No, I didn't come here to play golf. I came to be lazy. I came here to be pampered. I came here to do as little as possible. With the excellent staff of the hotel I succeeded in all of these things. Once again, I splurged on myself and had valet parking.

We stayed at the Makena Beach & Golf Resort during our stay on Maui and it was a great choice. The property is gorgeous and our room had a wonderful view of the pool area and the ocean. The room was spacious and had all the amenities. I appreciated the separate shower and having lots of room around the sink for toiletries. The staff was attentive, friendly and always helpful. I especially appreciated the help at the activities desk. Everyone was knowledgeable and found us bargains on tours. A breakfast buffet was included with our room and it was delicious offering made to order omelets, hot and cold cereals, fruits, breads, waffles, etc. A great way to start the day. We also did the Friday night buffet which we enjoyed because of the variety of food. Our favorites were the curry vegetable stuffed mahi mahi and the pineapple bread pudding.

I stayed at Makena for a week in January. I came with a couple of friends who were attending a convention in Wailea, and chose the hotel mainly considering the distance to the Grand Wailea hotel and the price. Prices are extortionary in Wailea.
Having visited the other properties and comparing them to Makena Beach and Golf Resort, I actually felt good about my choice. The Vegas-like Wailea hotels are over the top, crowded, and so overdone you would think the beach is just another prop. Makena on the other hand is much more tranquil, natural, and the beach actually looks like a proper nature-made beach.

The thing about Makena is that it could be so much better. The architecture is impressive, the grounds are wonderfull, really well kept, and the inner garden is magnificent. Besides that, the hotels design is fairly below average. There's no ambiance whatsoever, the furniture doesn't match, the huge hall looks terribly void and cold, the lighting is airport like. The recent refurbishment did nothing for it.
Service is hit and miss, and while most of the staffers are polite and smiley, the ensemble comes across as amateur and far too easy going.
The rooms are huge, but to no great effect, as again, they're not properly furnished. There's the quintessentially american wall-to-wall carpeting, wich I found rather horrid, the colonial furniture, and the shabby bathroom, spruced up recently with granite countertops, but leaving the rest unchanged. The bathtub looked especially pathetic. The beds are comfortable enough for one or two nights, but after a week i started having back pain, as the matrasses are rather soft and have the tendency to cave in the middle.
The breakfast is nice enough, though there are a number of crucial items missing, like proper butter or anything resembling ham.
All in all, I think there is a lot to improve in this property, but unfortunately it seems the owners want it to be a poor man's Grand Wailea instead of the stilishly relaxed haven it could very well be. I do recomend the property based on it's tranquility and the beach, bearing in mind that the although the hotel doesn't by any means deliver a luxury experience, it manages to be more agreable than it's Wailea counterparts.

We are not resort types, but the Makena Beach and Golf Resort was wonderful. We had a partial ocean view room, and it was lovely. Thanks to the peaceful location of the resort we were able to keep our 6 foot wide sliding door open all night to the cool ocean breezes and sounds. Our room looked over the golf course and pool and beautiful flowers. We only ate breakfast at the resort and it was excellent. The breakfast buffet was worth every penny. The resort is located away from the noise and crowds of Kihei which we thoroughly appreciated. Lastly, the staff was unusually helpful and pleasant. Always a smile, and also very efficient. A highly recommended place to stay.