Is an oceanview room in Maui worth the extra money?

December 5, 2007 2:18 PM

Considering the difference in rates, would an "Ocean view" room be worth the money (instead of a "Garden view" room) in a Maui resort on my honeymoon?

Another honeymoon question, after my last inquiry. We have a cruise to Alaska booked, but my boyfriend wants to spend a week in Maui first.

The Four Seasons in Maui seems like the best choice, according to all the excellent reviews it has, but of course it's very pricey. So, would it still be worth it to spend extra money on an ocean view, or should we stick to a garden view room and save the money for something else?

posted by CrazyLemonade to travel & transportation (21 comments total)

I would save the money. How much staring out the window do you plan to do? Aren't you going to see the beach from other vantages?
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 2:19 PM on December 5, 2007

Garden view. If you're there, you're going to see plenty of ocean anyway.
posted by Phalene at 2:21 PM on December 5, 2007

What's the price difference? How much are you willing to spend to be able to see the ocean from your room?

I'd say that's nice, and would certainly add to the memories of your honeymoon, but everything has a price. Is it worth it to you?
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 2:23 PM on December 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

I'd book the Garden view, but make sure that the hotel knows that it's your honeymoon. You'd be surprised what kind of doors that word opens -- it's not unlikely that you'll be upgraded.
posted by toxic at 2:24 PM on December 5, 2007

I'll go ahead and say I was very happy to have gotten an ocean view condo when I had my honeymoon in Kauai. We would make breakfast and sit on our balcony. We didn't see any other people unless they were walking by the beach...
posted by mzurer at 2:31 PM on December 5, 2007

Ditto on pointing out that it is your honeymoon--both when you book and when you check in. Mentioning it at check-in netted us a bottle of champagne more than once.
posted by divka at 2:35 PM on December 5, 2007

keep in mind the ocean view and ocean front can be very different animals. ocean front might be well worth the money. ocean view could possibly mean if you look to the right off your balcony you can see the ocean over the tops of the palm trees. if i paid the extra for it i would want an unobstructed view. for myself, i would pick the amenities i will use the most (pool etc) and try to get close to those.
posted by domino at 2:40 PM on December 5, 2007

Are you and future husband the sit on the veranda and watch the ocean type? Or the get out and swim in the ocean type? Or the stay in bed your whole honeymoon and 'wait, what, there was an ocean in Maui?' type? And how much is the upgrade likely to cost?

If you're likely to actually sit on the deck and watch the ocean, then, yeah, get the upgrade. But if you're not, then the glimpse you'd get of the ocean on your way out in the morning and again when you got home wouldn't be worth it if you spent the rest of the day out and doing stuff.

FWIW, when my brother had his wedding in Maui, they upgraded him automatically (though, it was his actual wedding and thus he had a few villas occupied with his guests which might have contributed to it). On the other hand, my Dad spent half his time in our villa laughing at the golfers on the 16th green and feeding the birds, and my brother's ocean view suite had neither birds nor golfers. We don't figure Dad'd have had liked Maui half as much if we'd had an ocean view.
posted by jacquilynne at 2:50 PM on December 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

Take a look at their photo gallery. There's a few photos of rooms with ocean view. Since the hotel is U-shaped, ocean view could mean an unobstructed view of the ocean if your room is at the end of an arm and facing the water directly. But if your room is at the bottom of the U, you'd be looking at the water through palm trees, black iron gates, and other people's bodies on the veranda.
posted by junesix at 2:53 PM on December 5, 2007

Keep in mind that part of the difference in the view is the degree of privacy you have. The ocean-view rooms should be considerably more private.

junesix writes "But if your room is at the bottom of the U, you'd be looking at the water through palm trees, black iron gates, and other people's bodies on the veranda."

I should hope they don't consider those rooms (facing the ocean, but overlooking the "garden") ocean-view. But it's probably best to call and clarify.
posted by mr_roboto at 3:16 PM on December 5, 2007

Note that there are different rates for "ocean view", "partial ocean view" and "garden view" rooms, so you don't need to worry about paying the extra and then getting a bit of an ocean view if you crane your neck around the outside of the balcony.

As well as considering whether you will use your ocean view (I vote yes, since its your honeymoon and you re supposed to be at least a little romantic, have dinner on the balcony etc), ask yourself what else is implied by garden view. Is it overlooking gardens and a parking lot, is it overlooking a noisy pool - so you will get woken up by screaming children at 7am each morning? Personally I would rate quiet as more important than view. Perhaps call and inquire which would be most likely to be quiet?

As it happens, I have been for dinner at the four seasons wailea although I didn't stay there. It was a great hotel, and I wished I had stayed there instead. Dinner at Spago was excellent! Have a great time.
posted by Joh at 3:21 PM on December 5, 2007

make sure that the hotel knows that it's your honeymoon. You'd be surprised what kind of doors that word opens -- it's not unlikely that you'll be upgraded.

My wife and I honeymooned in Maui. Don't count on tons of special treatment. Half the people there are on their honeymoon. People are super nice, of course, but you will likely be one of 5 honeymooning couples they interact with that day.

Don't pay too much for the ocean view. Maui is awesome wherever your window points and you will have plenty of opportunity to spend your money on other stuff.

Make sure you make it to Hana. We stayed over in Hana for a few days and this allows you to have everything to yourself in the morning and evening as most people do it as a day trip.
posted by jpdoane at 3:32 PM on December 5, 2007

This is not an answer to your question, just an unsolicited suggestion...

Get Maui Revealed. It's the best guidebook I've ever used and helped my wife and I have an amazing Maui vacation... visiting beautiful sights we would have never even known about.
posted by muscat at 3:52 PM on December 5, 2007 [1 favorite]

We honeymooned in Maui and we got upgraded in rooms for being on our honeymoon, though I think we went from garden view to ocean view, though really it was as others described above, you could see the ocean through the garden. However, we didn't care much because we are the go out to the beach type. We did get free champagne and chocolate macadamia nuts for being on our honeymoon too. Even though the place is crawling with honeymooners, hotels do give bonuses, though many other places don't. Also, if you are renting a car, get a Jeep, especially if you are planning on doing the Hana Highway (totally worth it if you do a bunch of the stops), as it is very narrow, and while the convertibles are nice, they are much wider and wide car + narrow road = not so much fun.
posted by JonahBlack at 3:54 PM on December 5, 2007

My wife and I had a similar choice for our one-year anniversary, though this was at Cannon Beach instead of Hawaii. Bottom line -- really depends on your personality. If you're the sort who feels every penny slip away then you'll probably not enjoy being in a more expensive room with a view. On the other hand, if you are able to throw down the money and forget about it, you'll probably have a great experience.

We chose the full ocean view. It was great, so awesome to open up our windows and stare at the pacific sunset while in our in-room jacuzzi. But in order for me to enjoy it I had to stop thinking about the difference in price between the other rooms and just think about whether or not we could afford it (which we could). Thankfully that's not hard for me to do.

Whatever you choose, don't look back!
posted by rouftop at 4:12 PM on December 5, 2007

It all depends on what the difference in price means to you financially. Also, as mentioned above, there is a distinct difference between oceanFRONT and oceanVIEW. Often, oceanview simply means if you peer over the edge of balcony you can kinda see the ocean. In that case, obviously it isn't worth it.

I lived in Maui for about 16 years so I can say the Four Seasons is a good choice for a honeymoon, and if you can afford that hotel (which is one of the priciest on the island) you probably can afford the oceanfront room. The area is beautiful though and there is a string of resorts there in Wailea that you can walk between along the beachfront path.

Other advice:
1. Go to Hana.
2. Go to Haleakala (the dormant volcano crater)
3. RELAX.

:-) Have fun. I'm homesick already.
posted by rooftop secrets at 6:09 PM on December 5, 2007

Mr. Psho-to-be and I had a very nice time in a villa at Kapalua a couple of years ago. They had three "views" -- Bay (which was oceanfront, priciest), Ridge (which was ocean view), and Golf (which overlooked the golf course).

We went for the Ridge style, and had a nice view of the ocean and Molokai (at least I think it was Molokai). It was lovely, we appreciated being away from the busy Kaanapali scene, yet a short drive from Lahaina and the Safeway there (we did most of our own cooking). We got a good deal through Pleasant Holidays.

I did hear that recently there was some construction/renovation going on in the area -- you may want to check Tripadvisor to see what recent visitors are reporting.

CAN'T WAIT TO GO BACK!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 6:43 PM on December 5, 2007

If price is any issue at all, I'd say go for a great ocean view at a cheaper hotel. My family and I are about to head to Maui for the fourth time, and we always stay in a condo with a spectacular view. I'm not normally a sit and stare at the view person, but I have spent hour upon hour on the balcony in Maui-pina colada and a good book in hand, watching sunset and whales. I'm not sure where you're coming FROM, but we travel to Maui from Oregon winters, and the joy of sitting in a private space outside in February that is beautifully warm is really incomparable. Just my two cents... :)
posted by purenitrous at 8:08 PM on December 5, 2007

I paid extra for an ocean view at the Westin Maui last winter and it was basically "look out and to the left to see the ocean" which wasn't really an oceanfront view per se, but it was nice. I would have got the garden room and saved several hundred over the week if I did it all over again.
posted by mathowie at 11:17 PM on December 5, 2007

Thanks to everyone for your good answers. As they're all opinions and/or suggestions, there's no "best answer", but I've taken everything into consideration.

For now we've decided to stick to the Garden View option, since as Ambrosia Voyeur said in the first answer "just how much staring out the window are [we] planning to do?". Plus, we *will* have a room with a balcony on the Alaska cruise, so there'll be lots of "looking at the ocean" there.


More answers are still welcome!
posted by CrazyLemonade at 12:10 PM on December 6, 2007

Coming back (5 months after the honeymoon) to say that we ended up in a Garden View room and it was pretty good, at least with the type of rooms they have at the Four Seasons, the OceanView would have not have made much of a difference, since we spent more type at the beach than in our room.

Also, I'd like to say we took the advice in this post, went to the Haleakala Crater (watched the sunset and stayed until we could see the whole sky dotted with stars), and did the whole Road to Hana thing, which was awesome.
posted by CrazyLemonade at 9:23 AM on October 31, 2008