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Old Lahaina Luau

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Maui Jon
Maui Jon
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4 out of 5
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16
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1-5 of 16
Editor Pick

Best Luau on the Island

  • January 16, 2009
  • Rated 4 of 5 by two cruisers from Ames, Iowa
Best Luau on the Island

This is our seventh trip to the Hawaiian Islands and the first time we have gone to a Luau. On our first trip we went to a Japanese Tea Garden Party and we have made two trips to the Polynesian Cultural Center on Oahu where they have a huge luau like buffet. As for hula shows, we had seen them at the cultural center, various malls, parks and even on TV with nightly live-casts of the Merry Monarch Festival. I had developed a "Been there, seen that" attitude. However while researching online for this trip I became convinced that we had been missing out on a wonderful experience. I selected the Old Lahaina Luau based on fellow traveler’s reviews and the terrific website OLL has. It also was only two blocks from our condo, so I knew we wouldn’t get lost in the dark trying to find out way home!
Be warned, reserve as early as you can. This luau offers two kinds of seating: table and chair, or low table and big pillows. You select your seating at the time you make your reservation. You reserve late…no choice. At our age getting up and down from the pillows would have been a problem. Sitting for hours in that position would have required even louder drum music to drown out my howls of pain. We saw lots of lovely younger people enjoying the pillow seating, which is culturally more correct. Bravo to them.
When we arrived at the luau we were served Mai Tais, given a lei and a lovely souvenir program then taken to our assigned table. Then we were seated the waiter encouraged us to tour the grounds before mealtime. This was a great time to go on a photo safari. The landscaping is interesting, waterfront views of Mala harbor and Lanai beyond, the craftsman making and selling items, the imu, the Hale ‘ai (eating house) and the musicians hut were all photo worthy. I think we read that this luau accommodates 350 people. It took a while to seat everyone. The waiters were kept busy supplying free drinks. The bad part of the luau set up is you share a table with strangers. Our experience with that was good and bad. The young couple across from us was from the area we were traveling to next so we had conversational material. The other two couples were more interested in testing the limits of the free bar. Nothing embarrassing happened, but they weren’t very courteous about leaving our view of the stage unobstructed.
Bill and I have never been big on buffet meals. I try to take little dabs of lots of things, but then end up with two good tasting dabs and seven so-so. And that’s what happened here. My two good dabs were: Kalua Pua’a, which is pork, roasted in the underground imu and Taro salad a cooked salad of taro and spinach in coconut sauce. At least I now know if we go again which foods to take normal size servings of. Bill liked the pork, Island Style Chicken, and was a little disappointed with the overcooked (burned) sweet potatoes. We looked forward to dessert. Just before the entertainment began the waiters had cleared plates and then placed the dessert trays on the table. Each tray had four varieties of mini-mini sized desserts. If you took one of each it wouldn’t add up to a normal size dessert. We were disappointed.
The entertainment was awesome. These people had honed their craft. The program was divided into five sections. Starting with the ancestral Polynesian home of Tahiti the dance troupe gave us a very high energy Tahitian hula. Next we had my favorite the Ancient Hula. The next segment reflected the change the Missionaries and The Merry Monarch brought to the hula. The fourth section featured the Modern Hula like what I used to see on the Arthur Godfrey show as a kid. The Finale brought back the Tahitian style plus solo dancers.
It was an excellent presentation.
Leaving the Luau we were bid aloha by our tip seeking waiters (they earned, it be generous). Several of the dancers were also available for photo-ops and a very small gift shop was set up in the out door lobby. Would we go back to a luau? I would go or the entertainment, but I would ask for ringside seats or go with friends.

From journal Maui Must See

Old Lahaina Luau

  • November 28, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by kellykh00 from Chandler, Arizona
Old Lahaina Luau

The Old Lahaina Luau is set right along the beach and is set up beautifully. The staff are very friendly and fun! The show is entertaining and is great for your first night in Maui. The food is okay, but I AM a picky eater so I'm not sure that you can trust my opinion. Either way, it is worth it!

From journal Week in Maui

Editor Pick

Old Lahaina Luau: Where's My Coconut Bra?

  • January 26, 2007
  • Rated 4 of 5 by Carmen from Fairfax, Virginia
Old Lahaina Luau: Where's My Coconut Bra?

Every tourist that sets foot in Hawaii should have a luau experience. Ours was the Old Lahaina Luau in Lahaina, about a 5-minute drive from the Sheraton Hotel in Kaanapali, which was recommended to us by our travel agent.

After spending 15 minutes in search of a parking space (we ended up across the street in a dirt lot) we were greeted with a drink (your choice of mai tai or juice), a lei, and a jovial staff. (“The drinks are free, and so are the men”, I’m told. Woo hoo! I’m never leaving!)

The $80 ticket price includes your choice of seating (traditional ground seating, which is closer to the stage but hard on the butt, and table seating, which is still hard on the butt but more civilized), all-you-can-drink and a Hawaiian buffet dinner, plus the show. The show itself is worth the price of admission, as the performers are awesome at what they do.

Good thing, because if you paid that price for just the food, you’d be a bit disappointed. But then, I’m not much of a buffet person - it’s hard to cook that much food for that many people and do it well. The menu included the pig (make sure to watch the ceremony where they did it up from the pit where it’s been cooking all day). Mahi-mahi, Tahitian chicken, steak, and of course, you have to try the poi. (bleck).

The drinks are good though – and I’d recommend the lava flow, which is essentially a pina colada with strawberry syrup. There are servers assigned to your table to make sure you feel welcome, that your drinks are plentiful and your plates are cleared. He also brings you the best part of the meal – the dessert (or as our server called them, our “Scooby Snacks”).

The show is essentially a hula history of Hawaii. The costumes are colorful and bright, the performers enthusiastic and the whole production highly entertaining. The women especially loved the all-male ‘shake your booty’ dance. The hula dancers were awesome – how can they shake their hips like that? The show lasts about an hour, and the performers loiter around afterward to accept the many compliments and take pictures with the guests.

It’s touristy, but it’s fun. Everybody loves a hukilau! Don’t expect to come away full, but you can expect to come away entertained and if not well on your way to plastered, comfortably tipsy.

From journal Wowie! Maui

Editor Pick

Old Lahaina Luau

  • November 7, 2006
  • Rated 2 of 5 by wanderer 2005 from Phoenix, Arizona
Old Lahaina Luau

If you’ve never been to Hawaii, you HAVE to attend a luau…it’s almost a law. (kidding)

I had heard very good things about the Old Lahaina one, so I made a reservation 10 months before our trip.

Seating is assigned by when you make your reservation, so don’t make it the day before and expect to be in the front row. There really isn’t a bad seat in the house, so don’t worry about being behind a wall or something. You have the choice of either traditional mat seating or table seating. You will be sat at a long table that holds 6 to 8 people, so if you don’t like to socialize, this isn’t the luau for you.

After checking in and getting shown to your table, you have time to stroll the beautiful grounds and see some local craftsman make and sell their wares. You can see the covered imu, which is the pit where they cook the pig. All cocktails and beers and included in the price, and there is a list of all the ‘island’ cocktails they make on the back of your seat card. The glasses are pretty much rocks glasses, so don’t expect a 10 oz Mai Tai, but at the same time, you can have as many as you like.

There is a big ceremony, to uncover the pig, but we missed it because there was never an announcement, nor did our waiter tell us…I guess you just have to know. So we were kind of bummed that we didn’t get to see it. After that, they start letting tables go to the buffet. Your server will tell you when it’s your tables’ turn.

The buffet was rather large consisting of the pork from the imu, lomi lomi salmon, chicken, beef, salads, sushi, poi, the list goes on. I had been looking forward to the food for months and was sadly disappointed. The food was mediocre at best, maybe because it’s a buffet? I’m not sure what it was, but I wasn’t impressed and I LOVE buffets!

The entertainment was nice. There is a story being told by the emcee, and the dancers come out and perform the story. Hula dancers are always great to watch!

All in all, this luau cost us over $200.00 for 2 people and I don’t feel satisfied at all. I had very high expectations because I’ve heard really good things about it and it was listed as the best luau on Maui, but I didn’t see it. Next time, I will save my money and go to a restaurant, instead.

From journal Hawaiian Dream Vacation

Old Lahaina Luau

  • July 10, 2006
  • Rated 5 of 5 by debbierrr from Milford, Connecticut
Old Lahaina Luau

The Old Lahaina Luau is a fabulous dinner show. Please make sure you get there early, so you have time to explore the crafters and the views of the beautiful ocean. I also recommend the flow seating as opposed to the table seating, but that's just my personal preference. The show itself is great, and the food and drink is wonderful too!

From journal Maui Fun!

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