| Kihei | Kahuli | Wailuku | Pa'ai | Makawao | Lahaina | Ka'anapali | Wailea | Kapalua | Hana |
The Ka’anapali Resort has 6 major resort hotels, four condominium resorts, over 40 restaurants and two championship 18-hole golf courses. Beginning at Hanakao'o (Canoe Beach) and ending up three miles later at Honokowai Beach, Ka’anapali Beach has some of the cleanest waters and sand on Maui and in Hawaii. The Hyatt RegencyMaui Resort and Spa, at the southern end of Ka’anapali Beach, and the Royal Ka’anapali Golf Courses are only two miles from the start of Lahaina’s shopping areas at the Lahaina Cannery Mall.
With more than 50 restaurants and shops, Whalers Village Shopping Center also tries to provide entertainment and entertaining education. On display at the Whalers Village Museum are hundreds of artifacts and exhibits about the lifestyle of whalers and a free interactive exhibit covering the history of the whaling era. For keikis special free activities such as palm-frond weaving, lei-making or sand print designing are provided at the "creation station." The Whale Center of the Pacific presents a free slide show about whales and other marine life Tuesday and Thursday evenings at 7pm.
In addition to the Whalers Village Museum, Whaler’s Village provides entertainment attractions and diversions such as Hawaiian artisans that display their crafts daily and hula dancers perform on an outdoor stage week nights from 7-8pm. Fridays are Aloha Hula Show night in the plaza at Whaler’s Village. Check on special events hosted at Whalers Village during the year such as sand castle sculpture competitions, cooking demonstrations, the Maui Onion Festival, Maui Taco’s 5K Run, Fourth of July Celebration, Maui Marathon, Keiki Hula Competition, and others.
We’ll single out just a few exceptional shops and then compare shops at Whalers Village and those at the Shops at Wailea. Both the similarities and the differences between these resort shopping centers may help you decide where to shop during your vacation.
Jill Mackie and Becky Erickson launched Blue Ginger Designs in Lahaina in 1983. These enterprising ladies still design fabrics, clothing and accessories themselves. Their cotton and rayon batik clothing for moms, ladies, kids, men and boys is pretty, colorful, simple and well-designed. The fabrics and clothing design that seemed like perfect “Resortwear for the Family” more than a decade ago still does today. Now you also can find Blue Ginger Designs shops at Ka’ahumanu Center, The Lahaina Cannery Mall and The Shops at Wailea.
It’s hard to argue with this shoe store chain’s motto “Footwear for the lifestyle of Hawaii.” Most people – men, women and teenagers -- you’ll see shopping in this store are locals buying beach wear and casual footwear for all tastes including rubber thongs, Top-Siders, sandals, dressy pumps, athletic shoes and an appealing selection of Mephisto and Arche comfort sandals, Donald Pliner, Anne Klein, Charles Jourdan and accessories to match for day and evening. Prices are reasonable. In addition to Whaler’s Village, you have a choice of two other locations for Sandal Tree: Hyatt Regency Maui (661-3495) and Grand Wailea Resort (874-9006).
A wonderful collection of gift items in this store include reproductions of ancient Hawaiian hunting and fishing tools, handcrafted Hawaiian canoes, Hawaiian-quilt cushion covers, jewelry, soaps, books, and a striking selection of woodwork such as koa jewelry boxes (some by artist Ricardo Dellera), koa and rice paper luminaries, koa canoe paddles, koa framed mirrors, koa kitchen accessories, chess sets, “woodie” automobiles, desk accessories and other items.
A unique selection of antique prints, maps, paintings, and engravings including 18th- to 20th-century cartography. Lahaina Printsellers has another store in south Lahaina.
Maui has very few bookstores that sell new books. Waldenbooks, hidden away upstairs on the second level of Whalers Village, is one of them.
Probably the most distinctive shop in a resort hotel in Ka’anapali is Ki’i Gallery (661-4456) at the Hyatt Regency Maui Shops. Ki’i gallery features glass and original paintings and drawings but the glasswork by Toland Sand, John Stokes and many other masters of handblown glass art. Ki’i Gallery also is at the Shops at Wailea (874-1181) and the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel (874-3059).
Whalers Village has Chanel, Coach, Ferragamo, Gucci, Versace, Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co. but the Shops at Wailea include a much larger collection of luxury shops than Whalers Village. Whalers Village includes a larger collection of non-luxury apparel and specialty shops than The Shops at Wailea (see http://www.shopsatwailea.com/Shops/shops.htm).
Both the Shops at Wailea and Whalers Village include Dolphin Galleries (designer jewelry), Na Hoku (Hawaiian and “island lifestyle” jewelry), and Tiffany in the jewelry category. The Shops at Wailea also have Black Pearl Gallery, Elegant Illusions (“copy jewelry”), and Wailea Jewelry (Hawaiian heirloom jewelry). Jewelry Shops exclusively in Whalers Village are: Clio Blue Paris, Island Pearls, Jessica’s Gems, Maui Divers of Hawaii, and Pearl Factory.
In addition to the ones already mentioned, specialty retailers at Whalers Village include: Cinnamon Girl, Honolua Surf Co., and hand-painted batiks and Hawaiian tapa motifs at Noa Noa (see http://www.noanoakona.com/about.htm).
Both The Shops at Wailea and Whalers Village include Endangered Species and Martin& MacArthur. Whalers Village includes many more gift, art and specialty shops including: The Body Shop, Brighton Collectibles, Crystal Sea, Gallery Pacifica, Lahaina Printsellers, The Gecko Store, Ka Honu Gift Gallery, Ki’i Gallery, Lahaina Scrimshaw, and Maui Toy Works.
Whalers Village is right in the middle of a major beachside tourist destination. It’s logical for Whalers Village to cater to a non-luxury and family market. Surrounded by more expensive hotel rooms, condos and homes, The Shops at Wailea includes more luxury and high-end specialty stores and art galleries. All of this is logical. Neither shopping center is trying to compete with restaurants based in resort hotels. None of the hotels in Wailea, for example, provide a steak house like Ruth’s Christ; and Hula Grill, Leilani’s On The Beach, and The Rusty Harpoon fit perfectly at Whalers Village without competing with restaurants in Ka’anapali’s hotels. Hotels on the beachfront at Wailea have many successful casual and upscale beachfront restaurants and eateries that don’t compete with The Shops at Wailea.
Shopping in most of the resort hotels appears to be focused on guests. Neither Ka’anapali nor Wailea Resorts does much to promote shopping in the resort’s hotels. (See, for example, the Ka’anapali Beach Resort Association, http://www.kaanapaliresort.com/) Until you walk into these resort hotels, it’s difficult to know what kind of shopping, if any, you’ll find. The Maui Marriott has a shopping arcade that includes nine shops that sell apparel, islandwear, beach accessories, gifts, collectibles and jewelry, and these shops are not even included in the hotel’s Web site. The same can be said for the Westin Maui Shops.