3 Bedroom Honua Kai suite. Source: Honua Kai Resort
Just north of the busy Ka’anapali strip on 38 acres of quiet, Maui oceanfront resort property, sits the Honua Kai Resort and Spa, one of my favorite new, kid friendly luxury hotels on Maui. We first fell in love with the Honua Kai last winter. This year, we were able to spend mid-winter break at the Honua Kai with extended friends and family. The Honua Kai is the best of both worlds – all of the comforts of home in a full-service, laid-back luxury resort. Each unit in the all-suite Honua Kai has a full kitchen, washer and dryer and spacious glass balcony, providing ample room for you and your family to spread out and relax on vacation.
The Honua Kai Resort and Spa is the ultimate, smart luxury experience on Maui. Starting at around $300/night for a one bedroom unit (rate varies by resort view and season), which is comparable to most luxury hotel rooms on Maui in popular resort areas, Honua Kai is the ideal combination for families – luxury condo, separate bedrooms for you and your kids, and all the amenities of a full-service resort. With 2 and 3 bedroom units, large families can spread out and by sharing a larger unit with friends, you can split the cost and cut your vacation budget in half, without sacrificing style and service.
Connection and Community at the Honua Kai Resort
If you are a social crew like ours, you will love the Honua Kai. Walking through the property at night gives you a true sense of the magic of Honua Kai, as groups of friends and families relax, laugh and socialize on balconies, BBQ areas teem with dads grilling food, sharing a beer and talking while their food cooks. Most nights, you will find kids running around playing night tag on the spacious open grassy areas. During the day, families relax and chat while enjoying poolside service from Dukes Beach House, lounging by one of The Honua Kai’s many family-friendly pools, or heading out to the beach to make sandcastles and snorkel.
Honua Kai is where you can watch your family grow.
We were excited to learn on this trip that the Honua Kai’s Kids Program offers childcare and activities for kids ages 3-12. Parents of young children rejoice! Most hotels offer childrens programs for kids 5 years old and older, so we’ve never had the opportunity to take advantage of this childcare option at a resort yet. This is another simple detail that makes a big difference for parents of young children when traveling. Parents can simply take a stroll down the beach, relax by the pool uninterrupted, or get a date night out at the onsite restaurant, Dukes. Breathe, sigh of relief.
During our last visit, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Yvonne Biegel, a mom of three boys and rep for Honua Kai. She shared that the Honua Kai hopes to be the kind of resort that grows with families as they grow, and that when the kids are grown, they will bring their kids. “We have guests who honeymooned here when we opened three years ago, and they come back every year. It will be so fun to see them bringing their new babies and watching them grow up at Honua Kai,” said Yvonne Biegel.
Our good friends and neighbors who vacation with us each year, and who joined us on this trip had this to say about the Honua Kai:
“Simply perfect for our family! The property is luxury paired with laid-back, aloha spirit at its best. Dukes has extraordinary food at affordable prices, so I don’t feel guilty eating out, when I know I could be cooking up a storm in our beautiful kitchen in our unit. The pool is wonderful for all ages and the beach is so close, yet never feels crowded. The ‘Aina Gourmet Market in the hotel is so charming and we visited every day; morning coffee, afternoon gelato, snacks (wine included) – they had a great selection.” – Kristen Bristol, Seattle, WA.
Wonder what “A Day in the Life at Honua Kai” feels like? Here’s our experience. And the next day, you get up and do it all over again:
Barefoot beach runs, calm surf and morning sun make a great start to the day.
Morning cupcakes and coffee with aloha spirit. Just a typical day at the onsite ‘Aina Gourmet Market.
In the morning, sandcastles, surf splashing and toes in the sand.
In the afternoon, after a quick lunch break in our unit, we are poolside with beverage and book in hand. Kids slide, splash and laugh.
Pre-dinner, enjoying a frosty beer on your spacious, private balcony.
Dinner at Dukes Restaurant. 5 kids, 4 parents, 2 grandparents. Life is good.
Watching the kids grow before your eyes. Priceless.
Sometimes pictures tell the story more powerfully than words. It is days like these that soften the rigors of parenting, help us take time out to recalibrate on what is most important to us, and most importantly reconnect with our families and the people in our life that bring us joy. The Honua Kai holds a special place in our heart, a resort we hope to return to year after year to have our family reconnect, recharge, and watch grow.
Do you have a question about the Honua Kai Resort and Spa, or are you trying to find the perfect property for your family on Maui? Leave it here on the comments or head on over to HipTravelMama’s Facebook page and ask me there.