Grand Wailea Resort and Spa

The Grand Wailea Resort and Spa is by far the most beautiful and magnificent resort I have ever set foot in. It’s conveniently located near a mall, great restaurants, prime real estate properties and great beaches! The cost is up there but in my opinion it’s very well worth with. I paid close to $1K USD for the suite I stayed in but there are other rooms that are not so expensive and some that are much, much more expensive. Either way, be prepared to drop a few Benjis... the average room is about $500 USD and the most expensive room goes for about $10K USD!

The location of the resort is unparalleled in beauty! The views from the balcony of my ocean facing suite were breath-taking. The views were especially beautiful in the evening hours when the sun set into the ocean, painting the sky with vibrant hues of orange and red. Many hotel guests gather by the pools to watch the sunset. It’s a beautiful moment! Great time for meeting people!

The amenities include a world-class spa and a maze of pools that one can actually get lost in. The pools are amazing! It's like a water amusement park with alcohol... which is probably why I got lost… I’m generally good at finding my way but with a few Mai Tai’s in me… I have trouble finding the knob on a door.

The staff is great! Especially the spa staff! They’re awesome! The room service people are cool too! Those little bottles of complementary shampoo don’t really cut it for me so I asked room service for more and they gave me a grocery bag full of them. The shampoo smells really good… very manly compared to the fruity stuff most hotels hand out. I still have quite a bit of shampoo left… sometimes I hand them out during Halloween or give them away as birthday or Christmas presents. Very convenient and useful I think. One can never have too many bite-size bottles of shampoo. I think hotels should offer a variety of different shampoos! Not everyone brings their own stuff and I really don’t enjoy walking around smelling of orange-ginger or gardenia-almond. It hurts my street-cred!

I enjoyed walking around outside. The resort grounds are very well maintained and full of art in the form of sculptures and paintings. There’s a beautiful reflective pool that I spent a good amount of time admiring.

The beach is really nice! Lots of eye candy and great for people watching. Great for swimming too although I heard there’s a pretty strong current a little ways out so I’d ask the lifeguard on duty before attempting any long-distance swims! Don’t swim if you have any cuts or if you're bleeding from anywhere. There’s been a number shark attacks lately…

For people who are looking for a nice place to get married, there’s a cool little chapel with amazing stained glass windows located on the resort grounds. It’s right next to the beach and offers really amazing views!

There are several exceptional restaurants located on the property. One that stands out among the rest is a place called Humu, short for Humuhumunukunukuapua'a - the Hawaii State Fish. Say that five times fast! At Humu, you can choose the lobster you believe will most satisfy your palette. It's an interesting experience, especially when you're as indecisive about crustaceans as I am. The poor lobster scooper guy pulled out around six different lobsters before I finally decided on the most worthy of them all. I named my lobster Leonidas because he was very Spartan-like. A fighter he was!

There’s a little mall just a stone throw away from the resort. It’s not very big but there are a lot of great shops there. The mall is called The Shops at Wailea. Here you can find a bunch of art galleries, luxury brand outlets, great restaurants and a really awesome ice cream shop called Lappert’s Ice Cream and Coffee. The Kona Coffee ice cream is amazing! There’s a Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse on the top floor. Great steakhouse! Everything at the Shops at Wailea is pretty expensive and high-end. I liked the scene but it was a little awkward being in board shorts… it seemed like I was a little underdressed. I probably was but ehh… it’s Hawaii so who cares.