Marriott Maui Ocean Club

The Marriott Maui Ocean Club is ideally located in the heart of Ka’anapali Beach along the famous Ka’anapali beachwalk. It is right next to Ka’anapali Point and mere minutes from the shops and restaurants of Whaler’s Village.

The Maui Ocean Club has been a longstanding Maui favorite since it originally opened as a Marriott hotel back in the early 1980s. During the early 2000s the hotel underwent a major renovation and the hotel rooms were all converted into 1- and 2-bedroom suites and sold as fee simple deeded time intervals.

After the original suites sold out, Marriott expanded to the south of the original building and built the Lahaina Tower in 2007. The new Lahaina Tower sits next to the Hyatt Residence Club Maui on the oceanfront property where the original Marriott parking garage was located. It was the first new construction in the heart of Ka’anapali Beach in over 20 years. The Lahaina Tower features 12 oceanfront 3-bedroom villas and 65 2-bedroom villas.

Two years after the Lahaina Tower opened, the Marriott opened the second new tower to the north of the original building. This tower is called the Napili Tower and it sits where the oceanfront tennis courts once were between the Marriott’s original building and the Ka’anapali Ali’i. The Napili Tower features 10 oceanfront 3-bedroom villas and 61 2-bedroom villas.

Those familiar with Marriott’s Maui Ocean Club typically refer to the suites in the original building as “the suites” and the villas in the two new towers as “the villas.” Most of the villas and 2-bedroom suites have a “lock-off” feature allowing the studio side of either the 2-bedroom or the 3-bedroom to become a separate unit that can be reserved as a 7-night stay for any other week of the year.

The entire property, suites and villas, were offered as one-week interval ownerships and were nearly sold out by mid-2010 when Marriott Vacation Club forever switched from a fractional deeded week program to a timeshare points program.  These intervals represent either a 1/52 or 1/104 fee simple deeded interest that entitles the owner to a guaranteed 7-night stay in the same size and view category that they own, if purchased with floating usage rights, or a guaranteed specific 2-bedroom or 3-bedroom Ocean Front villa for a specific week if purchased with fixed usage rights. Floating usage rights allow an owner of the villas to reserve any week 1-50 and an owner of the suites to reserve any week 1-51. Today, the on-site gallery almost exclusively promotes the Abound points program, which offers timeshare that is not deeded in Ka’anapali and offers no guarantees of reservation at any specific property.

All 1- and 2-bedroom suites in the Maui Ocean Club original building feature a kitchenette with a small dishwasher, a microwave, a coffeemaker, a toaster, a sink, and apartment sized refrigerators. The 1-bedroom suites are roughly 800 square feet and feature a king bed in the primary bedroom and a queen pullout in the living room. The 2-bedroom suites are roughly 1200 square feet and feature a king bed in the primary bedroom, a queen pullout in the living room, and a king bed and a queen pullout in the guest bedroom.

The view categories for the suites are island view, mountain/garden view, oceanview, and oceanfront. All of the oceanview suites in the original Maui Ocean Club building overlook one of the pools as well as the Pacific Ocean.

One notable difference from a traditional 1-bedroom villa is that the 1-bedroom suites in the Marriott’s original building feature two full bathrooms. The bathrooms have granite vanities and tiled tub-showers. The 2-bedroom suites feature three full bathrooms. The suites in the original Marriott building can also be locked off into studios and these studios feature a king sized bed, a queen pullout, and a very small kitchenette with a mini fridge, a microwave, a toaster, and a coffeemaker. For guests not requiring a full kitchen or a washer/dryer, the suites provide something more akin to a typical upscale hotel suite. All of the Maui Ocean Club suites have the exact same decor and furnishings and the floor plans are nearly identical for comparable unit sizes. For those staying in the suites who wish to cook, there is a shared kitchen in the lobby area in addition to the BBQ grills throughout the property.

The villas in the Lahaina and Napili tower are similar in size to the suites in the original building but the notable difference is that the newer villas feature full kitchens and washer/dryers. The furnishings and decor in the villas are also different than those in the suites, but the decor in both new towers is identical from villa to villa.  The owners’ annual HOA dues fund a reserve account that is used to renovate and refurnish every single unit at the Maui Ocean Club approximately every five years rendering a fresh and contemporary feel while maintaining a consistent and high-quality experience for each returning visit.

The 2-bedroom villas at the Maui Ocean Club are roughly 1200 square feet. They have a king bed in the primary bedroom and a queen pullout in the living room. The primary bathroom features a glass walk-in shower, a spa soaking tub, and separate vanities. The full kitchen features granite countertops and stainless steel appliances and comes fully equipped with all the necessary cookware and utensils. The guest bedroom in the 2-bedroom villa is around 400 square feet and has a king bed as well as a queen pullout so the entire 2-bedroom villa can accommodate up to 8 guests. The entire villa is accented with African Mahogany crown molding.

There are only 22 3-bedroom villas at the Marriott Maui Ocean Club and all 22 of them occupy prime oceanfront real estate with some of the absolute best views on Kaanapali beach. 12 are in the Lahaina Tower and 10 are in the Napili Tower. The 3-bedroom villas feature roughly 1700-1800 square feet and come with full kitchens, washer/dryers, expansive open floor plans with ocean views from most vantage points, and larger balconies than any other units at the Maui Ocean Club. The 3-bedroom villas have a king bed in the primary, a queen pullout in the living room, a king bed and a queen pullout in the first guest bedroom, and two double beds in the second guest bedroom. In total, the 3-bedroom villa has sleeping capacity for up to 12 guests. The primary bedroom in the 3-bedroom has a glass walk-in shower, an air bubble soaking tub, and dual vanities. The 2 guest bathrooms are each full bathrooms with tub showers and granite vanities. The 3-bedroom villas at the Marriott have such a stellar vantage point that in the higher floor villas guests are able to see the ocean from virtually everywhere inside the villa, including the glass shower.

The Marriott Maui Ocean Club resort has two lagoon style pools (one by each new tower) and an impressive 3.5 acre super-pool with waterfalls and a waterslide in the main center area. There is a famous pirate ship area for the kids. There are numerous grills and hot tubs spread throughout the property. All guests enjoy a mid week tidy service, pool towel service, a fitness center, and a full service concierge desk. The Marriott Maui Ocean Club includes a Starbucks and two restaurants serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  Food and drinks are also available at the Lokelani Pool Bar or the Makai Tiki Bar.

World-class shopping and dining at Whaler’s village is just a 10 minute walk up the beach path and there are countless opportunities for fun and adventure right along the beach including snorkel charters, sunset sails, surf lessons, parasailing in the summer, and luaus. The Marriott Maui Ocean Club is only a 15 minute drive from popular downtown Lahaina and about 15 minutes from Kapalua with its world-famous golf courses. Even closer to the resort are the two golf courses of the Ka’anapali Resort – the Royal and the Kai.