Locating a sanely priced hotel was the main logistical consideration in this trip. During my previous visit to Maui in 2011, I had stayed at the Westin Ka’anapali Ocean Resort Villas thanks to Starwood’s Free Resort Nights promotion earlier that year. For this trip, I spotted a cash and points rate for the nearby Westin Resort for 4.8k points and $90 per night. To contrast, the cheapest available nightly room rate was $359 (plus resort fees and taxes). The other neighboring properties’ rates were in excess of $400 per night.
I had booked a basic room (as part of my cash and points booking) but was upgraded to an ocean view room with a private balcony during check-in. (The hotel unfortunately did not have any rooms free with queen/king beds.)
The hotel’s pool and open air lobby have several artifical waterfalls.