is inexcusable really. Extremely unprofessional.
Mahalo IM
When I do MRs I try to do it as cheap as possible to retain the CPM for the trip. Believe me, i’d rather be at the Marriott, and with Costco next door – it’s a no brainer for cheap eats. I stayed that Marriott in December and had a great experience. I ate at Costco and carried-out fresh poke everyday !! I’d take it back to the “Bistro” and eat there hehe.
One other thing about the MSR is that one should ask for the “Tower” to get the rooms there as opposed to the rooms in the old building. I had one overlooking the pool, and it was pretty small, even for a solo traveler. The A/C was no issue in the old building. When I stayed in the Tower room, it was much larger but the A/C wasn’t as good. Plus you need an engineering degree to figure out how to get it all to work with the remotes etc. Ha Ha.
Thanks for the good work on the reviews!
C
Hah! Costco at the Bistro. That’s definitely the way to dine there.
That actually explains a lot for my trip… I had a room in the “tower.” That’s I guess they bought the same a/c units for all the rooms, perhaps not realizing (or caring) that the larger rooms would need a higher BTU unit? Haha, I do remember struggling to get it to work too though… I think it only fueled the rage! But decisions, decisions… Claustrophobia or heat stroke? ? Thanks for the info!
Aloha, happy travels!
Good write-up. Value is in the eye of the beholder, to be sure. Based on what you described, I would say this is a good value if we go with the premise that it’s the cheapest on the island and the next step up is 40% pricier. I state this from a leisure traveler’s perspective, however. If I’m on business, I would be loathe to deal with an initially hot room.
The one Maui hotel that I think is an absolute jewel in terms of value and location is the Days Inn Maui Oceanfront in Kihei. The beach is stunning and generally sparsely populated compared to other Maui beaches. From what I’ve seen it’s generally priced sub-150 per night, and you can do better by gaming the Priceline system or redeeming Wyndham points at 15k/nt. Rooms are quite small and basic, but clean and comfortable.
Wes, you are absolutely correct. Value is an extremely subjective matter. I feel like I may be in the minority with regards to the Maui Seaside, based on the largely positive reviews they get on TripAdvisor and whatnot, but if I can’t get a good nights sleep, then it doesn’t matter what I paid… Doesn’t matter if it’s for leisure or business in my book.
Thanks for the tip regarding the Days Inn Maui Oceanfront Kihei! Will have to check it out sometime! I’m always looking for a great deal, though I’ll admit I have a hard time pulling myself away from Marriott and Hyatt.
Aloha