When I arrived at the Napili Kai, I was not overwhelmed with the beauty of the property, like I have at places like Grand Wailea or Hyatt in Kauai. I just reminded myself we did book a condo to save some money on meals to keep in kitchen and maybe use the b-que grill for dinner. (with a family of 5, meals in Maui can cost a small fortune). That didn't work out so good.

The food we bought and kept in the kitchen area, had bugs in it that came from our room. We opened the cabinets and there were small (ants?) everywhere. Frustrated, we went down to the SeaHouse Restaurant on beach for dinner. My iced tea has some kind of weird slime in it, they took it away and apologized. Found a couple bugs in basket of rolls, and the food wasn't very good.
Did I mention the bathroom had mildew on ceiling of shower. I just wanted to quickly shower and get out quickly, not a good feeling when you are paying $500 a night. On top of that we paid an extra $400 to guarantee a room with A/C. That's crazy! I heard some rooms are upgraded, but ours #204 in the Puna building was not!!

Then we get up the next morning, go to the patio door thinking we are having a major storm, and notice a sprinkler must have broke and is spraying all over our patio door and lanai. Stinks especially when you have towels and swim wear out to dry, that is now soaked. I spoke with manager, and he let us out of last 2 nights there and we were able to get a room at the Hyatt, much better by the way.

When we thought that bad experience was over, the next day, we find out our bank account is empty. Napili Kai decided to take out almost $3000. for no apparent reason. When I called to find out why, they weren't sure why, but couldn't get the manager until the end of the week. I demanded to speak to someone as to why they took out any money from our account because our room for the 2 nights was pre paid several months in advance, and only came to $470 a night not $3000. They gave us the run around, until we took a drive over there, and my husband, spoke with the manager, that supposively was gone until Friday. They did refund us the $2900, but are still curious why??? If you are staying in this area, I do recommend Kapalua Bay. It is beautiful and not very crowded. The guys snorkeled and had luck while we played on our boogie boards. If you want a nice place, we recommend the Hyatt on Kaanapali, we paid $450 a night, and our last 2 nights in Maui, we splurged at the Grand Wailea, but worth every penny, gorgeous and the kids had a blast at the pools.

A serious kudos to the onsite spa. I went there twice for massages and couldn't have been more relaxed.

We stayed in an oceanview studio. The shoji screens added a lovely Asian feel to the room. The kitchen is pristine. If you can't find what you need, just call the front desk. There's also a laundry room onsite which came in handy.

The Napili Bay is very calm making it one of the safest beaches in Maui for children. The snorkeling is pretty good as long as you're willing to swim out a bit. We even found a pair of honu (green sea turtle) which was exciting. NOTE: Don't hover above them when you see them resting on the ocean floor. They might think that you're a predator and not come up for air and drown. Touching is also a big no-no.

Leave nothing but footprints. Take nothing but pictures. Kill nothing but time.

I booked our week at Napili Kai after reading the reviews on Trip Advisor. We returned yesterday and I have to say that we were so sad to leave Napili Kai! We have been to Bermuda, other places in Hawaii, the Caribbean, etc., and I think that Napili Bay is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen in my life! I don't understand why Kapalua Bay (a 30 sec. walk from Napili) wins the 'Best Beach' awards - IMO, Napili Bay beats it hands down! The bay is a beautiful stretch of sandy shoreline with sandy bottom bay for about 50 feet out into the water - then you reach the first line of reef where you can snorkel and see all sorts of fish - go out to the '2nd line' of reef and you'll find the little pocket where a group of 4-5 sea turtles congregate (just look for the area where groups of snorkelers remain for long periods of time!) I love to read on the beach, but the view of the crystal water with the steep green crags of Molokai in the background was incredibly distracting - I kept looking up to admire the view!

As to the Napili Kai Resort itself, it is not fancy. No one is taking your drink order on the beach, there is no nightlife, and our room (in the Puna Point building, #207) was a little 'dated'. However... the room was clean and comfortable and the staff was warm and friendly. The free coffee in the lobby in the a.m. was a treat, and be sure to check the ground under the mango tree when you go get your coffee for any mangoes that have dropped during the night - they are so delicious!! The resort is only 2 stories high, and feels very intimate. Everyone I spoke with there was a repeat guest (and that says a lot right there!) The grills out by the pools are great for cooking dinner, and everyone is incredibly cooperative about sharing them. We didn't think the beach was overly crowded, and the hotel beach chairs and towel service was great.

To sum up - if you are looking for a luxury vacation with all the high-level amenities, then Napili Kai is probably not for you. If you are looking for a family-friendly, clean, comfortable resort on the most amazing beach, you will not be disappointed! I had looked at places on Kaanapali Beach when researching our vacation, and after 'strolling' the Kaanapali Beach walkway with our kids one day, I was thanking my lucky stars that we wouldn't have been able to afford a 'parking lot' view room there - so crowded, noisy, etc. Napili Kai was quiet, beautiful, and we had an ocean-front room that fit 5 people comfortably for $470/night. If I am ever lucky enough to return to Maui, we will return to Napili Kai! This was our 'once in a lifetime' family vacation, and I couldn't have been happier with Napili Kai!

Got back from a week long trip. The reason we choose NKBR was primarily the location, and because of its character ( no high rises etc).

Wonderful place, very friendly staff. We stayed in beach front AC room (room number 35). We were there with our 4 year old.

Besides the great beach they have a a bunch of swimming pools. Great for kids. There are 2 mini-golf courses, ping pong table, shuffle board for which they give equipment. Also you can get snorkel equipment.

Every day they have special activities for kids/grownups etc. Overall a great place IMO. Probably not for very young couples ...most people were families.

Cons: The biggest complain I have is the size of the room. I felt the room was small (but not sure if thats how they are in hawaii). But did not really spend too much time in the room. Kitchen could have used a dish washer

But the lanai was real nice.