We stayed in Kihei at unit H-105 of the Maui Banyan during our 2009 trip, and again during our return visit in April 2011. It was an amazing place to stay and we can’t wait to go back yet again.
The condo itself truly was a home away from home. The king sized bed was very comfy. There are two A/C units, one in the living room and one in the bedroom, which was very nice since we were not used to the Hawaiian heat. The fully loaded kitchen had everything we needed. Most days we only ate breakfast at the condo, and then set out to explore or relax on the beach. We often ate out for lunch and dinner. Although there were a few nights we enjoyed using the bbq area to do our own cooking for dinner. We stocked up on groceries at the Costco in Kahului, so it was definitely nice to have a full kitchen with a regular sized fridge/freezer. We were much happier to have a fully equipped condo than a hotel type setup.
The unit is a one bedroom condo. As you can see from these two photos, the kitchen, dining room, and living room areas are attached. The bedroom and bathrooms are to the right. The TV had a pretty sweet surround sound system as well, although we didn’t watch a lot of TV so we didn’t use it very much.
The two bathrooms are another nice feature of this unit. The ensuite bathroom has a sink, toilet, and the jacuzzi tub. The other bathroom near the entrance door has a sink, toilet, and the washer/dryer. It was great that we didn’t have to find a laundromat during our stay, and could wash our clothes and beach gear when we wanted to.
I even got to keep up to date with the NHL playoffs during our stay:
Kamaole II beach is a two – three minute walk from the unit. I wrote an additional post for this beach with more information and photos if you want to check it out as well.
The Banyan itself has two great pool / bbq areas – one at either end of the grounds. Quite often we wanted to swim after dinner, but since it gets dark around 7pm we did not want to swim in the ocean. So the pools were the best option, and we certainly got a lot of use out of them.The pools are open until 10 or 11, although they don’t seem to kick you out as long as you keep the noise down. And if one pool was busy, you could just walk to the other and see if things were quieter there. The H building is in the middle of the complex, so it is about the same distance to either bbq/pool area.
The photo below shows the lanai at unit H-105. It runs the full length of the unit, with doors on both ends – one from the living room and one from the bedroom. You can just see the building where one of the pool/bbq areas is.
Here is a panoramic shot I took from the lanai during our 2011 trip:
The grounds at the Maui Banyan are very well kept and quiet. It was a nice place to walk and look around at the tropical plants. There seemed to always be people working away to keep things looking good.
Shauna really enjoyed taking photos of the many tropical flowers there. Here is one that she took, but you can also see the rest of her Maui Banyan photos on her Flickr Account here. She has some more photos from inside the unit as well.
Building H is far enough back from South Kihei Road that we could not hear the traffic. We found Kihei to be a great location to stay. The beach is right across the street so if you don’t want to drive, you don’t have to.
But it is close enough to the beaches of Wailea, without having to pay the excessive prices of the Wailea resorts. Kihei is about a twenty minute drive to Kahului, and about a 40 minute drive to Lahaina.
The owners of this condo were very good to deal with. They have two websites with all the contact info, rates, availability calendar, etc:
or
Please let them know that Dan and Shauna from PG sent you if you do decide to book with them.
They have a referral program for those who have stayed there, and we definitely plan to stay again.
Hi,
We have enjoyed reading your website on Maui.
We had a couple of questions regarding the Condo at The Maui Banyan … H105.
Was this unit fully equipped? Was everything one would need available in the kitchen. Also, is there laundry soap available or do guests buy their own?
Is there any beach chairs, snorkel equipments etc. available for guests to use while staying in this Condo? Is there a designated parking spot for a car?
Thanks for any info on this Condo H105.
Sue
Yes it was pretty much fully equipped when we stayed there in April 2008. The kitchen had all the dishes and utensils we needed, a blender, coffee maker, etc. There were some condiments and such that previous guests had left, and I believe there was some laundry soap available. We brought our own snorkel gear from home, so I am not sure what they had at the condo.
There is not a designated parking spot for each condo, but you get a parking pass when you check in. They have a three level parkade, and the pass is good for any of the spots that are not reserved. (I believe the reserved ones are for the people who actually live there). Parking was never a problem for us during our stay though.
Your best bet would be to contact the owners. They will be able to answer any of your questions, and are very good to deal with. You can follow the link to their website http://www.vrbo.com/160412 and it will have all their contact info.
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