We stayed in unit #309 in late 2006, right after they had finished some construction on the condo. It was dirty, dusty, with no way for us to get it clean. When we arrived the kitchen sink was backed up, the lock on the door was broken (resulting in us immediately becoming locked out) and actually had to be completely replaced, smoke detectors, mirrors and towel bars weren't hung, the blinds in one bedroom were falling apart, the whole place smelled like wet paint (the paint actually was wet in some places), and the door to the master bedroom (which wasn't a solid door at all but a louvered closet-door thing) kept falling off its tracks because it didn't fit the doorway. A handyman and plumber came and fixed some of these things, but several of them remained the same throughout our stay. The cold and hot water were switched on the washing machine, and some of our clothes got ruined as a result of that.

The things that were the most disappointing, though, were the traffic noise and the beach.

We had pointedly asked Tom, the owner of unit #309, whether there was a lot of traffic noise in the back bedroom, which is on the road side of the building. He told me that you could not hear any traffic noise from anywhere in the unit. The traffic was extremely loud in the back bedroom almost through the entire night, and unless you want to sleep with the window shut and the AC on (which we did NOT, and had let him know this), you will definitely be kept awake by the traffic noise.

Now about the beach. I'll just start by saying that I'm sure it's great if all you want to do is look at it from your lanai. We asked Tom if it was a good beach for walking and swimming with a small child (ours was 1 1/2 at the time). He said it was great, very calm and shallow for a ways out and perfect for wading and swimming. The first thing we saw on the beach were the jellyfish/man-o-war warning signs. After our first swim the next day I decided to stick with the pool. I'm a pretty strong swimmer, and I felt like I had to carefully watch the waves, most of which were breaking right on the beach. There was no way I could let my son wade there, even holding my hand. My husband got a very severe and painful jellyfish sting on his chest the second time he went swimming, and even considered going to the emergency room.

We couldn't hang out on the beach, either, because there really wasn't one. The waves washed right up to the rocks in front of the condo lawn. Not really conducive to a walk on the beach either.

The water was very murky, and I was a little concerned about sharks, which I felt silly about until I was told by some people from the area that Maalea bay is one of the sharkier areas on the island and that they wouldn't swim there (apparently it's where the aquarium gets its sharks!). Some local kids were swimming in front of the condo one day when we were out on the lawn, and came out of the water because there was actually a shark right in front of the condo!

We had to drive to other beaches if we wanted to swim or walk or play on the beach.

After our stay, which was pretty decent in spite of our lodgings and the earthquake that occurred while we were there (it's a beautiful island), I emailed Tom to let him know that we had been unhappy with the condo itself and felt totally misled (lied to, actually) by him about some things that were really important to us. He responded by saying he was really busy and would reply later. I never heard from him again.

My mother and I were guests of the Kihei Beach Resort September 8 -15 2007. We booked with Alii Resorts and stayed in unit 405. I must admit I was a little scared since this is one of the oldest resorts in Kihei, but my fears were unfounded. All the common areas have been lovingly maintained and our individual unit was nicely renovated. Although my own pics of the unit didn't turn out well (bummer), I can tell you that it's actually NICER than it appears in the photos on the Alii website (not something that happens very often, in my experience).

My favorite aspect of the unit was floor to ceiling glass on the ENTIRE wall facing the ocean! We loved to pull the curtains all the way back, open the sliding glass doors and pull over the screens, then just relax with the surf pounding the beach and the breeze coming off the water. Better even than lying on the beach! The Kihei Beach Resort is RIGHT ON the beach; we were so close we could hear the waves even with all doors and windows shut. Also, this stretch of Sugar Beach feels very deserted; we often made jokes about having our own private beach. It was the same for the pool area; we swam alone three times at night and I never saw anyone out there during the day, either.

I know a previous poster had an unfortunate experience with Alii Resorts, but our experience with them was 100% positive. From the moment we booked until the moment we left, we felt very well cared for. We were given great directions from the airport and met in our unit by their representative, who was very helpful and informative. They provided great linens and towels, including separate beach towels, as well as nice beach chairs and a cooler. They brought (new) dish liquid and detergent, paper towels, etc, and provided nice amenities in the baths.

I would definitely recommend the Kihei Beach Resort to anyone planning to visit this area of Maui. It is situated in the "quieter" area of Kihei and is convenient to the airport, Lahaina, Wailea, Maalea, etc. Also, the prices are fantastic for what you get, and booking through Alii Resorts makes everything easy.

Happy Traveling!

We have just returned from an absolutely wonderful stay in Maui! We stayed at the Kihei Beach Resort (KBR) in Kihei. We made the booking directly with the owner of Unit 503. It is an incredible place to stay! If you are looking for the lap of luxury with huge pools and huge fees, then go down to Wailea; if you are looking for crowds and busy roads then go down to south Kihei. The Kihei Beach Resort is in an excellent location in north Kihei that we found to be perfect for day trips to any part of Maui. We had considered another condo down in south Kihei which we went to see while we were in Maui. Are we ever glad we chose the KBR. South Kihei is extremely busy with a very busy road separating you from the beach and there are cars everywhere. The location of the KBR is just perfect. It's much quieter in north Kihei and the resort is right on the beach. The resort is older but beautifully maintained. The grounds are immaculate. The lobby could probably use an upgrade but we never went there except on our way to the pool. The pool is not huge but clean and warm. If you like BBQ'g, the BBQ's are almost in the parking lot so not very appealing but we didn't plan on using them anyway. The beach was just seconds from the condo. The swimming was great and the long beach provided for several miles of strolling. The most incredible part was the view! The pictures of the resort on the internet are just how it appears...every unit has an amazing view of the ocean. We booked our unit directly through the owner via VRBO.com. Nothing could have been easier and we got a great price. The condo was spotless with everything in working order. The kids had the bedroom while we used the pull-out queen-sized sofabed. I usually can't sleep in sofabeds, but this was just like being in a bed. Even though we booked through the owner, Ali'i Resorts had a representative meet us when we arrived and answered all our questions and even followed-up with a phone call the next day to be sure all was well. If you are looking for an affordable, beautiful, well-located, quiet place to stay in Maui with the most incredible view you will have from any rental, choose this place. We had a great 10th wedding anniversary and enjoyed every moment at the Kihei Beach Resort.

We've stayed at the Kihei Beach Resort three times, all in unit 508, and have absolutely loved our stays. We would have given them excellent ratings.

When we started planning this vacation 6 months ago, we were thrilled to see that Unit 606 was available, so we booked it in March for 7 nights. Everything was paid for and all we had to do was get on the plane.

10 days before we were set to leave, we received a phone call from the property management company, Ali'i Resorts, and were told that there was a reservation discrepancy, evidently the owner or their friends showed up and we were being kicked out. We were offered a couple options at that location, but the units were very outdated and not how we planned to spend our Maui vacation.

While we understand that the property management company may not have been at fault, they certainly didn't go out of their way to find us an equal or better place to stay. Our options were outdated units or a full refund. We opted for the full refund and found another place to stay and will not be doing business with Ali'i Resorts again.

Of course we're disappointed, but we will absolutely have a wonderful time in Maui and will not let this ruin our vacation. This probably doesn't happen often, but we learned the hard lesson that renting condos is not always a sure thing.