Two of our readers, Aleksandra Aleks Witkowska and Paul Tomaszewski, recently took a break from thei

Two of our readers, Aleksandra Aleks Witkowska and Paul Tomaszewski, recently took a break from their Chicago winter and vacationed on two Hawaiian islands.  Last week we featured their Big Island report.  Today we re showcasing their Maui adventure.
A poorly remodeled, rundown condo, so close to the water.  We shut our windows to drown out the roaring of crashing waves and the rowdy crowd in the hotel next door.  Loved the gorgeous beach and walking to the ancient fish ponds.
Wailea s tree-lined medians with gated hotels and resorts didn t exactly scream friendly, but that s where virtually all the 4 5 star resorts are located on Maui, as well as the best beaches for beach-combing purists.
Also the most expensive at $212 for two with no alcohol.  Everything from the sugar cane packets to the fruits and vegetables was locally grown. We knew the name of the boat and fisherman who had caught the fish we ate. The whole experience was just surreal. We watched world-class windsurfers tackle giant waves as we masticated on epicurean delights, drawing out the experience for two full hours of unabated joy.
The hippies-turned-entrepreneurs who run the local businesses are universally rude and unfriendly. Food left no lasting impressions, but did give us indigestion, including at both the Moroccan fusion place and a crepes cafe. The only saving grace of Paia was the bead store that had lovely cheap hotels in cancun mexico natural stone and glass pendants as well as the most beads I ve ever seen at one location.
People rave like it s some sort of spiritual rite of passage on Maui.  It consists of okay food stands swarming with bugs, a winding, cramped road with little to no room for all the drivers that stop for photo-ops, and the filthiest state park bathrooms I have ever had the displeasure of using. We were tail-gated, honked at, and ended up stuck for an hour behind a group of inconsiderate individuals who kept stopping, but not pulling aside, to take photos of the many waterfalls along the way.
Photo Comment :  A view of Maui on the return trip from Molokini Crater.  The captain of our Classic Maui Charters was a surly, ex-Chicagoan with a wicked, unPC sense of humor, and a penchant for annoying the tourists.  We liked him. (Aleks and Paul)
No, we re not, and I don t think Lahaina is a schlocky tourist town. I ve traveled extensively enough to know the difference between commercialization and local commerce. There are many mom and pop stores lining the streets of Lahaina. I was happy to help support these local businesses, including the Maui Swimwear company which makes its swimwear on Maui (made in the good ole USA baby!). I spoke to some of the business owners, who were quite frank about their economic woes. The town itself has a rich history spanning 3 centuries. Front street dates back to the 1820 s. Lahaina took off as a vibrant whaling community, which was then cleaned up by the missionaries that followed in the 1800 s. We visited the old cemetery a few blocks off of Front St., and we walked between the Cannery Mall and the library to take in the area.
I love to travel mostly because of the people cheap hotels in cancun mexico I meet. Regardless of all the bugs and rain, I would have enjoyed the road to Hana a lot more if some people cheap hotels in cancun mexico were more considerate. Your comment makes me cringe as we had cars tailgating us in very dangerous driving conditions. Locals would speed up and pass in no passing zones (which is most of the road) without giving us a chance cheap hotels in cancun mexico to pull over to the side and show our Aloha spirit. You can only stop safely to the side when there s a wide enough shoulder, and even then, sometimes cars stop and fill up the shoulders. The day we started our drive to Hana, Maui was hit with record torrential rainfall, as was much of Hawai i, including flash flooding. Rocks were flying loose and the road was becoming flooded about 3 hours into our excursion. I didn t go into detail in my review to Rob and Jeff, but my husband and I were terrified for our lives the way people were driving given weather and road conditions (we had a few feet of visibility). The road was very crowded as this was between Xmas and the New Year. For anyone reading this who may not be familiar with Hana Hwy, the road is carved into the side of a mountain, and much of it s on a precipice with a steep (deadly) drop down. Not the best place to drive recklessly or speed.
Also, I live on the north shore, and the two Paia restaurants mentioned by the writers are among our favorite places to eat. But then again, we work here, so we can't afford to drop $200 at Mama's every night.
Wowsy, what s with the snide, rude tone in your post? It unfortunately reminds us of what we encountered in Paia. We were on vacation and this was a special night out for us. I specifically cheap hotels in cancun mexico mention it was the most expensive meal we ve eaten for a reason. It was a once in a lifetime experience, and not something we could afford to do more than once a year. Sadly, *we* can t afford to live in Hawai i. By living where we do, we save a ton of money on most of our daily expenses. If I lived in Hawai i, based on food and gas prices alone, I d go broke on my income. We visited grocery stores and discount retailers while staying in our Kihei condo. cheap hotels in cancun mexico We drove out to Kahului to do some shopping. We were still paying 2-3x more for basic goods than what we pay in the Chicago area for the same stuff.
The young women at the crepes place literally sneered at my husband, yes sneered! We felt completely unwelcome. My husband had to leave the restaurants while I waited to get our food to go. We re both extremely liberal and fun-loving types. He s in his early 30 s and I m in my late 20 s and we are always polite to others, especially when traveling! The way we were treated, cheap hotels in cancun mexico I should have just canceled my order and walked away as they hadn t even started it, but we were hungry, it was late and everyone in Paia seemed to be rude. The crepes were greasy and the ham in Paul s crepe was gross. They weren t light fluffy like authentic French crepes. I was disappointed.
We also visited an organic food store in Paia, Mana Foods. The sign on the door forbids shopping with a backpack. This is a policy I am familiar with from living on the Southside of Chicago for some years while completing my studies at the Univ. of Chicago. cheap hotels in cancun mexico I understand this policy s reason to prevent theft in an area where shoplifting is problematic, especially in high crime areas. But I was carrying important documents in my backpack. I m not a US citizen so I always travel with my passport and paperwork. We do a lot of adventure travel, so I don t bother carrying a purse. I also had a $500 digital camera and meds in my bag, as well as maps and important sundries. I asked the cashier if she wouldn t mind holding on to my backpack under her register for a few minutes while I shopped (the place seemed empty). The cashier told me to just put it on the front counter, which was close to the door and no one was watching that area. I explained to her why I couldn t leave my bag unattended. She just shrugged her shoulders, ROLLED HER EYES AT ME, and turned back to the conversation she was having earlier with the other cashier, turning her back to me. Seriously, I wasn t feeling the Mana (life force) in that place. That was just one of MANY examples of rudeness we encountered in Paia.
If you really crave the fancy resort experience, by all means, settle in at Kapalua, Kaanapali or Wailea for a week of pampering and indulgence — I can't say I'd blame you. But we love living in the "real" Maui, and plenty of people love visiting it, bugs and all.
We re not big on resorts when we travel. We like to mix it up between being pampered, physical exertion (skiing, hiking, cheap hotels in cancun mexico spelunking, snorkeling, etc), and local flare. We stayed at Sugar Beach in a rundown beachfront condo and hiked to ancient fishponds, even though a resort would have only cost a tad more.
Ilima, I m sorry to write that your rude commentary isn t helping your cause in inviting others to visit the real Maui. I say this because our experiences were real. This wasn t some virtual reality trip, but a real, backpacking excursion across all of Maui, including Haleakala and various other locations that were not included in the trimmed review on Beat of Hawaii . It s just a synopsis of the highlights. We were in Hawai i for 18 action-packed days.
Incidentally, a waitress at Fat Daddy s in Kihei stole our credit card info and used it to make hundreds of dollars in purchases before our card was canceled. She was nice to our faces too. So I know that no matter where one goes, no place is perfect. But, based on our overall experiences of Hawai i across 2 separate trips on 3 islands, I would go back to the Big Island, then Oahu, long before Maui. (Though, I d like to attempt the road to Hana again in better weather conditions, during a less busy time of year as I feel we got the short straw on that ordeal.)
I stay at the Royal Lahaina on Kaanapali Beach. It is a wonderful place and the views were outstanding from right there. Was able to walk around the golf course, walk to the black rocks, and can walk for at least a mile along the beach. There were so many whales cheap hotels in cancun mexico while I was there that you couldn t keep your eyes off the ocean, also twice saw around a hundred dolphin cheap hotels in cancun mexico (someone there was counting them).
The food is delicious at this hotel and they have luaus several nights a week. I didn t go this year but was able to watch from my balcony from people coming, through the whole evening. It is packed.
I always go to Lahaina as this one cafe upstairs has the #1 Angus cheeseburger and great music. It is open and you can see across to the Banyan Tree and the wharf. It is always packed. This year I took my meal and sat by the ocean again the view was wonderful. There were still a lot of people on the street but just not buying in the shops. I did go to the Lahaina Cannery Mall and it was nice and the people were friendly. They also are not having