Update from West Maui
Aloha ~ For those of you who have regular clients for Maui or whatever... Today my husband and I went by a bunch of hotels here on the West Side of Maui. We live in Ka'anapali. After starting a new business, that burned in the Lahaina fire, he is onto a new business (www.banyantreemaui.com), so we visit the concierge desks often. This is the first big holiday since the Lahaina fire and West Maui is welcoming a lot of visitors for the 4th of July. Here's what I saw today:
From North to South and obviously, not everything:
Kapalua, this is the luxe part of West Maui. Everything is pristine.
Ritz Carlton ~ VERY busy. Lot's of families checking in. The resort looks perfect.
Montage ~ As expected, more low key but very high luxe. Not as busy, or so it seemed. Much quieter, equally perfect.
We agreed that the food at both resorts has improved post disaster.
Napili: ~ dense STR
Napili Kai @ Napili Bay ~ VERY busy everywhere.
Crowded parking, restaurants, beaches...
Ka'anapali: ~ Beautiful, busy, but not over crowded. It's operating at a normal pace.
Not very many restaurants for a lot of visitors, due to the amount lost from Lahaina's fire.
A couple of other things I've noticed:
Service can be really slow. West Maui is severely understaffed from the fire.
The hotels are only booked at about 50% (mid summer) from talking to them, so it's easy to assume the peoples are mostly in the short term rentals.
AirBnB and VRBO ~ I personally, do not book via these services. If you do book short term rentals in West Maui, please be wary. The market, decisions, and changes are coming in the next year and it will be tricky to navigate.
Let me know if you have questions, Susan Brewer
Ah yes, Short Term Rentals. Condos etc. that are not zoned as hotels.. Most AirBnB options and VRBO on this island are the STR's. The fire put a light on how many domiciles have become vacation rentals on the west side (more than 80%, Hence the slower service and depleted workforce here post disaster). The county is working to level it out.
Currently, the county of Maui says by July 2025 all STR's that are not zoned as hotels will be phased out of operation. It's a very heated issue here right now, even though AirBnB, VRBO, etc are being reigned in in a lot of cities, Paris, NYC, Tahoe. I'm not saying don't book them, it's just shifty.