We are 40ish year olds with two kids (7 and 9). We stay at a variety of hotels from Marriott to Four Seasons. We have stayed a lot at Marriott the last couple years and I would say this is one of the nicest regular Marriotts. It's a true resort hotel; it's not the Four Seasons or the Grand Wailea but it really is nice. It is very large and located directly next store to the nice mall in Wailea.

Check in went smoothly at the platinum desk. The non-plat check-in clerks should also pull from the plat line but otherwise it went fine. The room was nice. Upgrades are almost impossible so buy the room you want. There are tons of plats here.

The beach is a short walk but not bad. There is no beach out front of the hotel. It's a couple hundred yards one way or the other as there beaches both directions. The pools are nice. Kids pool is fun with great waterslides.

My biggest complaint is the gym. It has nice equipment (all Life Fitness) but it doesn't have enough. It only has 3 bikes. There are like 800 rooms here and only 3 bikes in the gym!? That's a tad light to me. However, my biggest complaint is the lights are broken. They have motion sensor lights along the walls. That is where the bikes and stairmasters are. The problem is the lights go off every 5 minutes and the motion detector doesn't detect you on the side. You have to get off your equipment and walk into the walk way so the lights go back on. I moved all the stuff out of the way from blocking the lights but same problem. Clearly it's just a broken system that I am sure they will fix but it's a real problem as you can't read on the cardio equipment.

BTW, we went for several meals in Kehi and really liked it. Not as fancy as Wailea but several good restaurants (really enjoyed Fred's Mexican for dinner and Kehi Cafe for breakfast). Not as quiet as Wailea.

Overall great visit though. 4+ stars.

This is our first stay at one of the Wailea resorts. We have stayed at other places in Hawaii.

The good
- nice location. Beaches are nearby and first class. We rented chairs and boards, and walked to the sand. Great beach
- great sunset views. The views everyday are stunning
- food. First class and very good. Of course you pay for it too
- services. Top notch. Everything is available

The bad
- the pools. Everyone reserves chairs with towels at 6:30am, so you can't get a seat by any of the pools.
- its has a corporate conference feeling since they do have a conference center at the resort.
- Internet service. You have to pay of it. Its a crime that you have to pay $14/day

Our preference is stay at someplace with less services since we find we don't use all of them, but end up getting charged for it.

The whole place seems like it goes on forever because it's so open air. That's a good thing. It's elegant and casual at the same time. And yes, again I recommend using the valet parking. You really need it this time. If you valet can't help you with something he'll find someone or something that can. I went to a meeting there. Afterward they suggested a restaurant at the Shops at Wailea. They had their little golf cart give me a ride both ways even though I wasn't even staying there. Class...

Nice quality room, good views and good service. Good location "Beach" is a little inaccurate,, since the nearest beaches are at the adjacent resort properties..