#19 in Top 20 Maui for A Family Holiday · ★★★★
Aston Kaanapali Shores
Apartment-style, oceanfront, full kitchens, the budget multi-generational option.
Apartment-style, oceanfront, full kitchens, the budget multi-generational option.
"Apartment-style, oceanfront, full kitchens, the budget multi-generational option."
Aston Kaanapali Shores is the value-tier, condo-style resort on the north end of Kaanapali Beach. Its draw is simple: studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments, each with a full kitchen and washer-dryer, on the beachfront at a rate well below the central-Kaanapali villa resorts. For a family of four or six, a two-bedroom apartment with a kitchen turns breakfasts and a few lunches into grocery runs rather than restaurant bills, which is where a Maui week's budget is usually won or lost. The honest trade-off: this is an older, individually owned condo property, so finishes and views vary unit to unit, and it lacks the polish of a full-service resort. Best for the family holiday on a defined budget that values a real kitchen and beach access over resort frills.
A two-bedroom oceanfront apartment for a family of four to six, or a one-bedroom apartment for a smaller family, both with full kitchens.
Use the kitchen for breakfast and a lunch or two each day; that's where the savings sit. A grocery run on day one (Costco and Safeway are both a short drive) stocks the apartment for the week. Request a renovated, higher-floor unit, since finishes and views vary by owner.
Aston Kaanapali Shores sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in Maui for a Family Holiday list. It scored an aggregate 9.2/10 across the three editorial criteria, competitive against the field but, on a family holiday-specific factors, the angle above is what earned its rank. For the alternatives in the same Maui neighbourhood, see Ka'anapali North, west coast and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
With dates settled, the booking window that works is about twelve weeks ahead. Rooms with the coveted orientation are claimed first, while popular-month availability runs out months in advance. The plunge-pool and terrace suites, the categories that justify this ranking, tend to sell out before anything else.
A ranked shortlist, a special offer worth booking, and the overpriced stay to skip. Straight from the editors.