After a wonderful stay at the Sheraton Maui last year, I am sorry to say that this year's stay was stressful, to say the least. Let me start off by saying that the grounds, pool, and beach are very nice. The rooms are just average (in need of refurbishment), but I knew that already. The housekeeping, restaurant staff, and bellmen were all great. However, the management team that we dealt with were VERY poor.

I am a Starwood member and use Starwood hotels 2-3 times per year on vacations. I have always been very pleased with the treatment at their hotels. Last year, I booked a gardenview room at the Maui Sheraton and received an upgrade to Building 6, which is deluxe oceanfront. This year, I booked a gardenview at a discounted rate and knew that we may get an upgrade, but also knew it wasn't guaranteed. This is what happened.

We arrived at noon and were told to come back at 3, as our room wasn't ready. No problem. We gave our keys to the valet and were told to leave our luggage in the car, lock it, and it would remain in the lot by the valet desk. They also told us that we would be in building 6. Since we hadn't expected that, we were very excited! We returned to the front desk at 3, only to be told that our room STILL wasn't ready. Hard to believe, since we arrived at noon that they couldn't get ONE room ready for us by 3pm! We were then told that we would be in building 3 in a mountainview room (which is same as gardenview, but on 3rd floor). I asked why we had been told that we were in building 6, then changed, and was told by Brandon, the Asst. Man., that they had the right to do that. We then went to find our car, but no one knew where it was! Finally, we were told that it had been moved to the parking garage with ALL of our luggage left in the car! Very upsetting, as we had been told it would stay in sight of the valet desk. Went back to Brandon expressing how upset I was about the room being changed, room not being ready, and now car being moved with our things still in it! He said he sympathized, but could do ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about any of it!! I asked if we could just get a room in building 3 that faced the pool, but he declined. Funny, I had just heard them tell a lady that just checked in that she had been upgraded from gardenview to oceanview, but he coudn't do anything for us, who had been there at NOON! I told him that I was going to call Starwood, as we had never received such poor service at a Starwood facility before.
Went to our room, called, and was transferred to Sheraton Corporate Headquarters. Robert acknowledged our many stays and said he would contact the hotel. MIRACULOUSLY, within 30 minutes, Brandon phoned to say that he had just had an opening in Building 6 that we could be moved into. We were then moved. Keep in mind that I wasn't upset just because we didn't get Building 6---I didn't even ask for Building 6. I was upset that we were told we were in it, then changed, in addition to the room not being ready and the car missing. I thought that once we moved, things would settle down. WRONG!
Next day, my friend called and asked if I had received the gift basket she had ordered from the Sheraton. No we hadn't. She called and spoke with the manager of that department, who was also not very well trained on dealing with customers. What if she hadn't called? She may have been charged and never known we didn't receive it! He told her that it had been sent to our first room in Building 3 BEFORE our arrival, but we had switched rooms so didn't get it. NOT TRUE, because we WERE in that room and there was NO gift basket. When she asked him for the name of his superior, he refused to tell her! He did tell her he would send an additional gift basket with the one she ordered. The additional basket ended up being 2 waters, 2 cans of pop, and 2 small bags of chips. Why bother? The first basket that she had ordered came first with NO card even attached! My friend then spoke to Allison, another manager, who did acknowledge the error and removed the charge from my friend's credit card.
Day 3, I went to talk to Allison and thanked her for taking care of my friend's situation. We had a brief conversation about the events at check-in and she made SURE to remind me that I had booked a gardenview and should not have expected building 6, even if I had been told I had it. She also had an excuse for everything I had complained about. Her objective, clearly, was to make sure I understood that I was in the wrong and didn't acknowledge any wrongdoing on the part of the hotel. The main reason I went to see her was to see about staying another night, since our first day had been ruined by the lengthy and stressful checkin. She was gracious about giving us another night at the rate we already paid. I told her I would gladly change rooms, but she kept us in the same one. In retrospect, I wish we just would've left when scheduled, because her attitude toward me was one of scolding a little child, NOT of trying to make a guest's experience more positive. This is a minor detail, but I had also been assured when I booked that we would have an acknowledgment of our anniversary, but that never happened either.

Needless to say, I won't be back to the Sheraton. I have read online and in the Honolulu Advertiser about how Maui has been making tourists feel unwelcome, lately. The management at the Sheraton did a GREAT job of making us feel that way!

Summer
On the up side, we had a wonderful stay at the Outrigger Waikiki for the 4th time and were made to feel welcome by all of their staff!

I was married at the Sheraton on top of black rock in their Ali'i suite October 27, 2007. We also rented an additional 10 rooms for our guests and family.

This resort is the most magnificent place I have ever been. It's location, serenity, beauty and friendliness of staff is unmatched. The beach is huge, uncrowded and the water is relatively calm because of black rock. Excellent snorkeling is literally right outside your room. Whaler's village is a 5 minute walk on the beach and getting to Lahaina is 5 minutes in a car.

Rooms- The rooms are comfortable, clean and spacious. All the normal room amenities are avaialable. I have no complaints whatsoever about the rooms, however I really didn't spend much time in the room. When on Maui the only time in your room should be sleeping and changing clothes.

Beach- Best spot on arguably the best beach on the planet. Enough said.

Pool- The pool is nice. It is not a gargantuan with waterslides and swim up bars but it is pleasant. It is great for kids and there is an adult only area as well. Food and drink service at the pool was great too.

Dining- This is the only area that I feel the Sheraton needs a little work. The food is good but limited. Service is great!! For more food choices take a short walk to Whaler's Village.

Staff- They treat you like Ali'i (royalty, chief). Every staff member at this hotel was remarkable. Check in took about 5 minutes and we were on our way. Our bags were brought up very shortly after we got in to our room. The pool/bar workers are very nice and quick to get you what you need. I do not recall ever having to wait long for a drink. Concierge, valet and every other staff member was helpful, insightful and very pleasant.

Price- The Sheraton is the same price as any other decent hotel in all of Hawaii. I have stayed at the Hyatt on Kauai and Kaanapali and Grand Wailea. Ignore any review where people complain about money. Hawaii is expensive and people complaing about this should just go to their local lake or river and skip the islands altogether.

I highly recommend the Sheraton for anyone. Adults will love the ease of vacationing there and kids will expecially enjoy swimming with turtles. I have already booked my one year anniversary there at the end of October.

Wow what a hotel, we spent five nights in the Sheraton on our Maui break and loved every second of it. would definitely recommend it!! staff were very helpful, food bit pricey but worth the treat when your on holidays! they provide a shuttle bus into both the Whalers Village and also Lahina.
Would go back there tomorrow if i could!!

We loved our stay at the Maui Sheraton. It is our favorite Hotel on Maui and we have stayed at The Westin, The Hyatt, The Kaanapali Beach Hotel, and others. The Sheraton wins out due to their perfect location on Black Rock with some of the best consistent snorkeling in Maui. We stayed for 10 nights and were upgraded from a Deluxe Ocean Front King to a Deluxe Ocean Front Suite. We truly felt like Rock Stars and will never forgot how well we were treated, how much we enjoyed the facilities and the perfect location on the beach.