Sign up for the luau that was held in this resort twice almost every night. To secure your reservation, remember to book it in advance at the information center. There was a cocktail party near Pool 1 and the Aloha Shell Lei Greeting and Photographing when you entered the main hall of the luau. Be there early so as not to miss anything.

Following a good night's sleep and a walk around the grounds, I ate crow and asked to be moved into a cottage. My husband will never let me forget this!

We stayed at the Royal Lahaina, which is right on Kaanapali Beach. The first thing we noticed is that we had to pay $9/day for parking! The entry way is fairly spacious and filled with a dark wood, which feels authentically Hawaiian. Everything was clean and well kept.

By far the best feature of the Royal Lahaina was the location -- Kaanapali Beach is fantastic and literally right outside of the hotel. There are two pools available for guests to use -- they were a little small and nothing to write home about, but they were clean and there were beach chairs that were available. However, the pools are disappointing when compared to the pools at the Sheraton, which is next door. Actually the Royal Lahaina is a disappointment when compared to the Sheraton! If you can't afford to stay at the Sheraton (we couldn't), walk through it. It's gorgeous!

All in all, the Royal Lahaina is in a great location, is clean, and is serviceable. If you can remember that you don't go to Maui to spend time in your hotel room, it is perfect.

Upon arriving at the hotel I was almost immediately disappointed as I looked around the grounds and walked through the lobby. For the price of $150 per night I was of course expecting something that resembled some of the other resorts that I had stayed at previously. Like the rest of the resort the beach even left a little to be desired as even though the quality of the sand was fine, the tide was too strong to allow the water to be clear for snorkelers.

After checking in, we headed on up to our room to put our bags away and again I must admit even the room was somewhat a disappointment. Our room, like the rest of the resort appeared to be decorated by someone who obviously loved using loud Hawaiian patterns and fake palm trees. Plus we had a not so lovely view of large and noisy air conditioners and storage sheds from our room, which was definitely not conducive to relaxation and romance. It seems that my husband and I got the better room however because my brother and sister in law stayed in a room that was serenaded late at night by the live entertainment at the bar right below their room.

In my opinion this resort’s best features were the customer service as the entire staff was very friendly and helpful and the luau that is held nightly on the resort premises. Just a note though there is an extra charge to attend the luau. I have to admit if I were to visit Maui again I would definitely not stay at the Royal Lahaina Resort.

Seeing that I got a deal on a discount room $79 per night, it seemed do-able. The hotel is a larger resort on Ka'anapali Beach next door to the Sheraton Hotel. The hotel offers many options in terms of dining - a restaurant along with a nightly luau, a pool, a concierge desk, etc. I would say it's a good hotel on the bottom end of the spectrum. Just make certain you don't get the room I got. One of those rooms normally utilized as a "Day Room" which had stains on the carpet, ants crawling out of crevices in the bathroom and a shower with a hole in the floor covered by rubber flooring.

On the plus side, free cable, free beach towels, a complete activities desk, post office, boutique, golf access, access to the Ka'anapali Beach Walkway (great for jogging and long walks past other hotels to a little shopping district), close to Lahaina which has the abundance of nightlife on Maui and perfect location right next door to the Sheraton which has good snorkeling. Since the current is fairly strong you may want to walk to the Sheraton and snorkel back to the hotel...you have to be a fairly strong swimmer to swim both ways.