Kamaole Sands

I was charged $ 120 (23%) more than I was quoted through Travelocity. They added additional mandatory «resort» and «cleaning» fees that were not disclosed at the time of booking. I don’t know if they quote these when booking directly through the resort or not vs. through a travel website. Either way, if a fee is mandatory, I expect it to be quoted from the beginning, not disclosed in the fine print in the email confirmation that I receive after booking and paying a deposit.
They also advertised free wifi and parking. However the description of the «resort fee» that I was charged (and not quoted when reserving) said it was being charged for internet access, parking and pool access. I don’t mind paying a fee like that, but the point is that if it is mandatory in order to receive the «free» services that they advertise, it should be quoted from the beginning. Even with the additional fees, I would say that I got a reasonable price that was in line with the competition. However, I think they intentionally misrepresented the price to appear more competitive than they are. That’s dishonest, and I can’t recommend a company like that, even if the price was still fair.
Other than the charges: Because of the misrepresented fees, I would have given a 1 star rating except that the location is good. It’s right on the beach and within walking distance of restaurants and shops. I was disappointed that they did not provide the basic starting refreshments that a hotel would, such as at least a small amount of starter coffee and a couple bottles of water. I understand that with a condo rental vs. a hotel you cannot expect daily room servicing or coffee refills. But a packet of starter coffee would have been nice so that my caffeine addicted sister didn’t have to make a grocery store run at 10pm after checking in from a long flight. They did provide one laundry detergent pack and some starter shower essentials. We did not do much cooking, but we did have enough cookware and utensils to cook basic meals. Cleanliness was good, although I will say that the shower had soap scum stains that should have been cleaned better. I’m not a clean freak, but I think most people would have found that unappealing.

This is my third time in Maui and the first two times we stayed in a hotel room, this time we opted for a condo resort and what a great choice! I was more than pleased with the resort. The condo had everything we needed for a comfortable vacation. This facility is walking distance from the beach and our condo had a beach view, the kitchen is fully equipped and the closet was full of beach gear… which we loved!

I was purging my 2007 files today and found my Guest Comment sheet for Kamaole Sands, so I thought I’d share, even though it’s 9 years later. Photo included.
Since I knew we were staying in Kihei, I found Kamaole Sands to be the best value for two couples sharing a two bedroom unit, and it was a short walk to a great beach. My privately owned unit had DVD player, CD player, full kitchen w/​microwave and dishwasher (though I brought one), washer & dryer, beach chairs and towels, two TVs, ice maker, and cooler. (4 – 407)
1 – 6, 6 being high.
Check-​in efficiency: 5.
Staff courtesy and helpful: 5.
Landscape and building: 6.
Resort amenities. NA
Cleanliness of unit: 6
Condition of uni:. 6
Amenities of unit: 3. (I think that was because there was no A/​C)
Favorite unit feature: ocean view, blender, loft
Feature unit needs: boogie board, key holder lockbox
Vacation value: 6
How likely to return: 6
How likely to recommend: 6

We will defiantly be back! Couldn’t be any happier with our room, staff and all of the great amenities they offer!

Very very noisy between the daily gardening so loud you can’t hear your phone and the 3 fountains you have to yell to have a conversation especially since the doors and windows are all open! Hence you also hear all your neighbors as if they were in the room with you.

We stayed there for 8 nights in December 2015. Here is my overview
Pros:
— close to the beach
— good mattress
— full kitchen
Cons:
— old and dark
— no air-​conditioning (they claim fans are the air conditioners)
— weird floor plan

This place is a great deal for what it is, and relative to the other places to stay in Maui. Let’s me clear. This is by no means a high end luxury resort… all the condos are privately owned and maintained. So there will be some variance between rooms. You won’t open your balcony to see the beach right there, there’s no spa and meditation center with cucumber water either. Just a place (at least in our rooms) with a master bedroom, a kitchen, a sofa bed, dining area and a washer/​dryer!
I know I’m vacation, but I’ve never been the type to be ultra super pampered in the aforementioned places above. I can stand to do my own laundry, cook a meal for myself and drive a little bit. And it’s actually just a walk across the street to Kamaole beach… one of the nicer (and less crowded) beaches on the island. If you’re willing to make those sacrifices then this place will cut save you lots of money on lodging. How much? Well since you can comfortably sleep 4 in this place, and looking at the prices of other resorts on the island in other areas you could conceivably pay 5 –10x the price per person per night elsewhere! I don’t know about you but I’d save that money to come back more frequently!
It’s not perfect mind you, the AC unit is a small wall unit that can struggle and is loud, there are little critters sometimes (hey it’s a freaking tropical island — we’re in their environment) and the furnishings can be dated — although there has been remodeling since I last stayed here years ago so that shows they do do maintenance. But bang for your buck, you’re gonna get it here.

I had a great experience here. I booked through airbnb so I knew exactly what my condo would look like. If you are looking for luxury, this is not the place for you. But if you are cool with being across the street from the beach, having a washer, dryer, kitchen, pool… It’s a great place.

Cleaning lady didn’t come when scheduled. In fact she didn’t come at all in 10 days. Not to mention this place comes with FREE PETS! (Roaches in the kitchen and bathroom.) been coming here for 7 years. This is the last time.

Booked with expedia and stayed in building 9, unit 108.
The location is central, not too far from airport or wailea and with good restaurants close by. Beach is across the stress.
The room: it is a one bedroom condo about 30 years old, extremely loud AC with a stingy 60 minute auto shutoff that you can’t turn off. This means if you want the AC on at night when it is hot you will need to get up every hour. The ceiling fan is super creepy and the bathroom fan sounds like a lawn mower going off.

Love Kihei. We stayed at kamaole sand and had the best view from our room. Tons of guest parking and a designated parking for our room. Walking distance to the beach and stores. Had full kitchen and two full bathroom, with washer and dryer. People were friendly. Must visit Kihei again.

This place is too good to be true. But lo and behold a haven is born! Our room is located on the ground floor, so we really enjoyed the patio and the outdoor ambience. Kamaole Sands is located just across the Kihei beach –accessible at anytime. It has a heated pool but be respectful of the hours of operation. Save your diving skills later the day!

I booked this as part of a package with Hawaiian Airlines and yes, I was on a budget. When you book this way you are not given an option of room choice other than price. This wasn’t concerning to me since I wasn’t planning on staying in the room much other than to sleep. The price was one of the most reasonable I researched which is what I based my choice on. The location is great– right across the street from a public beach, and the grounds are beautifully maintained. You are close to town, and we were able to walk to dinner every night, with enough variety to keep us happy in our 6 day stay. The rooms appear to be «hit or miss» based on the other photos supplied by other guests. Ours were fairly Spartan with many repairs needed. Nothing we weren’t able to overcome and you get what you pay for, yes?
This is a family-​friendly place and there are lots of families here. Many of the owners know each other and they are friendly to guests, although there is a clear sense of being an outsider. We came during the New Year so that may have been attenuated since there were many owners here at that time.
When we arrived we were told that the owner of our rental wanted the unit the next day, so we were being «forced out» and reassigned another room. They handed us a letter to that effect and we planned our day around that — which meant packing up to be out of the room by 11:00. When we went to check out we were informed that we couldn’t move for another day and the office receptionist acted like I had misunderstood her (even though she was the one who checked us in the afternoon before!). I showed her the letter that clearly stated we would be moving after one night, and she repeated that we’d have to wait until the next day to move. So, we moved everything back to the room and repeated it all the next day. Very disruptive to a vacation if you were planning on spending the day out — which we were. To make matters worse, the staff made you feel that since you weren’t an owner, you weren’t worth their time or respect. It felt like being third class on the Titanic. I apologize for not being wealthy but I am working for a living. When we moved to the new unit, the new receptionist didn’t know anything about it and we were required to show the letter (which fortunately my husband had the foresight to have the previous receptionist sign), and he asked us how we were planning to pay for this! (It was pre-​paid when I booked!)
You do get charged additional hidden fees. We still haven’t figured them out, but they were a little over $ 200. I don’t mind this since the overall cost was very reasonable, but I do prefer to know why and where my money is going.
Overall, I probably would not stay here again based upon treatment by staff.

Ask to see your room first! You’re either going to get the sad retirement home look, or Golden Girls chic. This place is in desperate need of updating. The rooms are hit or miss, and hit is a relative term. The furnishings are not standard, as these are personally owned condos being rented out as a hotel plan. Only building 10 has ocean views, and they’re skewed and not great. You’re only staying here if you’re on a budget.

Great condos had a one bedroom one queen bed witch was ok, but there are no rooms with two full beds witch we wanted. It was a girls trip. washer and dryer was so helpful. Two bedrooms and sofa bed. The condo is great size, but needs to be updated. We had a great view! Great one. First floor and had ocean view with the grass area. Beach is across the street. I really like that we were able to rent the beach gear at the condos.

Got great deal through
Plenty of space and everything you need in your condo to cook (food in Maui is stupid expensive. there is a grocery store down the street that was really pretty decent for grocery prices and souvenirs — can’t remember the name of it right now sorry!) Furnishings are a bit cheesy… bamboo and 80s hawaiian floral art deco something. was the same in several units (they let us look at a couple to try to get closer to another party we were vacationing with)
Kind of irritated tho you pay an extra $ 80 cleaning fee but. my place was dirty when I got there (hair in the showers, used ear plugs by the night stand) so they sent someone to clean. But still the hair hadn’t moved out of the showers. the ear plugs were gone, but I found live and dead roaches on this second check through. asked them to send someone again. Saw some traps thrown down and dead roaches gone. still hair in the showers. Fine. I will clean up some strangers hair myself even though I paid for cleaning. gross and proof the universe conspires against me yet again.
On the upside the pool was really great and the beach is across the street. Some middle aged biddies were chilling in the shallow end while the kids were playing and were getting irritated cos there was some light splashing (from active swimming) no staff intervened to help the situation. I suppose if I punched some old lady for yelling at my kid for no reason they would have stepped in then, but it really almost got to that point and I couldn’t believe it.
So at any rate adequate staying quarters, nice pool, but felt like there was no support staff on site. I’d recommend to friends for the value, but not the quality overall.
Assigned parking with unit. Washer/​Dryer, Stove/​Oven, Microwave, Fridge, Toaster. lots of the units have extras like blenders. Some have nicer tvs. DO pay attention to whether the unit has ac or not. My bedroom did not and we had a couple very humid hot days to sweat through. Pumped on the living room ac but not sure it helped that much.

Was looking for a place closest to kam3 where we were holding my sisters baby shower and booked here at kamaole sands condo, was skeptical at first because of all the reviews on Unilocal I seen, but I was presently surprised! Staff was friendly and facility was beautiful I loved my room and will definitely be back in the future.

This was a nice place to stay. I will stay here every time I come to Maui.
Location…
This hotel is located in Kihei and was not far from everywhere we wanted to go. It seemed as if we picked the best part of the island to stay. It was only a 30 minute drive down a highway from the airport in Kahului.
Cleanliness…
The room was clean and room service comes on the 5^th day you stay. You can pay extra for them to clean other days. I stayed in a 1br/​2ba condo with a pull out couch.
Pool…
The pool was clean and there were multiple hot tubs. On Wednesdays the hotel hosts a free Mai Tai Party at the pool with a Hawaiian singer and a Hula dancer. I really enjoyed this performance and I have been living in Hawaii for some time and have seen many different Hawaiian performers.
Kitchen…
My unit had a fully equipped kitchen which included pots, pans, utensils, plates, bowls, cups, coffee mugs, dishwasher, full fridge, coffee machine, microwave, toaster, and oven with range. We saved a bunch on food by going to Foodland (the hotel gives a coupon for 10% off a $ 50 purchase and gives you a reward card for Foodland). We cooked almost every meal in our room and the kitchen was more than adequate. As another review stated about plates being chipped. My room did have a chipped/​cracked plate but it was still usable and wasn’t that big of deal to me since there were a lot of plates to use.
Air Conditioning…
Most of the rooms do not have central air. I understand visitors from the mainland would find this a down side but I know that is how Hawaii is. I have lived on Oahu for years and I even had a house that had no central air. That is just the way of life on the island… bruddah. This was not a problem for me as the room has many fans and windows to open with a window A/​C unit.
Parking…
Parking is assigned and gated so there are no worries about your vehicle being broken into. I did have an issue one day where someone parked in my space (it looked like a local visiting someone). The front desk quickly gave us another spot to park so it was no big deal.
Nearest Beach…
There is a beach across the street that is pretty nice. This was less then a 5 minute walk from my room. We went here multiple times to swim (the water is mostly calm) and to watch the sunset (one of the best I’ve seen here on the islands). The beach was never crowded when we visited, unlike some of the other beaches in Hawaii.
All in all I would stay here again and I recommend it to anyone. The rooms are privately owned so the furniture and upkeep vary (as some reviews have mentioned) but I feel the hotel does a good job to fix what needs to be fixed.

My husband and I spent Memorial Day weekend at Kamaole Sands and had an overall great experience. I found Kamaole Sands when searching for a good air/​hotel/​car package deal on Maui. We were in building 9, unit 307. The décor had that 1990s Hawaiian vibe, but it was almost so tacky that it was charming. Great lanai that had a partial ocean view and nice, big table for 4. We checked in at about 4PM (one hour past check-​in time) and had to wait about 20 minutes outside the front door while the maid finished up. Not the worst thing in the world, but if we had been traveling all the way from the mainland or something I would probably be pretty irked after all that traveling to find that my room wasn’t ready on time. Again, not a big deal for us, but slightly annoying.
Our unit had all the amenities we needed: towels, extra blankets and pillows, toilet paper, paper towels, soap, laundry detergent, cookware, silverware, beach chairs, everything. The only things we had to buy were a little bit of food and booze.
The A/​C situation is kind of weird, but I can understand that it can get pretty pricey if guests are constantly running the A/​C whether they are in the room or not. You could only run it for an hour at a time, it had a timer on it, so during the night while we slept the A/​C would be on all the way in the living room (down a long hallway) but only for one hour. And then, of course, you’re sleeping so you’re not going to want to get up all the time to keep cranking it. We had a ceiling fan in our room but could only keep it on a low speed… any higher and it looked and sounded like it was going to fly off! So, that’s probably my only gripe. It wasn’t uncomfortable sleeping, at least not for me, my husband slept above the covers and said he was hot throughout the night.
There are quiet hours, but a couple nights we did hear other guests talking quite loudly in the parking lot or the hallways in the middle of the night. No raging parties or anything, just some drunks with no volume control. This probably wouldn’t have even affected us if we were able to keep the windows closed and the A/​C on instead of the other way around.
Overall though, we were satisfied and I would recommend Kamaole Sands. The grounds are maintained very well, the staff was friendly, the beach park across the street was perfect to unwind at the end of the day and not have to worry about driving back «home». Also there’s some fun little restaurants and whatnot just a short walk down the road. Kihei is a fun little town. It was great for a long weekend, but I’m not sure I would choose this place for an extended stay… not more than a week anyway. And this is purely based on the A/​C situation and the less than stellar bedding (thin comforter! Personal pet peeve).

Yay!
Everyone in my group loved Castle Kamaole Sands. Though all of our condos were v. different as far as furnishing, renovated rooms, and how well stocked they were with amenities (like kitchen stuff or beach stuff), they were all comfortable and clean. The unit I stayed in, 8 – 210, had wifi and the kitchen cabinets were extremely well stocked with pots, pans, dishes, utensils, etc. There were 3 coffee makers, 2 rice cookers, an electric griddle, George Foreman grill, and a blender. We made use of everything they had to offer.
It’s pretty much a luck thing, whether or not you get a condo that’s equipped with useful things but if you’re dissatisfied, you could always inquire about getting a new room. The staff were pretty friendly (though one girl seemed kind of incompetent) so I’m sure they’d be cooperative. The one incompetent girl had trouble understanding that we had booked 2 rooms under one name and 3 more rooms under 3 different names. She thought the 2 rooms under one name was actually just 1 room even though it said on the confirmation printout that there were 2 rooms. She kept saying, «No, it’s one bedroom, TWO BATHROOMS, not two bedrooms,» while we argued, «No, we booked TWO rooms, TWO separate condos. We realize that there are two bathrooms in each condo.» It was kind of a waste of time and she had a horrible attitude and reaction to our arguing.
The grounds themselves are really pleasant and I liked the pool area. If your condo doesn’t have wifi you can always go to the registration building. Each condo is assigned a parking spot. There are a few barbecue areas set up around the complex. The one closest to my room had 3 grills and 2 picnic tables.
The complex is right across from the beach, which is convenient and there are tons of shops on the same street, within walking distance.