Hawaiian Vacation. Maui’s Grand Wailea. The Arrival.

Vacation Setup

We flew to Maui for a family vacation. Just the four of us. We stayed at the Grand Wailea. It was awesome. The day after the kids got out of school, we hopped on a Hawaiian Airlines flight direct from LAX to OGG, Kalahuila, Maui. In 5 short hours and 2500 miles, we were in paradise. One of the best things about vacation is the anticipation of vacation. Being in vacation mood is wonderful. I don’t fret about stuff in the usual way. Things just melt off. There was guy honking behind me at an intersection. He actually got out of his car and yelled at me, and I just looked at him, like, whatever. See.

The Arrival

We took a shuttle from the airport to the hotel. There is definitely a wow factor on arrival at the GRAND Wailea. Huge waterfalls and lush tropical flowers everywhere. A happy greeting lady yells “Alo HA!”, and puts a fresh orchid lei on my wife and daughter. She puts a ku-kua nut lei on me and my son. The indoor-outdoor lobby is impressive. We wonder slowly through the lobby to the reception.

When we checked in, I was super happy and chatting up the reception lady. She asks if we’re here for a special occasion. I say our anniversary is coming up and our kids birthdays are coming up soon (ish). She is so cool. She graciously upgrades us to a one bedroom suite in the Napui Tower. The suite includes complimentary breakfast on the executive level every morning and open bar drinks and hors d’oeuvre every afternoon. We walked around a bit and then jumped in the pool before it closed for the night. Grand Wailea is a Waldorf Astoria and Hilton Hotel. The Grand Wailea pool is one of the best in the world. We spent a lot of time in the pool. The there two big water slides. There’s 7 or 8 pools connected with water slides. There’s a swim up bar. There’s a lazy circle that you just float by all the hundreds of chaises. There is a Tarzan swing. There’s a volleyball pool. There’s a beach pool. Across from the pool, there is a beautiful soft sandy beach. In the gentle waves there are colorful fish and sea turtles.

The Room

Napua Suite. Elegantly decorated one bedroom suite, with two bathrooms. The master bath is enormous, marble tiled tub and shower and potty. Two roll out beds for the kids. Balcony with distant ocean view.