Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa TripAdvisor

We arrived on August 7 and were not in a good mood. This was the first trip to Hawaii for both of us, we've just been through two months of stress leading up to our wedding (which was less than 48 hours earlier), and upon arrival, American Airlines did not deliver my wife's suitcase. So, we were in a crabby mood upon check-in. I had reserved our ocean-front room 7 months previous, and was ready to move on.
But, I was informed that the rate I was quoted would only provide an ocean-front non-smoking room "if available", and currently there were none available, only smoking; or a non-smoking with partial ocean view. It felt like an upper-cut after already getting jabbed in the jaw at the airport. My wife was nearly in tears, as it appeared nothing was going right for us. So, we agreed on the smoking ocean-front for one night, then would hope for an upgrade the next day. I went to park the car while my wife watched the bags. When I got back, the bell man informed me that a non-smoking ocean-front room had magically become available. Frustrated as I was after pleading at the front desk for 10 minutes and being told there was nothing they could do, we didn't ask any more questions and went to the room. We were extremely pleased. We were in Hale 4 on the second floor, so our sliding glass door opened up to the ground level and we could walk straight out anywhere. We were glad to have a mini-fridge for beers and bottled water.
As much as I despise these "resort fees" everyone is trying to hide from their nightly rates, I think we broke even. We parked ourselves; bought the Luau at the Marriott (saving about $40 off their price) and I brought my laptop to get on the internet, so we were spared ridiculous local-call charges that easily could have reach $20 as many times as we logged off and back on line. So, we think we broke even.
We didn't mind walking - to the pool, parking area, Luau grounds, neighboring beaches, etc. I know people have written about how spread out the property is - but it seemed to us like all of Wailea was very walk-friendly. We walked to the Grand, and the Four Seasons for dinner. The Shops at Wailea being around the corner was a plus. The walking just wasn't an issue for us.
Construction noise: Okay - Marriott's construction was not a factor. Only once did we notice commotion, when we were by the front desk and noticed a forklift moving stacks of mattresses to the big tower. Otherwise - the biggest construction racket was caused by the villas and condos being built between the Marriott and Grand, in front of the Shops at Wailea. Too bad for Longhi's, Tommy Bahama, Ruth's Chris, etc. - because their view is getting WRECKED by these new villas. We don't have kids, but whomever did and were at the kids pools at the Marriott dealt with some serious construction noise! I would imagine that folks in Hale 6 and 7 dealt with this too during the day, and may be following my good review with a bad one. But, we didn't get bothered. Our pool time was spent at the main pool, and it was beautiful. Great hot tubs to soak in after sunset. Plus, we brought a cooler of beer to the pool - at first trying to be sneaky, not knowing if we were breaking any rules. Soon enough, the waitress just asked us to pour our beers into plastic cups and to please throw the cans away. Is that all? Thanks!! We tipped her $5 for doing nothing but being cool about it.
The Hula Moon breakfast was something that surprised us, as I had read no review of this coming in. Even at $23 per person, it was excellent! One of my Maui-expert friends practically demanded that we go to the Grand Wailea breakfast buffet, saying it was the best of the best. Well ... here's what Hula Moon's included for $23 that the Grand DID NOT for $25: champagne, pancakes, waffles, little 3-4oz. cuts of New York Strip steak, and a bread pudding dessert. Plus ... a better view. From Hula Moons you see the ocean, Lanai, Kahaloowe and Molokini. From the Grand you see the pool and palm trees, with the ocean somewhere behind them. All we had was breakfast at Hula Moons, not dinner or anything else, but we considered that a highly underestimated and under-hyped aspect of the resort.
The Luau was very nice - but we've been to no others and have nothing to compare it to. Very friendly staff, good food (nothing outstanding or worth a great rave, but good) and an entertaining show with a fire-twirler who was billed as the "3-time world champion" of fire twirling. With Mai Tais flowing non-stop and the sun setting from behind, it was a memorable outing.
Also something I didn't read about here on TA: there are two washing machines and two dryers in Hale 7 for resort guests. Had we known about it before hand, it would have drastically changed the way we packed. As it was, we still washed many items and were greatful we discovered them.
I complain constantly, and know there are things I frowned on when I was out there, but I just can't think of anything now as standing out. I do remember the carpet being the nastiest I've seen in any hotel in America, but I know they're fixing that up soon. The parking spots were designed for European minis and all the cars there were full-size or vans, so it's one of those deals where you park and have virtually no room to open your door. We wished kids were kept to a kids pool, so we could just lounge peacefully with our cocktails without fear of a ball hitting us in the head, or some 9 year old doing a cannonball off the side of the pool and splashing everyone ... but, maybe that's just a honeymooner's prejudice against distracting quiet-killers.