Top 10 Getaway for Luxury Travelers Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa, Hawai’i

In 2006, FTF's annual Top 109 survey of award-winners honored the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel and Spa, Mau'i, Hawai'i as a Top Luxury Spa.

Whether a high-end vacation is a matter of course for you and your family or a treat reserved for a special occasion, our 9th annual awards focus on the latest travel segment to embrace young guests: the super luxe resort.

Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa
Mau'i, Hawai'i
800/888-6100, 808/875-1234

This 40-acre property perched on Wailea Beach on Maui’s southern coast sprinkles so many healing water features — including a 2,000-foot-long Wailea Canyon Activity Pool — among its lush landscaping that all ages will be challenged to stay dry. The architecture was designed to fit into the surroundings, with guestrooms organized around the Napua Tower, a private club with the resort’s most posh rooms and an exclusive concierge service.

We especially like the Humuhumunukunukuapua’a restaurant — named for Hawai'i’s state fish, although if you say “Humu Humu,” everyone will know what you mean — comprised of thatched roof Polynesian huts where diners can choose their lobster fresh from the lagoon. Or check out the resort’s $40 million big-name art collection, including the nine signature sculptures at the Botero Gallery Bar.

One of the trends we love in Hawai'i is the resurgence of the Island culture, and the spa industry is one of the areas in which we’re seeing that trend to full effect. The 50,000-square-foot Spa Grande, for example, the state’s biggest, blends Hawaiian ingredients and techniques with Thalassotherapy and ancient wellness and beauty arts from the Far East. Guests can also unwind in the Termé Wailea Hydrotherapy in specialty baths that contain such unique ingredients as Hawaiian mineral salts, seaweed or papaya enzymes.

And unlike many spas that offer only salon treatments for children, there is a Keiki Spa where lucky youngsters 12 and under can wallow in chocolate-coconut massages, facials and henna tattoos. The extensive Teen Spa options include a Wave Massage with hot lava stones, a tropical fruit scrub and a honey sugar manicure, all to the accompaniment of loaner iPods. Or try the ultimate bonding experience: Spa Treatment Suites where parents and kids can participate in personal pampering together.

Adults looking to tee off at one of three 18-hole courses at the Wailea Golf Club — or who just want to loll by the pool — can take the kids to the Camp Grande, designed for ages 5 to 12. Full- and half-day programs are available, as well as night camps for rousing games of crab hunting, movies or kickball. Daytime fun includes nature hikes, reef exploration, Hawaiian hula dancing, ukulele lessons and, of course, play time at the Wailea Canyon Activity Pool, where kids 44 inches tall and up can brave the Lava Slide and Ana Puka Slide. The five-star 20,000-square-foot children’s facility also features a theater, kids’ only restaurant, craft and game rooms and an outside play area. Teens 13 to 17 can participate in the Counselor in Training program, where they can help instructors lead games and organized play, or opt to cruise the resort’s Rodeo Drive-caliber mall. The new Rainbow Room with its Tunnels of Fun, Climb and Slide Play Center, Imaginary Room full of Lego’s, play kitchen and puppet theater is a favorite of grandparents.  Here, youngsters 4 and under can play together with their caregivers.

2007 rates for a family four range from US$575/N for a standard double room to US$3,100/N for a one-bedroom suite depending on season.  Villa rates in the exclusive Napua Tower range from US$2,900/N (1BR), US$4,130/N (2BR) to US$16,230/N (3 BR).