Hilton Vacation Club Kaanapali Beach Reviews & Ratings

We have stayed at the Embassy Vacation Resort for the past 10 years. It is absolutely great for families and vacationers that do not like snobby people. We have also stayed at the Westin and Maui Marriott - both are beautiful but hotel units are very small. The bartenders at the pool bar are very friendly.

We did not go this year. Can someone tell me if "all" of the elevators are now working? Did they ever re-open the nicer restaurant or is it just the Ohana Grill outside area by the bar? Do they still have pool side beverage and meal service?

Mahalo

Ka’anapali Beach Club is my escape from every day life. I usually stay at Ka’anapali Beach Club in May and November. I love the location and the relaxing atmosphere. The rooms have a lot of space not confined like a lot of Marriott accommodations of same type of unit (I know from my personal experience). The beach is very nice: clean and not busy from foot traffic like Marriott property at Whalers Village (nonstop chain of people passing, next to your chair and constant noise). This is my primary reason to stay at Ka’anapali Beach Club for a very relaxing vacation. I am a runner, so every morning I am going for a 10ml run north to Kapalua. Beautiful road for running or relaxing walk. You will be able to see the residential area between resorts and very beautiful volcanic costal trail in Kapalua, please take advantage to see it... If you would like to see very busy life take a nice walk on the beach to Whalers Village: restaurants, shops. You will really appreciate the peace a quite after that visit… The resort has very accommodative customer service. I like the fact: restaurant has different menu every day, so a lot of verity. If you need any recommendations on attractions or local’s favorite places to see, have lunch or dinner- just ask, you will be able to discover more hidden secrets. Take advantage of your free time and see the nature, drive around. The roads not congested, so the driving will be fun. May vacation is coming up in three weeks and I can’t wait. I have the memory of ocean breeze on my face with sound of coming waives and intoxicating smell of tropical plants and Plumeria when I am running early in the morning.

Family of 4 stayed September for 10 days. Third visit to the immediate area. A very low key and comfortable setting. Staff was really outstanding, particularly the bell captain/parking staff. Our room was dated, but my sister's room on the other side was upgraded with flat screens, etc... Big difference. Couldn't leave windows open at night because of birds. Maybe something could be done about that. Food for kids was great and cheap, but I found adult food bland. Normally I spend alot more money at the pool but I found myself not wanting to order...the exception were the drinks, which were excellent. Seems that putting a strong free wireless connection in the building would be welcomed, I met several folks trying to find the "perfect spot" to get an outside connection in the lobby. Liked the pool and the slide for the kids. Resort is in an ideal location for trips to Lahaina and Kapalua. Would return but I am not sure if I would own.

I am a owner and my unit is located in the upgraded portion of the resort. Very beautiful. I love keeping my balcony doors open during the night and listen to the waves. During the day, I can watch the whales (during whale season) from my balcony - very entertaining. There is a fairly new walkway along the beach so I enjoy my morning walks for about 3 miles each day or you can also walk to a Luau (sp?) There is a grocery store within short walking distance and also a farmer's market. I do miss the complimentary daily cocktail reception with entertainment. A great way to meet people and talk about vacations and restaurants, etc.

A fantastic location with a great, attentive staff. Extremely family-friendly, BUT NOT overrun with kids ! The view is amazing, especially during whale season and the constant upgrades to amenities assure a room that is very up-to-date. The nicest resort on Maui that is not "stuffy."

Virtually anything you want to do is within close reach from this resort.

Perfect for newlyweds, adults and whole familes. Try to get Deluxe Ocean Front view whenever possible and request a corner room. you WON'T be disappointed.

Many of the units are very dated, it requires major renovations. As disappointing as the complex itself was, the location is good and so are the beaches in the area, keeping in mind Kaanapali is know to be very windy. I wouldn't recommend this place till upgrading has been completed. The pool is great for kids and is one of the only positive things I can offer.

We are owners and stay here every year for at least two weeks. This year we will be staying for four weeks, and we never get tired of the resort. The location can't be beat, and the staff tries to meet your needs in a pleasant way. You can watch the whales from your balcony, and the swimming pool is exceptional with a deep end for swimmers.

We regret that the resort no longer has the free Cocktail Reception. This was a great way of meeting new people, and establishing new friendships. I know some owners don't agree because of the cost, however when we purchased, this was a major consideration. I believe all owners could be satisfied if they were to limit the number of drinks to each person, as they do when the developers rent a unit to people interested in possibly purchasing a unit. This way the price of the cocktail hour should be affordable to all, and would eliminate the risk of someone being hurt by overdrinking.

The breakfast is very reasonable and we like the improvements that have been made by moving it inside, and upgrading the serving lines.

This is a great resort and I support Diamond Resorts plans to keep this their flagship resort.

We just returned from Maui after staying in a two bedroom unit for two weeks. The only issue we have is lack of laundry facilites. Those facilites need to be made available on every floor. It appears that Diamond has indeed begun to upgrade the resort. There are now more than enough pool chairs and they have added thick cushions to all the pool chairs. The pool area is great and the service and staff around the pool are terriffic. They have added four very nice grills which we used and have begun to upgrade some of the landscaping. The property is a hotel conversion, so plan to use the grill or eat out.

I get a laugh out of people who think they should get free drinks and free breakfast from the resort. Those become part of the maintanence fee and just raise prices. I'm glad those have been changed or removed.

The daily garbage and towel exchange was great and the room was cleaned every Wednesday and Sunday.

The location of the resort couldn't be better with Lahania, Kapalua, Honolua within five minutes drive. The beach park next to the Westin even has decent snorkeling.

You won't be disappointed if you buy or stay here.

We stayed at the resort at the end of March 2008. The resort was great. We have 3 young children and they loved the place. There were tons of pool chairs and not a long wait for the elevators. The kids meal costs were very nominal ($2) and the portions sizes were large. Even though we made most of our own meals in the room (love a kitchen with kids!), the kids loved the occasionnal outing.

The pool was great for our kids. Large enough to not be too busy and the kids pool got crowded at times but we would move to the big pool or the ocean.

The charge for the cabana chairs on the beach and equipment was rather high in my opinion. There was no listing posted, you had to ask, which I didn't like.

With 5 the room still did not seem too crowded as it is quite spacious.

Definitely would stay here again.

We stayed here over Xmas last year and we are back on an Encore Package same week (leaving tomorrow). Diamond Resorts has indeed purchased the property and the owner is currently "on site". According to the time share salesman the new company plans to highly upgrade the property, starting with the pool area and the beds and bedding (good idea!) and then eventually upgrading the restaurants and common areas. They are trying to compete for the Westin Time Share clientele. I looked at the Westin and it is indeed more upscale but the rooms are much smaller and from what I read online the furnishings in the units are not as upscale as the model. I still feel that the KBC is the best value for the money if you are travelling with family but note that the construction next door, which up til now has been far away enough not to be a problem is now right up to the front door of the hotel so noise may be a problem through late 2009. By the way,there seems to be a new chef at North Beach Grille - we had dinner there one evening and the food was delicious and beautifully presented..hardly anyone in the restaurant, which is really a shame - give it a try!

We are owners and stayed here from Oct. 22- 29, 2007.

We have an ocean view unit and have stayed here 3 years in a row. We truly enjoy this resort. When booking, we always request the same room and have always been obliged. However, to our disappointment, as of October 1, 2007, the social gathering( happy hour ) has been discontinued. We always looked forward to this everyday. It gave us a chance to meet new people and friends. Yes, it was an open bar between 4:00pm and 6:00pm but why can't they just charge a flat fee and continue this event? We miss meeting new friends and owners.

The staff here is friendly and very accomodating. Even though there is no stove or oven, you can request an electric frying pan which served us well. There is a supermarket across the street as well as a pizza restaurant which has a great caesar salad to go, and a Mexican restaurant. Don't forget to stop at Costco which is within a mile of the airport.

As far as finding pool lounge chairs is concerned, sometimes when it gets busy you do have to hunt to find one but unfortunately people put a towel over the chair in the morning and leave it there all day long. You never really know if it's being used or not.

We recently heard that Diamond Resorts has bought the resort so we don't know what changes, if any, will take place.

All in all, this is a great place to vacation, we will come back as usual, but we really do miss the social happy hour and hope the new owners will bring it back even if they decide to charge a reasonable fee.

Stayed as guest of owner in August of 2007 for 1 week in Ocean View Room. This was our 3rd time at the resort and our first since it became the Kaanapali Beach Club. A lot has changed and not always for the better. There are a very limited number of pool chairs in the pool area. Appears about half the number of chairs since the last time we were there in 2005. Guests/Owners were stealing pool chairs from eachother when you would get up to go into pool. Hotel staff did nothing other then place out folding chairs. It appears unthinkable that during the busiest month of the year (August) the resort would have so few chairs in the pool area. Elevator waits were normally 5-10 minutes. There are 6 elevators and during peak periods 2-3 evevators were shut down. We were told they were being worked on by staff but one day I watched 1 elevator sit at the 12 floor for 5 hours with no one in it or no one working on it. We stayed on 5th floor and every elevator that arrived from upper floors was full. We were forced to get an elevator up and ride down full stopping at every floor on the way to the bottom. The free morning buffet breakfast is no more. The weekly family rate of $75.00 or $85.00 is gone as well. Now the cost is $12.00 per person per day. The rooms were nice but there is no daily maid service. The resort will only change out towels and empty your trash on a daily basis. Beds are made up only 1 time during your stay. If you want it done more often it's an extra cost of $25.00 per day. Sunterra Employess make up the majority of spots on the owners board. There appears to be very little ownership representation. It's obvious that decisions are being made about the resort for profit motive only and not in the best interest of the owners and guests.

We just returned from our first trip to Maui on 8/11 - 8/18/07 and had a wonderful time at this resort. The swimming pool was fabulous with it's waterfall and cloverleaf design. It was very roomy even with the large number of people hanging around the pool during the day. They offered scuba lessions which started in the pool and ended out in the beach directly in front of the resort. They had a little shop to rent all types of water gear and provided free beach towels you could check in and out for your use. At night they lit all the torches which made the swimming pool and beach even more romantic. The beach was beautiful and there was always a wonderful breeze to keep us cool during the very warm August days and evenings.

The A/C in our room was a huge blessing. The two-bedroom unit we had was not oceanfront but we were glad as we weren't hit by the direct sun at any time during the day or night but still had a view of the swimming pool and the ocean from our deck. There were four sliding doors to our private deck, two from the bedrooms, one in the living area, and one in the dining area. We were located at the back of the building where the construction was happening next door, but never heard any noise from it, so don't let that discourage you.

At first we were disappointed by not having a cooking appliance other than the microwave in our unit but once we started discovering the great restaurants, we were glad we didn't have to cook. We never made it to the breakfast but did eat a couple of times in the outdoor restaurant downstairs by the pool and found them to have the most wonderful fish and chips (Mahi Mahi).

We loved the master bath as it was updated and roomy with his and hers sinks that were at opposite sides of the bathroom. The maid and towel service was excellent, and even though we had heard complaints about the beds, we found them perfectly comfortable, and having the A/C and overhead fan kept the room very cool for sleeping.

All the staff was impressive and responsive. Word of advice to anyone planning to stay there with owner benefits, before even booking your rental car or anything else, contact the concierge ahead of time to make all your arrangements...you will get amazing owner discounts. We made the mistake of booking our rental car months in advance directly through Enterprise and would have saved hundreds of dollars by calling the Concierge instead and booking directly through the resort. Be sure and ask for Julie or Tina...they were fabulous and made many phone calls in getting us the best prices and times for our helicopter tour, Luau, & Catamaran Sailing Trip. Julie even begged and pleaded to get us into the sold-out Luau.

Everything booked through the resort turned out perfectly...and if you want a beautiful, pampered "Luau"...be sure to book the "Feast of Lele"...well in advance. No buffet lines, we had a private table with wait staff but since it is in Lahaina, be prepared as it is very warm. If you are interested in snorkeling, be sure to check out the coves to the North of the resort, we swam with the turtles in a cove with white sandy beaches and great body surfing waves. And South of Wailea there are some great snorkeling areas with fish we didn't see when we took our Catamaran trip. On our way back on our Catamaran trip, we floated through a pod of Dolphins...they were showing off and jumping out of the water and swimming right next to the boat. We were disappointed that we didn't get to sail but the seas were quite rough with the approaching hurricane and would have been dangerous for our boat to set sail.

Even though this resort is not in the main part of Maui, it was a short drive to everything. Lahaina (which means "unforgiving sun" especially during the day) at "night" was really fun...lots of activities, be sure to visit Bubba Gump Shrimp Company restaurant, we ate there three times and ordered the great "Cajun Shrimp" bucket appetizer. After visiting, Lahaina, we were always eager to get back to our resort because of the wonderful breeze, especially on the beach at night. Also be sure to visit the Maui Brewery North of the resort where you will find the most delicious "Natural" steaks and crab cakes we've ever had.

We've decided we need to vacation at this resort every year...Thank you so much to all the resort staff and management. This was truly a vacation to remember which was our first real vacation in our 15 years of marriage. John & Suzanne

This place is awesome. We loved the free cocktails every night. The location was great. Beautiful landscaping. It was everything we hoped it would be.

Hi all and Happy New Year! We stayed at the Ka'anapali Beach Club the week of 11-3 to 11- 10-06 and were impressed with the size of our 1BR Unit. The porch was long and narrow, not a party porch, but it had a nice oceanview of almost a full 180 degrees and you could almost touch the offshore islands. Perfect for a bloodymary at sunrise or a quick nap after a long day of snorkeling!

Don't know about any 1BR oceanfront units that others have posted about on this Board but was told that only 2 BR Units are true ocean front and none were available to peek into while we were there!

It was our very 1st visit to Hawaii and Maui was a tough choice to make, all the islands were so very attractive, but we loved it there. You will too, and this place, everyone will always call it the "Embassy", is a great choice for a place to stay. For 2 people, the 1BR units are spacious and perfect. We could have spent much more money and wasted it! We spent so little time in our room.

Everyday was a new adventure on Maui, and from the Embassy you are perfectly situated to enjoy it all. The wonderful breakfast buffet in a glorious beachfront restaurant gets you going as early as 7AM, and the open air feel of the lobby and courtyards were always a treat. I also loved the parking options, cause I was usually pretty tired after a full day in the Hawaiian sunshine and valet parking was most appreciated. There was some renovating/remodeling going on while we were there and this probably bothered shut- ins, but not us. We were up and out long before the drilling started!

Hope you enjoy Maui as much as we did and definitely check out the Ka'anapali Beach Club, just be sure to tell your cab driver to take you to the Embassy, otherwise you might wind up at the Ka'anapali Beach Hotel!

4.5 Stars What can I say its tough to get 5 Stars.

Ocean Front 1 Bedroom was perfect. Bathroom was band new and spotless.

Ocean Front Balcony is great for Whale watcthing.

My wife and I were in the unit for 2 days and then went and picked up some great fish and steak filets only to realize we had no oven.

Other than that just a great complex!

We stayed at the Maui Embassy Sept 22 to the 29th and loved our visit. We bought our timeshare here posted on Redweek.com. Thank you Syed!! We stayed on the forth floor with a direct oceanview. The room was just perfect and the view was amazing. Granite in the kitchen, microwave, full fridge, dishwasher. The rooms have been remodeled this year and they have done a really nice job. The bedroom has a king bed, which was very comfy. And the livingroom has a full sofa sleeper. The bathroom was very large and decorated nicely with travertine floors and shower. The pool is great, huge. Waterslide is super fun. We have a two year old and she really enjoyed the pool. The staff at the Embassy was very helpful and friendly, especially the staff at the beach/pool service. Mai tais are yummmy at the pool bar! They have buffet breakfast available for an 85 dollar fee for up to 4 or 5 in a room for the whole week. It is Ok. Good pastries, but the eggs where pretty bad. But that was really my only complaint. We are very happy with our purchase at the Embassy and can't wait for our next trip there. Mary

My wife and I purchased a every other year senic view unit on Redweek.com prior to staying there, so we were a bit anxious to find out what it was like. It far exceeded our expectations, and we are now closing on an every year ocean view unit. The place is fantastic, and the people were even better. This location is nicer than the main part of Kaanapali beach where we stayed before, less crowded and plenty of beach. Tell Dave at the cocktail party Tracie and Jim from Lake Tahoe sent you for one of his special Mai Tais! We watched the whales breaching from our deck and from the beach over Christmas. The rooms were very big, new everything, and a very big beautiful bathroom with plenty of space for both of us.

When you walk into a 1 bdrm suite with an oceanfront view you will know it doesn't get any better than this.

This is the resort to stay at when you don't want to see any other part of the island, because everything you need is right here.

Don't go looking for a snorkel spot, walk off the embassy sand right into the water and you have all you need to see. Turtles the size of coffee tables, octopus you name it.

Had to take the dive/snorkel trip to Lanai'i and had the entire pod of spinner dophins swim through, twice. Must have been at least 500.

Surprized the room didn't have a full kitchen, but the concierge was forthcoming with the frypan to cook meals.

A true vacation to remember!!

We've been to Maui now 4 times since 1999. The first trip we bought 2 timeshares to be deeded to our 2 children. Every other time we have gone, we have bought another timeshare! We now have 5 weeks at Embassy, including2 weeks in a 2-bedroom every other year. The timeshares are great as is everything else about Embassy.