No Shortage of Restaurants at Wailea Resorts

A nice benefit to vacationing in Wailea is the large number of restaurants at one’s disposal located within walking distance (or stumbling, depending on your beverage selections, I suspect). In fact, if you’re running late because of your horribly hectic schedule, shuffling nail appointments or massages around beach lounging time, there is a hotel shuttle service that provides free transportation at The Fairmont Kea Lani.

Between 5 hotels, each with 2 to 3 restaurants, there are also a number of other eateries ready to serve the ubiquitous $31 to $50 entrees that are conveniently located in the complex known as The Shops at Wailea. I am guessing there are about 25 restaurants near our hotel, and with only 10 nights in Maui, my only regret is we can’t dine at each.

Having so many dining options at our disposal also carries a sort of inherent responsibility to get cleaned up and put on decent attire, suitable for going out. Maybe wash your hair. At least when we dine at home, we can sit at the table in our muddy t-shirts with disheveled hair and nobody makes us wash our hands.

To an awful dinner last night I had to send back at the Marriott Mala, I wore a black shirt with white lettering I had found at Nordstrom that stirred up the crowd. When I wear that shirt, strangers approach out of the blue and ask what it means. Now that I think about it, it’s men who ask for an explanation. Which is probably why they sell the shirt to women. It says: Eat your lettuce and be sad. The sales clerk at Nordstrom thought it was a little bit mean but not mean enough not to be funny, and I agree.

I guess tonight we will enjoy our last meal at Humuhumu at the Grand Wailea, which is where Oprah Winfrey threw a birthday celebration gala. They word on the island is she spent $27 million on that event. Just a bit of trivia to make you feel better about yourself.

Photo: Elizabeth at Marriott in Maui by Barbara Dow