One of the great draws of the Grand Wailea Resort and Spa are it's many pools. It is also one of the areas that guests complain about the most on TripAdvisor. Here is our experience and some tips of what to expect to ease the stress of the pool!
The Grand Wailea Pools
All of the pools at the Grand Wailea are in one general area. There are however two totally different experiences that await you.
Grand Wailea Canyon Activity Pool
This pool area is 2,00 feet long, 25,700 total square feet and holds 770,000 gallons of water. It is one large pool area that consists of 9 separate pools on 6 different levels. The pools are connected by a river that carries swimmers along whitewater rapids and gentle currents. There are lots of activites for kids and adults alike. There are four jungle pools, four intertwining slides, a whitewater rapids slide, a Tarzan pool with rope swing, a sand beach, six waterfalls, caves, three jacuzzis, an infant pool, a water elevator and a swim up bar. What more could anyone possibly want???!! It's a great area with lots of nooks and crannies.
The Hibiscus Pool
This is the adult pool area. It is reserved for guests 18 years of age and older. This is a great relaxing area with a romantic setting. The pool is typically quieter and much more relaxing than the activity pool area. The 4,850 square foot Hibiscus pool is named for the giant Hibiscus flower inlaid on the bottom of the pool made from over 630,000 pieces of Mexican glass mosaic tile. There are two jacuzzis in this area.
These are beautiful areas and are only footsteps away from the Wailea beach where you can also sit and relax if you prefer the ocean to the pool areas.
So with all these options....what's the problem?
If you read TripAdvisor or any other website with reviews you are bound to see lots of posts from guests who are angry about the pool policies at the Grand Wailea. I am not sure what exactly has them all riled up as we didn't experience any problems but let me try to explain a bit....
1. There is a check in required at the pool.
This check in is simply to show a room key and provide your information so they know that you are a guest of the hotel. You are then given a wristband to wear for the day. The color changes each day so you must follow the same check in process each day. If you look at the photo above showing the beach area. You will start to understand why this is important. The hotel pool area is separated by a thin rope and a walkway from the public beach area. The key word here is PUBLIC. Anyone can go there. The hotel has to have some way to monitor the area so that only their guests are using the pool! My thought is that guests would be even more upset if there were hoards of locals or people from other nearby hotels that were taking up spots at the pool.
2. This check in is a multi-step process.
There is a line to check in to get your bracelet and then once you have your bracelet you stand in line to get your towels. Ok....maybe a bit redundant but it allows employees to focus on one thing. The problem is that sometimes the lines back up early in the day when everyone is headed to the pool. As we were standing in line there was a guest who was screaming (and I do mean screaming) "How long are we supposed to stand in this line???" Now we were ahead of her and had only been there maybe 5 minutes tops. Really? It just didn't seem to be that bad to me.
3. There are limited chairs around the pool.
There is a limit to how many chairs can fit by the pool. Some of these areas are taken by cabanas which are rented by the day. The normal size cabana has 6 chairs (3 inside and 3 outside). Guests get put off because they are not allowed to use these chairs even if the cabanas are not rented. One of the big complaints is that you have to go down to pool so early in the day in order to get a chair. My thought on that is....if you know that ahead of time (and it's certainly out there to read in the reviews) then you have to plan on that. People get really bent out of shape about it though!
Our Experience and Tips for a Relaxing Day at the Pool
I admit that our experience may not be the typical pool lover's experience but knowing the above issues...this is what we did to avoid a stressful pool day!
1. We decided to pamper ourselves and reserve a Cabana for our pool day.
Cabanas at the Grand Wailea do not come cheap (this is also one of the complaints you will read about). The cost for the entire day is $300.00. This includes 6 chairs with towels, a fruit plate with fresh fruits and banana bread, bottles of water delivered in an ice bucket, and cool towels that are brought around in the afternoon. It is certainly not something that most people could afford every day. Since we were driving around Maui the other days of our vacation, we decided that for one day it was a special splurge and it would help us to avoid the guests who were worried about grabbing chairs!
2. We booked our Cabana the day before.
We knew which day we were going to be spending the entire day at the pool so we simply went down to the pool check in area the morning before and reserved a cabana for the next day. There was a convention at the resort at the time so the hotel itself was very full but we didn't have any trouble with availability. They asked where we would like to have our cabana. We indicated that we would like to be at the adult pool. They let us choose which one we wanted (making suggestions for the best locations available) but also indicated that location is not guaranteed depending on if other guests who are members of the hotel would select that cabana. They called and left a message on our room phone the evening before to tell us that our location was set.
3. We headed down to the pool fairly early.
Even though we knew we had chairs, we wanted to make the most of our cabana so we headed down to the pool early and hopped in line at the check in desk before it got too crowded. If you are paying that much for a cabana rental....you want to make the most of it!! At this time we were asked when we wanted our water and fruit plate delivered. Lunch is available from a menu at the restaurant nearby and is not included in the cost of the cabana. The resturant begins taking orders at 11 AM so plan your fruit plate around when you might want to eat your lunch.
4. Make sure to enjoy the "Tiki" Drinks
Nothing says tropics like a Tiki Drink! Sipping a Mai Tai by the pool is absolutely wonderful. The Grand Wailea offers two types of specialty glasses. You can bring them back to the pool for your entire stay and enjoy a small savings on drinks.
Any time there is a savings involved...take advantage of it!
5. Enjoy your day!
This was a wonderful day. It was totally relaxing. The service was great...the pool was amazing and it was just an amazing day. You can spend part of the day at the pool and part at the beach or the whole day at the pool. Enjoy the birds that will come and sit with you. Enjoy the food and the drinks, the refreshing pool, the relaxing jacuzzi... No matter what...just relax and enjoy it! This is how paradise must feel!
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