#9 in Top 20 Maui for A Family Holiday · ★★★★
The Westin Maui Resort and Spa, Ka'anapali
Five-pool Aquatic Playground — the multi-pool family resort, Ka'anapali Beach.
Five-pool Aquatic Playground — the multi-pool family resort, Ka'anapali Beach.
"Five-pool Aquatic Playground — the multi-pool family resort, Ka'anapali Beach."
The Westin Maui Resort and Spa, Ka'anapali, opened in 1971 (originally as the Maui Surf) and has been operated by Westin since 1989. The property completed a $130-million renovation in 2021 that updated the room product and the pool complex. Seven hundred and fifty-eight rooms across the resort, with the working family infrastructure built around the Aquatic Playground — five pools across the property, including the Heavenly Spa pool, the family pool with the 128-foot waterslide, and the children's-features pool. Westin Family kids' club runs the daily programme; the in-house Tropica restaurant is the working casual family-dinner room. The asset is the post-renovation room product (the Westin Heavenly Bed standard plus the 2021 updates) at a value-tier rate compared to the Wailea cluster. Westin Maui is the right pick for the family holiday at the value tier in Ka'anapali where the post-renovation room finishes are the explicit asset — the family experience is at the working Ka'anapali level (pools, beach, kids' club, luau access at the next-door Sheraton) without the Hyatt Regency's age-related compromises or the Wailea-cluster premium.
Two-Bedroom Suite (the family-of-four working option) or Heavenly Premium King Suite for the upgrade tier.
The 2021 renovation rooms are the working asset — confirm at booking that the room is in the renovated tower. The Aquatic Playground's 128-foot waterslide is the children's-day centerpiece. The Sheraton next door's Cliff Dive Ceremony at sunset is a 5-minute walk.
The Westin Maui Resort and Spa, Ka'anapali sits within our broader Top 20 Hotels in Maui for a Family Holiday list. It scored an aggregate 9.5/10 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, west coast and adjacent. For a different city entirely, see the related lists below.
If you have already chosen the dates, our editor recommends booking the room twelve weeks ahead. The best suites with the right view orientation go first, and inventory for the popular months is quoted in months, not weeks. Suite-level rooms with private plunge pools or terraces — the ones that earn this rank — are typically the first to sell out.