HotelChatter

Upon checking in, we were given a letter that said that the pool deck would be closed for repairs for the next few days. When we asked the bellman about this, he responded, "What repairs?"

Not only should their staff have known about the closures, but all guests should have been told when booking their rooms.

A subsequent letter noted that the pool bar would be closed as well. The initial advantage of having a hotel far away from the chaos of the family-friendly (read: screaming children on waterslides) larger hotels was lost on us when we realized that our hot-tub sized pool was bordered by men in hard hats drilling into the deck.

Relaxing with a pina colada is somewhat hard to do when they're nailing plywood into the pool bar.

By the time we got the third letter, which said the pool would be closed completely, on day six of our stay, we were starting to feel like we had been misled into thinking that this trip would be a relaxing getaway.

We shared our displeasure with the night manager, who listened courteously but could ultimately only offer us $160 towards our seven-night stay.

The irony of our situation was clearly lost on him. Going to Hawaii and having the pool under construction the entire time was a bit like going to ski at Lake Tahoe and finding that the ski lifts weren't working. Had we been told about this "scheduled maintenance" ahead of time, we would have stayed elsewhere.

Small perks that the hotel offered, such as bottled water in our refrigerator every day and "welcome snacks" from local vendors upon arrival, lent a bit of balance to the feeling that the hotel staff wasn't necessarily concerned with our overall experience.

The workout facilities were touted as being accessible, but some of the machines were broken. A handful of staff was quite helpful and attentive, and the seafood buffet at the hotel restaurant was superb.

The hotel was also the host of a large luau, and that helped to repair our feeling of having an authentic Hawaiian experience.

The family of geckos that visited our patio each night were welcome visitors, even when a wayward one ended up in our room.

When we needed to find a doctor for a minor emergency, the front desk sent us in the wrong direction. We felt the need to respectfully point out to the night manager that our stay was not how we had imagined it, and unfortunately, were met with compensation that was less than one night's stay. Suddenly the waterslides didn't look so bad.

Related Stories:
·Maui Prince Reviews [TripAdvisor]