The Whaler On Kaanapali Beach

Nice place. Let’s review, shall we?
Pros: Great location on Ka’anapali.
Close to Whaler’s Village.
On the beach.
Pool.
Hot tub.
Really pretty pond and waterfall.
I can only comment on room #974, but the condos were nice. Spacious, clean, well stocked, awesome balconies, full kitchen, not super outdated.
Quiet.
Fast elevators.
Bath tubs! It’s hard to bathe a baby in the shower. Lol.
Rentals for the beach.
Relaxing paved promenade the extent of the beach.
Cons: There was early construction going on nearby that ruined being able to listen to the surf from our room. Not really the hotels fault as it was next door.
This area of beach has some very rough surf at times. Again not the hotel’s fault.
The pool has no shallow spots other than the steps. It immediately goes to 4 ft.
The pool can be very cold at times! Even though it’s hot out, the trade winds make it really cold.
Parking in the garage fills up quickly.
All in all, I really enjoyed this hotel. Staff was pleasant and not intrusive. Great location to explore other nearby beaches.
I would definitely stay here again.

No frills facility with everything you need for a beachfront property. Exceptionally friendly staff. Only let down is over the years, they have become incrementally less tolerant of kids. Now «no jumping in pool», «no balls» (on lawn). Not outrageous behavior, just kids having fun. Otherwise would be 5 stars.

The Whaler has an awesome location right on Kaanapali Beach, next to Whalers Village and just a short walk to Black Rock the highlight of Kaanapali Beach (my opinion). It’s privately owned condos that can be rented directly from owners via an easy Google search. We stayed in building 1 condo 112 which has a patio directly looking at Black Rock (Highly recommend first floor as its so easy in an out avoiding elevator or stairs). The building is older, however I still find it perfect. Attached a few pictures to view. Aloha

Awesome view! Friendly staff!
However, you won’t get any beach items in these rooms because they are managed by a hotel. I imagine that they toss anything that is left behind, unlike the condos that are across the road.

For over 30 years, I been coming to The Whaler to stay. Although it is starting to look a bit dated from the exterior, you stay here for one reason — the location.
Its the best location on Kaanapali Beach bar none. It is one of the most beautiful, cleanest beach spots in the world. The two tower complex is adjacent to Whalers Village, a large shopping complex where you can run downstairs to shop, eat, and drink. Don’t ignore this one convenience. There have been many nights I simply wandered downstairs to get a great meal at the Hula Grill and Leilani’s, have some truly good yogurt and ice cream at Haagen Daaz, get some sunscreen and snacks at ABC shops, poke my head in and say «hi» at Monte Fitts Realty, and buy a few t-​shirts at my favorite store, Crazy Shirts over the years.
You get THE BEST views in Hawaii staring at glorious sunsets with Molokai and Lanai in the background. At night, the convenience of walking the beach and watching the divers jump off Black Rock, do a little fishing off the rocks in the early morning, stroll around the Kaanapali grounds to nearby hotels, play a round of golf at world reknown Kaanapali Golf Course, get in a few sets of tennis during the day.
Everything is here and within walking distance.
The only time you need to jump into a car is to drive down to the local grocery store to stock up on food or visit Lahaina to shop/​dine/​yap with the friendly locals. Oh and don’t forget to stop off at Hard Rock Café too.
Its all very simple. Convenient. Relaxing. Stress free.
Just what a vacation is meant to be.

The Whaler is an amazing place to stay, and to me the best among other hotels. They have two bathrooms (that comes in handy) a full bed and kitchen plus a terrace. The. Pool is not amazing, but they do have a lovely courtyard. There are many activities going along throughout the day so also look into those. The service here is five star so if your coming to Kanapali then definitely come here.
_​AJ, 10 years old

Stayed from 10÷12−10÷25÷14 When we arrived there was several inches of water in parking garage that we had to wade through to get to elevator. We stayed in tower facing north looking at side of Kaanapali Beach hotel. Construction of barbecue area, tennis courts and landscaping was going on below us (we were on 4^th floor) the whole time we were there. Cement trucks, delivery trucks, bob cats, trenchers, diesel fumes every day we were there. Loud noises from cement being broken up – it was a nightmare. Owner had not informed us of construction. People who rented on bottom floors had plywood across their lanais and complained that they had to keep drapes closed because workers were out there all day and could see into their units. Some said their patio doors were blocked and they were not allowed out on the lanai due to safety concerns. The ironic part of this was that we decided to stay at the Whaler because the resort we usually stay at was having construction! When Hurricane Ana arrived Aston delivered instructions of what precautions to take only to people who rented through them. I had to go down personally to the front desk to find out because I had rented from an owner. The only good thing I have to say was that the pool area was nice with new umbrellas and lounges for people to use for free and the gym was nice. For anyone planning on staying here you should check about the possibility of construction during the time you want to stay as we heard there are plans for ongoing construction in the future.

It is very nice and in a great location. But you might have a bad experience like we did with noise. They were doing construction in a unit under us and thatching the lawns outside. MASSIVE amount of noise and we were told that we should have know.
We used VRBO and got an AMAZING ocean front unit but the downside is that they could not move us. If you use Whaler Realty they would have but you don’t know exactly what you will get. Will stay in a hotel next time.

This is a mixed review. I’ve been coming here for years, however, over the past couple of years, they have become less and less kid friendly and the customer service is less than stellar. If you’re coming to Maui without kids and are looking for a relaxing place to stay, this is probably a good fit for you. The rooms vary from very nice and clean to a little dirty and outdated. When we arrived, the two individuals were counting out their till from the day and asked us to wait while they tried to figure out why they were 11 cents over. We had just taken a 6 hour flight and driven 45 minutes to get there– to wait to check in because of an argument over 11 cents was beyond annoying. In addition, we called the concierge the day before we left to book a shuttle service for the airport and left a voicemail for them to call us back with how we should proceed with the booking. They called and left us a message saying to just call them back with our flight information and they would take care of it for us. When I called back, I received different information — the concierge told me I would need to just call the shuttle service directly and schedule it myself. The pool rules are ridiculous and put others at risk. Our daughter was playing with diving rings which she was told that there are absolutely no pool toys allowed. A woman was swimming with a flotation device and she was told to remove the flotation device immediately from the pool as they aren’t allowed. She couldn’t swim and was beyond disappointed. I’m not sure of the hazard that flotation devices and diving rings pose to others, however, The Whaler clearly thinks the risk is large. My 3 year old was devastated when all of the pool toys we had bought for her to use in the pool, had to be taken away. We won’t be staying here again anytime soon– it doesn’t fit our lifestyle and was a disappointment in the midst of what was supposed to be a great vacation.

I’ve stayed here a few times. I love the staff, always very friendly. The beach is amazing, really fun, clean and safe. The location is super convenient, close to restaurants, shopping, food court… whatever you need. Great snorkeling close by, tons of fun adventure options right out front. Really close to Lahaina dining and nightlife. Amazing views, you just can’t have a bad time here… it’s impossible.

My wife and I just came back from a 5-​night stay at The Whaler. We rented unit 1063 in Tower 2 and were very happy with it. This studio unit was perfect for the two of us.
The Whaler is a recently renovated fairly generic-​looking but very well maintained condo complex. You can rent units from the owners or through the Aston like a hotel. We chose to go with a private party we found on
since it was less expensive and we knew which unit we’d be getting. Bill, the owner of the unit we rented kept it in excellent shape. It was the nicest condo we’ve ever rented for vacation and was the most fully equipped and stocked.
The Whaler is situated at an excellent location right on beautiful Kaanapali Beach near Black Rock in Lahina. It is walking distance to multiple restaurants and shops. You can snorkel, paddle board or sail directing from the beach. Their pool is adjacent to the beach which is great.
You have to pay $ 12.50 a day to park if you rent a car, so be prepared for that. Also, be sure to be on an upper floor if you’re in a unit facing the Whalers Village shopping complex next door since their mechanical exhausts and music can be a bit noisy.
Here’s my video review:

The Whaler consists of two condo towers and is privately owned. You can usually find something to rent here via VRBO or other similar sites. The location is prime. You can’t beat it. You’re right next door to Hula Grill and Whaler’s Village. You can walk all the way up to Dukes (over a mile) and down to where the beach ends on the south end (about another mile). The best units are interior facing, meaning in a unit that faces one of the other towers. Tower 2 south facing over looks Hula Grill and the noise does carry up. Just about every unit is ocean view, obviously some better than others.
There are plenty of amenities available via the concierge desk or you can walk down to other hotels and buy the services of the vendors there (like Trilogy or SUP vendors.) There is a business center as well as laundry on each floor. Trash chutes are on each floor as well. We rented a ground unit and were literally 100 feet from the ocean. Quite nice. We had less overall view, but a much easier time getting to the water.
There is underground parking that fills up around 6 PM so you’ll have to park in an outlying lot and walk about 500 feet. Not bad, but not covered. It’s gated access so you don’t get rif raf parking in your spot. If you’re the condo staying type, this is the best location in Lahina. While I can’t speak to every unit, the overall complex is fantastic. The beach in front is public but there are showers just outside each building. The pool and spa are beachside. There are BBQ’s on the lawns outside too.
It appeared to be a bit on the geriatric side, but I’m not a partier where I sleep and eat so that didn’t bother me.