Maui
Flew on United Airlines out to Maui on this trip. I received a promotional timeshare presentation to visit the Westin Ka'anapali Resort. The promotion included a rental from Avis too. The uneventful flight arrived to some rainy weather at Kahului Airport. The airport is not really built for the flow of passengers that arrive. The rental shuttle busses pick up at various locations on the curb and there was an intense wait at the rental agency. Luckily not many are Preferred and I jumped into that line to get out within an hour. The poor souls in the regular line likely took twice as long. On the bright side, United automatically emailed me a voucher for the delayed arrival into Maui! Works out since I'll use it to my Las Vegas trip in a few months!! More details to come on that trip.
The resort was about an hour away so a short Costco trip was done. Costco is also located right outside of the airport so it was an easy stopover. After grabbing food, headed over to the resort. As a timeshare property, we were somewhat prepared to mostly cook food and eat in for the week.
The next day, it was still cloudy and rainy so the morning snorkeling was not an option. Opted to go travelling around the island and stopped in at Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop for breakfast. The food and pies were delicious. A little on the pricey side but it seems that Maui is all on the pricey side.....
After breakfast, went to the Maui Ocean Center to see the fish I couldn't see live in the ocean. It also seemed like half the island was at the aquarium. The staff I spoke to mentioned that it is not ever as busy as the day I was there. Clearly, everyone decided the aquarium was a nice place to visit on such a rainy day. Then again, how often does it rain for 48 hours in Maui?
Capped off the day by having a late lunch at Mama's Fish House. It was originally going to be dinner but the weather being so cloudy, I doubted I would catch a sunset dinner. Without the view, lunch seemed like a better option. The food and service was very good. I even earned a Warbucks badge on Yelp for checking in at the restaurant. I ordered the luau plate because I thought it was the best value for the price point. It was pretty tasty all around.
The next day, I mainly stayed at the Westin. Between the mandatory timeshare presentation and morning meetings, it was a relaxing afternoon of hanging out at the pool.
The next day, had breakfast at Auntie's Kitchen in the hotel. The hotel tries to offer you free breakfast if you opt out of housekeeping. The breakfast buffet isn't bad but I wouldn't pay full price for it. Went out to the Grand Wailea resort and hung out at Spa Grande. I still think my favorite hotel spa is the Boulders in Phoenix but it was interesting to experience this Japanese influenced spa. The complimentary body loofah was nice. Another new experience was the hot mineral baths and the waterfall baths. The actual massage was ok.
Went back to the Westin and made a pit stop at Leoda's for some pies. After having dinner inside the room, went out to Island Cream Company for some ice cream. They market it as not ice cream and not gelato. Really, it tastes similar to frozen custard but that's also not unique. I still enjoyed the ice cream!
The next day, colleagues arrived onto the island and we decided to hang out with them at Monkeypod. Friends recommended the restaurant and I didn't realize I've been to the restaurant group in the past. Merriman's is the main group and I've had food from there before. Overall, the food was good but not something I would go out of my way for. After the late lunch, went by the colleague's airbnb condo to check out the area and walked over to ami ami bar & grill. The website is a far better experience than the live version. Overall, it was fine to hang out but I wouldn't recommend people going to it.
On our last day in Maui, went by Star Noodle for lunch. It is a hipster Asian fusion restaurant that foodies gravitate to when in Maui. After realizing that flying out in the afternoon was pointless, we changed out flights to a redeye and enjoyed the afternoon sunset back at the Westin before flying home on United.
The resort was about an hour away so a short Costco trip was done. Costco is also located right outside of the airport so it was an easy stopover. After grabbing food, headed over to the resort. As a timeshare property, we were somewhat prepared to mostly cook food and eat in for the week.
The next day, it was still cloudy and rainy so the morning snorkeling was not an option. Opted to go travelling around the island and stopped in at Leoda's Kitchen and Pie Shop for breakfast. The food and pies were delicious. A little on the pricey side but it seems that Maui is all on the pricey side.....
After breakfast, went to the Maui Ocean Center to see the fish I couldn't see live in the ocean. It also seemed like half the island was at the aquarium. The staff I spoke to mentioned that it is not ever as busy as the day I was there. Clearly, everyone decided the aquarium was a nice place to visit on such a rainy day. Then again, how often does it rain for 48 hours in Maui?
Capped off the day by having a late lunch at Mama's Fish House. It was originally going to be dinner but the weather being so cloudy, I doubted I would catch a sunset dinner. Without the view, lunch seemed like a better option. The food and service was very good. I even earned a Warbucks badge on Yelp for checking in at the restaurant. I ordered the luau plate because I thought it was the best value for the price point. It was pretty tasty all around.
The next day, I mainly stayed at the Westin. Between the mandatory timeshare presentation and morning meetings, it was a relaxing afternoon of hanging out at the pool.
The next day, had breakfast at Auntie's Kitchen in the hotel. The hotel tries to offer you free breakfast if you opt out of housekeeping. The breakfast buffet isn't bad but I wouldn't pay full price for it. Went out to the Grand Wailea resort and hung out at Spa Grande. I still think my favorite hotel spa is the Boulders in Phoenix but it was interesting to experience this Japanese influenced spa. The complimentary body loofah was nice. Another new experience was the hot mineral baths and the waterfall baths. The actual massage was ok.
Went back to the Westin and made a pit stop at Leoda's for some pies. After having dinner inside the room, went out to Island Cream Company for some ice cream. They market it as not ice cream and not gelato. Really, it tastes similar to frozen custard but that's also not unique. I still enjoyed the ice cream!
The next day, colleagues arrived onto the island and we decided to hang out with them at Monkeypod. Friends recommended the restaurant and I didn't realize I've been to the restaurant group in the past. Merriman's is the main group and I've had food from there before. Overall, the food was good but not something I would go out of my way for. After the late lunch, went by the colleague's airbnb condo to check out the area and walked over to ami ami bar & grill. The website is a far better experience than the live version. Overall, it was fine to hang out but I wouldn't recommend people going to it.
On our last day in Maui, went by Star Noodle for lunch. It is a hipster Asian fusion restaurant that foodies gravitate to when in Maui. After realizing that flying out in the afternoon was pointless, we changed out flights to a redeye and enjoyed the afternoon sunset back at the Westin before flying home on United.
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