Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Review Part 1

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We’ve not long been back from a wonderful two week vacation in Hawaii where we were lucky enough to stay at Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club and Marriott’s Waiohai Beach Club on Kauai (review coming soon). Today’s post will concentrate on the 2 bedroom unit that we stayed in and a subsequent post will detail the amenities, facilities and grounds at the resort.

Resort: Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club
Building: Lahaina Villas
Floor: 4th
Unit Size: 2 Bedrooms
View: Ocean Front
Check-In Day: Saturday

The Monday before we arrived we called up the resort and spoke to the person in charge of ‘room assignments’. When we originally booked our week we had requested a high floor in the Lahaina Villas so we just wanted to reiterate this request as our check-in date approached. We requested a high floor because we, generally, prefer the view from high up and we requested the Lahaina Villas because we like the convenience of being close to the larger of the two parking structures (there is a parking structure behind the Napili Tower but it’s considerably smaller than the one behind the Lahaina Villas and finding a space in there can be challenging).

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Lahaina Villas

For the first time in all our years of visiting the Maui Ocean Club the person in charge of room assignments was happy to let us know where our room would be in advance of check-in – they had allocated us a 4th floor unit in the Lahaina Villas – they never normally divulge this information until they hand over the room keys. We asked if they could check to see if anything was available higher up but, although they did check, there was nothing available. Truthfully this wasn’t the end of the world – we’ve had a great run of luck with our reservations at the Maui Ocean Club in that we’ve always managed to get a high floor in the past so it’s probably about time we got a slightly lower floor. Plus we were allocated a unit in the Lahaina Villas and that was almost as important.

We arrived into Kahului airport at around 1pm and, after negotiating baggage reclaim and the car rental line, we got to the resort at around 3pm. The official check-in time at Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club is 4pm so it was a pleasant surprise to find our unit was ready for us when we arrived.

We were very keen to see what the view from the room would be like as we knew that there were palm trees between the Lahaina Villas and the ocean and, we suspected, that they topped out around the 4th floor. We were right about the palm trees but there was no need to have worried. The view was great.

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – View from 4th Floor Lahaina Villas

The units in the Lahaina Villas are almost identical to their sister units in the Napili Villas and their layout is both practical and has a feeling of space:

Floor plans for the 3-bedroom units can be found here while floor plans for the other units at the Maui Ocean Club can be found here.

The unit was just how we remembered it from previous visits. A spacious master kitchen:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Kitchen

The master kitchen comes with plates, cutlery, mugs and glassware for six people and the adjoining lock-off unit adds kitchenware for four more people so there’s plenty to go around. In addition the kitchen comes with a full-size dishwasher so it’s easy to clean up after a meal and have everything clean and ready for the next time around.

The dining table sits six people comfortably – although you could squeeze two more people in if you needed to:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Dining Area

The living area comes with a sofa (sofa bed) and two armchairs so, while perfectly good enough for a few people to relax, if you have the full compliment of people that the unit can hold (eight), you’ll need to bring over some chairs from the dining table. The living area comes equipped with a large flat-screen TV and a DVD player (complimentary DVDs are available from a vending machine in the Lahania Villas lobby area).

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Living Area

The living area leads out on to the main balcony (lanai) which has a table that seats four (the adjoining lock-off unit has its own lanai with a small table and two chairs):

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Main Balcony

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Main Balcony View

Each floor of the Lahaina Villas building has four two-bedroom ocean front villas which results in two ‘corner’ villas and two ‘centre’ villas. All the villas are identical except for one feature – the balcony. This year we were in one of the ‘centre’ villas so the balcony was walled in on either side. Last year we had a ‘corner’ villa and the balcony felt a lot more spacious:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Corner Balcony

As things go this isn’t exactly a major issue but it’s one worth remembering if ever given the choice between a ‘centre’ or ‘corner unit’.

The master bedroom comes with a king-size bed, a flat screen TV and a DVD player.

A useful recent addition to the bedroom is the bank of sockets found on one of the two nightstands. This includes regular power ports as well as a USB port for charging smaller electronics.

As with a lot of Marriott timeshares, the master bedroom comes with a tub and vanity area:

As well as an en suite bathroom with shower:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – En suite bathroomMarriott’s Maui Ocean Club – En suite Shower

The lock-off (second bed) portion of the villa is accessed via a door from the living/dining area. The bed is another king-size bed just like in the master bedroom:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Second Bedroom

And the living area has a sofa which converts, easily, into a bed:

The balcony for this portion of the unit isn’t exactly big but, for two people, it’s more than enough if you just want to enjoy the view and take in the ocean breeze:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Lock Off Balcony

The lock-off unit also comes with its own ‘kitchenette’ with a microwave, coffee maker and small fridge. It’s adequate for making snacks and a light meal but guests probably shouldn’t rely on it if they wish to cook a full evening meal.

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Lock Off Kitchenette

Lastly, the second bedroom comes with its own en suite bathroom complete with bath, shower and vanity unit:

Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club – Second En Suite Bathroom

The photo above is from a previous visit – we somehow forgot to take a good photo this time around! (Tip: If you want to know if you’re looking at an ‘old’ photo of an Ocean Club bathroom take a look at the toiletries – Marriott recently changed supplier and they no longer look like the ones in the photo above).

Marriott’s New Toiletries

Marriott considers the Maui Ocean Club to be its ‘flagship’ timeshare property and we can see why. The rooms are nicely appointed and the furnishings are of a good standard. The sofa beds are surprisingly comfortable – we had a 10-year-old sleeping on a sofa bed this trip and she loved it but they’d be equally comfortable for an adult. The 2-bedroom unit is a good size for a family but, although the room capacity is set at 8, any more than 6 guests would probably make the unit a bit crowded – that’s just our opinion!

There’s a reason why we come back here most years and it’s because we love the combination of the location, the ocean and the resort itself – it’s truly a lovely place to visit. And when you get views like this to wake up to each day:

and sunsets like this from your balcony:

It’s hard not to book the next vacation at the Ocean Club before you’ve even finished the one you’re on!

Insider Tips:

1) Be aware that the ‘kitchenettes’ in the lock off portion of the Ocean Club Sequel units only come with a microwave. Some Marriott kitchenettes have an additional 2 cooker rings but this is not the case with this unit, so bear this in mind when making plans.

2) If given a choice of ‘corner’ unit or ‘centre’ unit (specifically when discussing Ocean Front units) remember the difference in balconies as we outlined in the post above.

3) If you think you’re going to be using a rental car a lot you may prefer to request a unit in the Lahaina Villas. It’s closer to the large parking structure and it’s easier to find a parking space here rather than the structure by the Napili Villas.

4) If you plan to do a lot of walking to and from Whalers’ Village, you may prefer a unit in the Napili Tower. It’s considerably closer to Whalers’ Village than the Lahaina Villas.

Part 2 of this review is now live