TLDR: The Residence Inn Maui Wailea is a strong value option for travelers who want spacious suites, free breakfast, and no resort fees in one of Hawaii’s most expensive destinations. While it lacks beachfront access and luxury resort amenities, the large rooms + kitchen and ability to redeem Marriott Free Night Awards make it an excellent choice for families and budget-conscious travelers looking to stretch points on Maui.
You can tell that Hawaii is different before you even board your plane bound for the islands. As you’re boarding at your gate, gate agents will remind you to fill out an agriculture customs form, ensuring that you’re not bringing in fruits and vegetables that could harm Hawaii’s agriculture. Hawaii, being so isolated from other major civilizations, enjoys its own ecosystem, offering mainland US visitors and international tourists a truly unique experience that cannot be replicated anywhere else.
If you’re visiting Hawaii for the first time, I highly recommend carving out time to visit the islands of O’ahu and Maui. I recently visited Hawaii for the first time a few weeks ago, and I found that O’ahu and Maui were the perfect pair of islands for my visit.
While O’ahu offers city life in Honolulu, and a feel of island life outside of the city, Maui offers an even more tranquil sense of nature, with beautiful natural attractions such as the Iao Valley State Monument, the Road to Hana, and an otherworldly sunset or sunrise atop the Haleakala volcano summit.
As with Honolulu (and O’ahu), Maui can also be an expensive island to visit, especially if you’re traveling during the high season of winter, when people from all over the US and the world flock to Hawaii to escape the bone-chilling winter temperatures.
Hawaii has been on my bucket list for years, and last year during Christmas, my family and I decided that one of our family’s presents would be a trip to Hawaii the next year during winter break. Winter is one of the high seasons to travel to Hawaii, and in anticipation of booking my vacation to Hawaii, I decided to invest in opening a new credit card that would cut down costs for my family’s trip: the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card.
When I opened the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless® Credit Card, the bonus on the card was 5 Marriott Free Night Awards after spending $5,000 or more within the first 3 months of account opening (*this bonus is no longer available). These free night awards were integral to enabling my family’s ability to afford traveling to Hawaii, as each free night award is worth up to 50,000 points a night, unlocking a value of up to 250,000 points that you can use to book hotels with instead of paying outright with cash.
For my family’s trip to Maui, we decided to visit the island for 3 days to get a feel of the island life and how it differed from what we had experienced on the busy island of O’ahu. Since we had just stayed at a beachside resort in the Waikiki neighborhood of Honolulu, we wanted to save money on resort fees and stay at a hotel that still offered a tropical feel and beautiful views, but didn’t come with all the extra fees that Marriott charges for resorts.
The Residence Inn Maui Wailea, which is located in the southern part of the island, caught my eye. As opposed to staying in the tourist-central area of Kaanapali and Lahaina, the Residence Inn is located in Wailea, which is located just south of Kihei, a bustling town adorned with food trucks and a market.
3 nights at the hotel in a two-bed suite for 3 people cost me a total of 185,000 points, which I was able to use three of my free night awards to pay for, topped off with an extra 35,000 points.
Two major perks behind staying at the Residence Inn Wailea were that we weren’t subject to a nightly resort fee, and we didn’t have to pay for breakfast since Residence Inns always include a free breakfast buffet for all guests. We considered staying at a more upscale beach resort in Lahaina, but we would have to pay extra nightly resort fees, and we’d have to spend money on breakfast either at the hotel or outside at an establishment.
While the Residence Inn Maui Wailea doesn’t offer the beautiful resort ambience and historical architecture that my family experienced during our stay at the Moana Surfrider resort in Honolulu, the Residence Inn still offered beautiful views of the lush nature around the hotel, as well as an open-air pool area where guests could relax and enjoy the pool or courtyard area.
While the architecture of the hotel itself wasn’t particularly eye-catching, my family and I were excited when we first discovered how big our room was. We had a whole suite available to us, equipped with a kitchen, living room, dining table, and a separate bedroom area that provided us with an ample amount of space.
Compared to our room at the Moana Surfrider, we had almost triple the size of what we had in Honolulu, plus a balcony area where we could sit, enjoy the fresh air outside, and enjoy views of the pool and courtyard area.
We weren’t given leis like we had when we arrived at our resort in Honolulu, but we expected that coming from a Residence Inn. Residence Inns are more suitable for budget traveler families who enjoy cooking their own meals from home, as well as simply needing a space to sleep in, rather than enjoying like a resort.
The breakfast was also okay and typical of what you can expect at hotels that provide a complimentary breakfast buffet. I didn’t find anything else much to eat beyond the standard selections of eggs, pancakes, waffles, bread, cereal, and yogurt. I didn’t stay at this hotel to enjoy the breakfast; rather, I stayed at the Residence Inn to enjoy the perk of being able to fill my stomach for free. However, I did find myself occasionally missing what I experienced in Honolulu with an amazing cafe attached directly to the resort I was staying at.
Additionally, even though the Residence Inn was located in a much quieter location than the Moana Surfrider, we still found ourselves having to pay for parking. We had to pay $40 a night to park our car in the hotel’s parking lot. Even though this was a lot cheaper than $65 a night (the nightly rate at the Moana Surfrider), we still wished we could’ve avoided the hassle of paying for parking. Alas, since I didn’t have top status with Marriott, the only complimentary thing I was able to request was an extension to our checkout time from noon to 1.
Overall, the Residence Inn Maui Wailea proved to be a solid, value-driven choice for our stay on Maui, especially for travelers who prioritize space, flexibility, and cost savings over a traditional luxury resort experience. While it doesn’t deliver the historic charm or beachfront atmosphere of higher-end Maui resorts, it excels at what it’s designed to do: provide comfortable, spacious accommodations without the burden of excessive resort fees.
The large suite layout, complimentary breakfast, and full kitchen made this property particularly well-suited for families and budget-conscious travelers looking to stretch their points further in one of the most expensive travel destinations in the United States. Using Marriott Free Night Awards significantly reduced the overall cost of our trip, making a Maui stay that might otherwise feel out of reach far more attainable.
That said, paid parking and a fairly standard breakfast selection are drawbacks worth considering, especially for travelers accustomed to resort-style amenities. Still, when factoring in the absence of resort fees and the generous room size, the Residence Inn Maui Wailea offers compelling value, particularly if you’re leveraging points or free night certificates.
If your goal is to experience Maui’s natural beauty while keeping accommodation costs under control, this hotel is a practical and rewarding option that balances comfort, convenience, and value.