Grand Wailea Maui Resort with Kids

Considering visiting the Grand Wailea Maui Resort with Kids? Here's a complete review with what to expect - and what to know before you book!

If you are looking for a family-friendly, high-end resort on the island of Maui, Hawaii, I would love to tell you about the Grand Wailea.

The Grand Wailea is a Waldorf Astoria property, and it is quite possibly the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at.

This resort has gorgeous gardens, an epic pool, and beautiful ocean views.

Let's take a look at everything this resort has to offer - and I will share quite a bit about my experience staying there with 5 and 7 year olds!

Grand Wailea Maui Resort with Kids

Here's what to expect on your visit to the Grand Wailea.

The Resort Grounds

This resort has absolutely stunning gardens and grounds.

First, the main lobby area is open-air style, as is common in Hawaii. There are gorgeous flowers and many statues, decorative pools and pieces of art.

The center of the lobby is a bar, surrounded by water and plants. It's really beautiful!

Outside of the lobby, there are 2 main garden areas, one on either side of the main building. They include winding paths, koi ponds, and so many gorgeous native plants.

I could have wandered these paths all day.

The kids had so much fun exploring the property and learning the different trails.

The garden is actually so lush, thick, and winding, that on our first pass, we couldn't find the pool! It's a large complex, but woven into the landscape in a way that makes it feel so luxe!

I can't gush enough about how much I loved this property!

The Pools

The pool is a huge appeal to booking this hotel with kids. It has an epic setup!

There are a few areas to the pools, all of which are connected in some way.

The kids pool

My daughter LOVED the kids pool, which is a zero entry sand beach. It was a really large space, with 2 very small (baby sized) slides.

She loved playing in this area with some small waterproof barbie toys we brought. I loved that she could play safely and independently (while being watched of course).

The deep end of the kids pool (maxes at 48") feeds into the main pool!

The main pool

There is another "leg" of the pool that is considered the main activity pool area. It is a curved lagoon off of the other pools.

This is a nice open area to float, throw a ball, or otherwise relax. It definitely will be busy with kids, and is about 48" deep across.

This main pool connects to the kids pool, the lazy river, and the bottom of the slide area.

The cave + hot tubs

One spot that I really loved in this pool set up was the waterfall. There is a really large waterfall that you can swim underneath and in the cave underneath it is steamy and then to the side there's actually a hidden hot tub.

I loved this spot and it felt so special and unique. Go up the stairs just outside this area and there's a second hot tub up there. We called it rooftop. The space was so fun and a favorite of mine.

The lazy river

By far the most unique element of this pool system was the lazy river. It is unlike a traditional lazy river, and instead a series of pools connected by small water slides.

The lazy river includes a rocky, steamy area with jets propelling you, as well as 3 slides I would call "gentle" and 2 that were a little more wild.

The end of the lazy river snakes around and comes out at the junction between the kids pool, the main activity pool, and the waterfall. You do have to get out and walk to get to the beginning of the river because it actually starts up at the top pool at the top of the hill.

This was by far the highlight for my kids - they could do it all day! The lazy river portion of the pool (and the slides) were unfortunately only open from 10a-5p. With jet lag, our kids were waking up before 6am, and the wait for the slides to open was a long one! Otherwise, zero complaints, it was a completely amazing experience.

The grotto

Just before the final slide on the lazy river, there is a grotto and swim up bar. They had TVs playing sporting events and in-water stools to swim up to.

It was kind of weird to have an adult-type space in between water slides, but it really is a beautiful and well done space!

The water slides

This hotel had two large water slides.

The first one is a lava tube side. It is a tube slide that goes through the faux mountain. It's actually a really long slide with lights on the inside.

You cannot wear any jewelry or hats or sunglasses inside the slide, they will make you leave them.

It was really fun for my seven-year-old. He really loved it. It was a little bit long for me.

The second slide was maybe ⅔ as long. It was a white slide that was open and not a tube. I much preferred this, but it was great to have multiple options.

There was usually a line for the slides, but not more than a couple people. I don't think my son ever waited more than five minutes to go down a slide.

The water elevator

This hotel also has a very unique feature - a water elevator. We were told that the original owners of the resort had a handicapped child and created this to give them a waterslide feel and get them from one level of the pools to the other. I love that!

This is an elevator you get in at the lower pool (where the big slides end) and ride up a level, as water falls down on and around you. It looked really slow moving but interesting!

Unfortunately, at the time we stayed, the water elevator was only open from 12:30-2pm. Each run took about 10 minutes and with only 10 people at a time, there was a very long, slow moving line. We never rode for this reason, but it looked unique!

The adults only pool

It is worth noting that there is also an adult-only pool at this resort. It is in a totally separate area with its own cabanas and seating.

Believe it or not, but we never made it to the adults only pool. We walked by a few times and it looked very nice and quiet and peaceful. If you were seeking an adult's only experience, it is definitely there.

Cabanas

Speaking of cabanas, they are available to rent all around the pools. I rented a cabana for the first full day we would be at the resort, knowing that we would be jetlagged and tired and want to just hang around.

These were very expensive cabanas and the prices do fluctuate (no flat rate).

I encourage you to book one well in advance because they were all booked up once we were there.

The cabana was very nice with covered seating as well as two lounge chairs in the sun. We also got a fan, mini fridge and a cabinet.

They provided us with a fruit tray and a goodie bag of Hawaiian snacks and of course we were able to purchase food and drink from the cabana.

The only negative I had about the cabana is that I could not watch the kids playing in the pool from the seats.

I do like to keep an eye on my kids and they really wanted to play in the kids pool and I just couldn't see them from where the cabana was located so if you have small kids, you might not love it in that way. If you can leave your kids unattended, this is amazing and also gave us an ocean view.

The Beach

Another great thing about the Grand Wailea is that is has a sand beach. Walk past the pools and there is a beachfront sidewalk, a few feet of grass, and then the beach!

The sand is reddish and the water was clear but slightly rough (not too bad, but not smooth).

I honestly don't love Hawaiian beaches (I know I know! I'm spoiled by the Caribbean!) but this was one of the most kid-friendly, sandy beaches we saw on the island.

It was so great having the beach right there - kids could run over, jump in the waves, come back to the pool, and repeat, very easily.

The Rooms

We booked the most basic possible room at this hotel because we booked using points.

Because we have gold Hilton status and because my husband was very friendly at check-in we were upgraded to a partial ocean view room. I believe that the basic rooms have a parking lot view.

You can email in advance to request an upgrade, and you can also pay in advance to guarantee an upgrade. I recommend always just being as friendly as possible. A little kindness goes a long way.

Our room was a nice size for a standard two queen room. I really appreciated that there was a soaking tub as well as a walk-in shower. That made the bathroom feel really large.

We also had a very large balcony with views of the beautiful gardens and the ocean and mountains in the distance. It was really stunning and I will dream about this place.

The room was not super fancy but it felt very clean and we were happy with it!

The Food

The hotel does have lots of food options including a grab and go spot, a buffet, a beachside grill, and a sit down a restaurant.

We received a $50 a day food credit for being Hilton gold members. This did not accumulate so you had to use it each day or it expired.

We ate breakfast at the grab and go spot the first day and it was over $100 for a really simple breakfast so later that day, my husband went to the grocery store and got some snack and breakfast items.

We did eat at the pool grill both of our pool days and it was totally fine. Typical poolside food, but it does have high Hawaii prices, so the $50 credit didn't go far.

We never ate at the buffet or the sitdown restaurant. We ate offsite for dinners.

Booking the Grand Wailea on points

The one negative of the Grand Wailea? The week we were there, basic rooms started at $1,250 a night. YIKES.

But, you know that we booked it on points!

This is a Hilton property, bookable with Hilton rewards.

We used a combination of Free Night Certificates + points to book our stay. Remember, if you book 4 nights on points (NOT certificates, must be all points), the 5th night is free!

Hilton varies its points per nights so you will have to look on the booking website to see points rates on the nights you wish to stay here (there is no set flat rate).

You can earn free night certificates:

• Annually, by holding the Hilton Amex Aspire card (receive one on your card anniversary)
• by spending $15,000 in a calendar year on a Hilton Surpass card
• and with certain Hilton Amex welcome offers

Remember - you and your spouse/family member/friend can each earn certificates, but they can NOT be combined into one reservation.

We booked our 4 night stay as 4 back-to-back reservations, being sure they were all the same room type, and emailed the hotel in advance to have them linked so we didn't have to check out or change rooms mid-trip.

Click here to read my guide to getting started traveling on points!

Tips for staying at the Grand Wailea with kids

Here are some takeaways we had from this stay!

• If your kids are small, bring floats! I brought new, inexpensive ring floats from Walmart and a small pump. The pools are 48" deep in general, and they would have been clinging to me or treading water all the time without the floats.
• If you want a cabana, book it well in advance of your trip.

Final Thoughts

I am completely obsessed with the Grand Wailea. I will dream about going back for many years to come.

The pool was so perfect for the kids and would be even better if my kids were just a little bit older. I will say that smaller kids would be more limited in the kids pool area being the only area under 48 inches deep and without any real little kids slides. That being said for elementary aged kids the pool could not have been better.

The gardens and grounds were absolutely gorgeous and just put me in a Hawaiian state of mind.

The location was great and central.

We were so happy staying here and I would enthusiastically recommend it to anyone especially those with Hilton free night credits or points to use.

What an amazing redemption!