Report Abuse

Following-up from my original post ... We recently returned from our first visit to Ko Olina. The same pool designer was used for both Maui and Ko Olina, and you will find the same features at both pools (grotto, slide, waterfall, hot tubs). The new Ko Olina pool is nice to be sure - but I must agree that the Maui version is superior in all ways. Families can (and do) spend an entire day at the Maui pool. We were satisfied after an hour or two at the Ko Olina pool. A big plus at Ko Olina was that the pools never seemed overcrowded. Lounge chairs were available at any hour during the day. This is probably because the adjacent beach/lagoon is very kid-friendly and draws many people away from the pools. At Maui, the pool overcrowding is a serious issue. During peak season, people can be seen claiming lounge chairs at 6:00am (just ridiculous). At its worst, fist-fights have erupted over the lounge chair shortage. Marriott does very little to address the problem - they need to proactively reclaim unoccupied lounge chairs. To summarize our experience: If you are a beach person, you will probably like Ko Olina better. If you are a pool person, then go for Maui (and brace yourself for overcrowding at the pool).