Just got back from the Sheraton Maui. Great, but don't pay the price for dinner at Blackrock steak and seafood. Very average food at very high prices. Also the gazebo rental is weak no services provided. No fruit or water offered. Other than that great location, great grounds, great service. Especially the vallet and bell staff. Can't wait to return, but off property for dinner. Also, for a great snorkle trip call Maui Magic, great crew.

We just returned from a 7-night stay at the Sheraton, and absolutely loved it, for the following reasons (in no particular order):

1. Room and View: Had ocean view room in bldg 3 (not deluxe ocean view or ocean front), close to everything plus loved the view the best because you see beautiful grass and palm trees, pool, beach, ocean. Room had flat screen TV (although I understand other buildings might not have these yet), amazingly comfortable bed, bathroom okay and balcony small, but oh what a view!

2. Grounds: Seems to be the largest property on Kaanapali, and the grounds are beautiful and well maintained.

3. Pool: Nice size, perfect temperature, winding rivers throughout, several bridges, secluded Jacuzzi. Tiny waterslide for small tots; if you want more water slides then go to Hyatt or Westin (but then you have a tiny beach area). Never had a problem getting lounge chairs.

4. Beach: Largest beach on Kaanapali, protected by Black Rock (not as big waves, great for kids.

5. Black Rock: Beautiful backdrop to beach, plus great snorkeling right there. Swam with a turtle!

6. Fun family activities: Had BBQ and movie night, other kid-oriented activities covered by resort fee.

7. Buffet Breakfast: Had this included in package, and to my surprise they didn’t charge me for child even though we had adult free coupons. Buffet large, great variety, main entrees changed daily. Ate there every day and never got bored. Also loved talking with Kaleko, who is their – get this – Ambassador of Aloha.

8. Service: Drinks by pool, breakfast, housekeeping, all staff had excellent customer service.

9. Whalers Village: About a 7-minute walk, couple of good restaurants, nice shops, Whaler Museum. Nice to have this in walking distance.

10. Not a high-rise: Only hotel on Kaanapali besides Kaanapali Beach Resort (lower end) that isn’t a high-rise. Buildings have only a few floors (we were on floor 3 and never took an elevator!). If, like me, you prefer not to be in a high-rise, then this hotel is the one to stay at!

Only negatives:

Parking: Kind of far from buildings 3 and 4 (buildings 5 and 6 have separate parking), but nice walk with beautiful views of grounds. By the way, about free valet parking on day 1… you have to move your car on day 2 otherwise you get charged.

Fitness Center: Okay, but it’s in building 5, kind of far unless you’re in building 5 or 6. They are building a new spa on 1st floor of building 4, not sure when it will be ready to open.

Room: Only can choose 2 double beds or one King, and with a very tall husband, we went for King bed with rollaway for child. Also, as previously mentioned, balconies are small, bathrooms nothing special.

High cost of equipment: We went to Boss Frogs on way back from airport on first day; got snorkeling gear, beach chairs, and boogie board for whole week at same price hotel charges for one day. Also about Boss Frogs, if you rent snorkel equipment for a week then you get free afternoon snorkel cruise (with $7 charge for fuel).

Our family of 4 arrived for a 9 day stay on a Thursday.... We received an upgrade from a garden view and got our friends, who were arriving 2 days later, an upgrade in the same building. We received a deluxe ocean view in building 5 (room 5101). We loved everything about our room and felt like we had the building to ourselves. At check-in they told us the room was larger than the others, but didn't have much of a view. The view turned out to be beautiful! Don't know what they were talking about. The walk to the pool and beach was as simple as taking the elevator down to the first floor and walking out. Depending on how booked the hotel is...you might want to get a pool chair early though. It can get busy at the pool. Parking was a piece of cake. We parked just outside the entrance to the building. No need for valet if you stay in building 5. We wouldn't recommend building 6, as it is difficult to get to anything and requires a maze of halls & elevators. The food is expensive at the resort, but you have less expensive options nearby. Our stay was quiet and relaxing and I would stay there again without hesitation. If you have a late flight out and can't get a late check-out due to a full booking, they will allow you use of the all resort facilities for the day and showers in fitness center. Overall the staff was great, the resort was beautiful and our every need was met. We couldn't help enjoying ourselves and didn't want to leave!

Stayed at the Sheraton Maui in June of 2008 for 5 nights for our honeymoon. We had an "ocean front" room and we loved it.

The Sheraton definitely has the best beach location on Kaanapali. Venturing further south, you'll realize that the other resorts have barely any beach at all. We walked (and jogged) several times as far south as the Hyatt and I was always struck on how little beach-area the other resorts had.

The pool was not huge, but not small. There are a couple of little bars poolside and it makes for an absolutely beautiful place to have a couple of drinks and watch sunset.

We only ate a couple of meals at the resort -- lunch pool side at the Sundowner Bar, and a late lunch at the Keka'a Terrace (we were given a coupon at check-in). As you would expect from a oceanside resort, the food and drinks were expensive. The only disappointing aspect of our stay was our lunch at the Keka'a Terrace. The service was terrible. It appeared that we showed up just before a shift-change, so our initial waitress took our orders, delivered our drinks, and then disappeared. After the food was delivered, I thought the place had closed -- literally no service for over 10 minutes. I had to fetch my own ketchup from an adjacent table and I really wanted another drink, but no such luck. When you're paying $20 a plate, you expect better than that.

Whaler's Village is a great place to shop and eat -- and it's only about a 5 min walk along the beach. We absolutely loved our meal at Leilani's On The Beach and the ABC Store was great for getting supplies for our hotel room (bottled water, sundries, etc).