Maui and its resorts, from Wailea to Kapalua
Luxury hotels in Maui
3 hotels
Maui keeps its best houses on two coasts an hour apart. Wailea, on the leeward south shore, is the resort coast: a string of beaches, three golf courses and the resorts set above them, half an hour from Kahului airport. Kapalua, at the north-western tip beyond Lahaina, is quieter and greener — two championship golf courses, the bays of Kapalua and Honokahua with their marine reserves, a coastal trail and the West Maui mountains behind. Whales fill the channel from December to March; the spring and autumn shoulders are the driest and calmest months.
Wailea
The resort coast of the south shore, leeward and dry, half an hour from Kahului. Wailea, Ulua and Polo beaches run in a row here, with three golf courses, The Shops at Wailea and Makena's wilder sand beyond.
The neighborhoods
Wailea
The resort coast of the south shore, leeward and dry, half an hour from Kahului. Wailea, Ulua and Polo beaches run in a row here, with three golf courses, The Shops at Wailea and Makena's wilder sand beyond.
Kapalua
The north-western tip beyond Lahaina, greener and breezier, about an hour from the airport. It holds the bays of Kapalua and Honokahua with their marine reserves, two championship golf courses, the coastal trail and the West Maui mountains.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in Maui?
One. The five-star house we list in Maui is Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, the resort on fifteen acres above Wailea Beach. Beside it we keep two four-star addresses, each listed exactly at the tier it holds: The Resort at Kapalua Bay, Maui, fifty-six residences on the bay between two golf courses and a marine reserve, and The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua, the 1992 resort over Honokahua Bay transformed in 2022.
Where to stay — Wailea or Kapalua?
Wailea for the beaches, the calmest sea and the resort life of the south shore, half an hour from the airport; Kapalua for the quieter north-west — the two bays, the marine reserves, the golf, the cooler trade winds and the West Maui mountains — about an hour from Kahului and twenty minutes from Lahaina. Both coasts are leeward and dry; Wailea is hotter, Kapalua greener and breezier.
When is the best time to visit Maui?
The island is warm all year. December to March is the whale season and the high season, with minimum stays over Christmas and New Year; April to May and September to November are the quietest and driest months on both resort coasts; June to August is the family season, with the sea at its calmest. Winter swells hit the north shore, not Wailea.
How do you get around Maui?
Kahului is the island's airport: Wailea is about half an hour by road, Kapalua about an hour by the coast road through Lahaina. A car is the way to see the island — the road to Hana on the windward side, Haleakalā's summit before dawn, the upcountry towns — and the houses arrange airport transfers on request.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
