Maui’s hotels plummeted to a troubling 52.6% occupancy, with visitors signaling hesitation as Hawaii’s long-standing allure faces new pressures. Despite Hawaii’s enduring place in travelers’ hearts, rising costs and a shifting value proposition have many questioning the worth of paradise.
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Just took my 4 young grandkids to Maui. Two years ago we took them to Honolulu. This time we stayed at a “resort” outrigger honua kai spa… Only to be infested with cockroaches and dirty beds upon arrival. Then of course the washer and dryer didn’t work. Each time I called for something they made me feel like I was obnoxious! Here I’m trying to shield my grandkids of negative experience. Then after 3 days they move us….down! Paid for top floor ocean view (8th) got 4th floor hot am sun with garden view . I offered up the inconveniences in hope of not seeing cucarachas but alas the second place was even worse🪳🪳🪳🪳 so disappointed!
I was just in Maui. I participated in the Hawaiian food and wine festival. Was amazing. As I navigated the hotel situation, I feel people like myself, are looking for a place to stay without being financially drained to the point of being drained. People will return in groves if the situation adjusts to peoples budget. Aloha.
Very simple – “Lower the Prices and Fees”….
Best Regards
Wailea has decided to drop Pickleball!!! It is the fastest growing sport in America. Put the courts where they don’t affect neighbors instead of right on top of neighboring properties. Work it out! Then add workshops, tournaments, etc. it’s a hugh draw. Some destination resorts have 20 plus courts.
Bad mistake to Drop the Sport !!
Greed. I hope they all go under until they learn jacking up prices 50+% in 4 years was a huge mistake. $1000/night in Walea for an ok room?!?
But hey, they’ll keep donations flowing to local politicians to ensure their cheaper competition (airbnb) gets shut down by gaslighting people about how it will lower housing costs for locals.
We moved from the Pacific Northwest in 2018 to Kona. We had been coming to the islands for thirty years and had spent a lot of time on Maui and the Big Island. We subscribed to the Honolulu and local papers for years, read all we could about life in the islands, history, culture etc before we made the decision to move here full time. We transitioned from a 3800 sq ft house in Portland to a small condo, which was the biggest change for us. We love it here and never want to leave. Come with an understanding that you will have a different life than on the mainland. Have a sense of humor about things that you can’t control here. Embrace the differences between the mainland and how it is here. Do your homework on banks, drs, etc.
Hawaii is going to have an overdue market correction. It will not be a big one or last long. People will say they are not coming again, but they will. It is a cyclical phenomenon with the market. Sure, some will stay away for a few years or their intervals between stay will be a little longer, but they always come back. No worries!
Perhaps the marketing campaign to target visitors who live 17-20 hours away by plane is a failure. Market to Canadians, mainland West Coast, and people who will come back each year. They will tell their friends. They probably won’t pay $1500 per night but they’ll eat in your restaurants and pay some of the ridiculous taxes. They need to have affordable condos as they can’t and won’t afford your best hotels.
The high inflation is taking it’s toll everywhere, not just HI. Time to pivot.
So glad the maui mayor and hawaii governor kept telling tourists to stay away and pushing for more fees and taxes on them. Their plan is working great. Guest are going elsewhere in the world where they are welcomed and not taxed excessively.
I’m currently on Kauai. Haven’t heard a “Mahalo’ and not many Aloha’s from timeshare staff. Everyone used to say those. Yes, I hear hello and thank you but I hear that on the mainland. No Hawaiian music playing anywhere, malls/shopping areas, restaurants, shops. People have been nice but we are missing those little things that make Kauai different + special.
Go to Fiji. I live on Maui and Fiji is a fraction of the price and like Hawaii 25 years ago. They actually appreciate you being there!
My In-laws have a timeshare they very generously share with us and we usually go to Maui every other year. As long as airfares are reasonable, we’ll still go. But we are starting to explore other areas. Hit up Oregon a month ago. I’m looking at the Caribbean, Europe and Asia. I would not have done this in the past as I love Maui. They need to understand their audience and customers. In that case, enjoy unemployment. Just don’t stand on a street corner asking for help. You won’t like my response.
I have visited Hawaii upwards of 25 times in the last 20 years. If it were not for friends or my vacation club it would be completely cost prohibitive. Prices have climbed astronomically for dining out and groceries. Eggs are 12$ for a carton of 18, milk 8$ a gallon and it goes on.
I live in Maui. You can get 24 eggs for $9 at Costco and milk for $5. So the above is not accurate.
Eating out is where it is outrageous.
You just have to know where to go, and it’s not any different from Santa Barbara or San Diego food-wise.
The problem with Maui is the government scared everyone away with the fire. They said not to visit Maui. It was insanity.
Lahaina will be rebuilt, but that was not even the area where all the resorts are.
So the economy collapsed with no tourists.
At the same time, they have no reasonable housing for their own people, who keep the hotels and resorts running. Therefore, there is a domino effect, and families are leaving for the mainland.
And the resorts are just ripping tourists off with outrageous rates despite being half empty.
It has increased in September-October.
But the greed of the vacation rental owners and the resorts is insane.
They are screwing tourists to make up for losses. It is much cheaper to go to Oahu or Big Island
I totally agree with you Kathie. An occasional aloha or mahalo makes all the difference to a tourist. Most people who have never been to Hawaii think that it’s natural to hear those Hawaiian words spoken all the time. Not so anymore. As for the music, you are correct. I guess we can’t look back, but we used to hear Hawaiian music everywhere we went. It greeted us at the airport when we arrived. That mixed with the smell of plumeria made me feel like I died and went to heaven. We now have to bring our own Hawaiian music just to feel like we’re in paradise.
There are a number of wonderful “farm stays” on all the major islands. It is best to google search “Kauai farm stays, or “Hawaii farmstays”, etc.
I had concerns about traveling to Maui after the fires, especially with social media portraying tourists as a burden on the island. I have a deep respect for Maui, its residents, and its culture, and I want to support the local economy. But if visitors aren’t welcome, I’ll visit another island. I hope local officials carefully consider the impact of discouraging tourism, as travelers play a key role in supporting Maui’s recovery.
Hotels are still overpriced, daily event fees, etc. etc., trying to eliminate VRBO’s! Your left wing thinking is doing more harm to tourism than anything else! Everything is about cost, you just do not get it! I love the Islands but you have priced me out!
The islander’s have made it clear that the Ohana does not extend to tourist, though they crave the money. I love all the islands, but the carribean is more welcoming.
I was a regular visitor to Hawaii but residents have made it clear that visitors are no longer welcome and prices are exorbitant and excessive. I have chosen other destinations in the last 5 years. I doubt I will be going back to Hawaii.
Taxes on hotel accommodations are too high. Hawaii is taxing itself out of business
Easy to understand – high prices for lodging and food, sometimes unwelcoming attitude from local workers (talk about cutting off your nose to spite your face), and ever increasing taxes.
Compare to Mexico, e.g., where the Latin graciousness is feeling more like the Aloha spirit is supposed to, plus much lower costs and better food.
It’s not rocket science. It’s about price and service. Prices continue to rise, politicians continue to add more fees and taxes, and hotels take away more and more services. Travelers can and Are going elsewhere to get more for less. Add to all this an anti-tourist sentiment from many locals, and why would a traveler want to spend a lot of $ to be abused?
Aloha Bryan. Please come to Kauai and stay at a farm stay. Low accommodation rates and friendly, knowledgeable hosts.
Am unfamiliar with “farm stays”- Where? What island(s)?
There are a number of “farm stays” on all the major islands. It is best to google search “Kauai farm stays, or “Hawaii farmstays”, etc.
People are trying to save a few dollars out of an already ‘stretched to the max’ budget, only to be hit with increased
Prices in their paradise vacation. Top that with a loss of Aloha and it is no brainer that Hawaii is only a fond memory of better days. Tourists cannot be expected to pick up the slack of a failed tourism. We have limited resources too. Try a little empathy. Offer incentives not escalated charges. We give lovingly when treated fairly.
Hawaii is pricing itself out of the market. High room rate plus high resort fee plus high food costs make it undesirable. Very expensive for families and retirees.
Maui is facing “unique” challenges due to the smothering progressive laws put in place to destroy democracy in the state. This is not rocket science. As a retired physicist who actually did rocket science, I’m confident saying so. Keep voting, Hawaii. This, and it can get A Lot worse, is what you voted for.
Revenge tourism is so 2021, but it’s over. Unfortunately, a lot of the structures born of that time are still in place.
Have been going to Hawaii since 1986, until 2014 on business as well 4-5X’s/Yr, 7-10 days, since then, just my wife and I, and not since the Covid scam, that had First Responders laid off from Hospital, Police and Fire, all on Governor Ige’s watch! Then, he corralled all the Room Tax $ from the other Counties and put it in the General Fund, forcing the Counties to further raise Room Taxes! Before Green, who is equally incompetent, they broke up the Tourism Bureau and gave to Academia at UH! Take a look at what the schools are teaching, the State’s unemployment is over $500M upside-down! Lahaina, no different then August 9-10, look to BlackRock to gobble up and develop Lahaina into a Kaanapali, Wailea, the citizens are the States responsibility, not the residents of the other 49 States.
We spend our time on Maui at 2 different condos-one at Napili and one N Kaanapali. They are oceanfront and we pay around $500 with free parking, a kitchen and sound of the ocean right out of the lanai door. These are on the list to be eliminated. What do you think a comparable hotel room costs? $1200 plus. That doesn’t include parking and add a resort fee. Its at least 3 times the cost. I know the governor wants high income tourists. That is such an insult to those of us who have visited regularly for decades. Would you rather have occasional high paying guest or regular, loyal visitors that return year after year? We are Not returning this year, but I hold out hope for a return to welcoming loyal visitors.
For us Northeast US residents, we’ve been looking at Carribean vacation options in the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico, both of which are US territories (no currency exchange and no passport required).
Regardless of what one may hear about PR, there are some great resorts there!! Conversely, on my last trip to HI (2022), in looking out the window during the shuttle ride from the airport to Waikiki I felt like I was in Hoboken !!! On that trip, we flew HA 51 non-stop JFK to HNL. With the merger, we don’t know how long that option will remain; and UA has discontinued their non-stop EWR-HNL flights.
They must have taken you on the Nimitz through Kalihi… Not pretty….
Sorry.
We love Hawaii, have enjoyed all the islands. Hawaii needs to express its concern for those of us from the mainland who are on a fixed income.
Does it value us tourists or not?
If yes, then promote tourism whole heartedly and offer us some incentives.
If not, we can learn to love other locations for clear skies that will actually reduce our stress, not add to it.
At the moment, we don’t feel welcome or valued by dear Hawaii.
Hawaiian vacations pricing themselves out of the market. High cost with little or no housekeeping. Even my dentist and family who were going twice a year can no longer afford it with the cost of high airfare, hotel, food for a family of four. As a retired senior couple we haven’t been back in two years and have no clue when we can afford it. I love Hawaii and had spent 12+ years living there. We wish we could afford it.
Start with not charging $1200/nt for hotel rooms!
You know they are in the dumps when you see more Kama’aina promotions. Of course they juiced the rates so much that Kama’aina still don’t want to pay the rates. You start working the numbers and for only a little bit more you can travel out of state. Speaking of the state, they don’t help anything by taxing the heck out of everything.
For those that have been around long enough the occupancy tax was to pay for the convention center. 25 years later it is still around and periodically increased while always using the same logic. It only impact the tourist.
It has been over a year since 100+ Maui Lahaina fire deaths.
Gov Green, Mayor Bissen, and Chief Pelletier are still in charge and collecting paychecks. No answers, explainations or consequences.
Why would anyone risk traveling to Maui where there is no accountability and no protection for citizens and tourists?
I’m delighted to hear the hotels are ‘hurting a bit’, particularly in Maui! This price gouging is finally coming to nest. The unfortunate factor is, all those Westins, etc., will not be knocked down so locals could have construction of new residences. I’m afraid that, in reality, locals, due to cost, will not be able to have those ‘quaint’ single family homes they had in Lahaina anymore. Land is too expensive, and construction materials too costly, so multi-family housing is probably what they are going to have to get used to. Very sad, but that will probably be the reality.
We enjoy Hawaii and usually spend about 4-5 months there (we’re retired). With the ban on short-term rentals in many areas, the ridiculous additional fees, and sky-high hotel rates, it is cheaper for us to go to Europe for several months where we are welcome. We have always rented a condo for 4-5 months but owners are telling us horror stories of added fees and taxes which get passed on to consumers. Hawaii can’t have it both ways: great incomes for locals and less tourists, the math just doesn’t work. Many of us don’t want to stay in hotels and prefer a condo where we can shop and cook some of our own meals. Hawaii needs more workforce housing but blaming condo owners is shooting themselves in the foot. Thanks.
What does it take for hotels to get the message? Tourists have had enough of the obscenely high prices and are going elsewhere. Be careful what you wish for; your messages of “too many tourists “ has been heard clearly. Why go where we’re not welcome and are blamed as the source of Hawaii’s problems?
When a $500 room goes for $1,000 now, a 5% decrease in occupancy is an acceptable tradeoff for a hotel. This price increase isn’t just Hawaii, it’s across the board on the mainland and in other desirable locations around the world.
My wife and I were married in Hawaii and have made 15 trips back since then. Three of our trips included taking our kids and grandkids back with us. We normally stay a month and the rest of the family stays for 2 weeks. But I think last year was the last time we will ever return. The prices have continued to sky rocket and the friendliness is slowly slipping away. It has always been our favorite place to vacation but next year we are looking at the Caribbean or maybe Mexico where our money will be appreciated. Hawaii had better wake up and get back to the paradise it used to be.
While we’ve cherished travel to Hawaii over the last 30 years, we now feel gauged by the hotels and unwelcome by the residents, who we loved interacting with as much as the location. We have no plans to spend our travel dollars there in the foreseeable future.
Hi Mel. Please come to Kauai and stay at a farm stay. Low accommodation rates and friendly, knowledgeable hosts.
Hawaii’s hotels and condo owners, as well as the governor, mayors and head of tourism are completely out of touch with reality. All they want to do is raise rates and impose more taxes and fees, and they are not taking in to account that the economy of not only this country but other as well is in horrible shape right now. People cannot afford basic necessities, and those who are a bit more financially stable know better than to be taken to the cleaners by the afore mentioned businesses and government agencies. Those who can still afford a getaway will go someplace else where the quality of services is better and the cost is much less. I am beginning to think the state of Hawaii has just about reached the point of no return. Such a shame, and all for greed. It’s a very tough lesson to learn, and unfortunately it looks like they still have not learned anything from their mistakes.
We used to travel to the Hawaiian Islands two or three times a year for the last 25 years. Now, we don’t even consider it. Too expensive and we feel unwelcome to name a couple of reasons. We went to French Polynesia and the Mediterranean this year.
My family has been coming to Hawaii for close to 40 years however, during the last couple of years, we have experienced a lack of welcome. Tourists have been blamed for high rent, environmental damage, and more…I sure wish the tourists would stop dumping their abandoned cars and washing machines, couches, etc in the bush. More and more is being closed off to us. Costa Rica and the Caribbean are much more welcoming and affordable. Good bye Hawaii!
Costa Rica, (Mexico) and the Caribbean are not the US. Costs are of course lower in these other countries.
There is nothing magical about being “the US”. Locals need to be nice, appreciative, and supportive of visitors if they want them to come. Locals in other places know this and know how to create a relaxed, comfortable, fun-filled experience, and seem genuinely appreciative to have the business. Win-win for everyone.
I heard a local here sum it up by saying, “We are not here for the pleasure of visitors, and will not lower ourselves by catering to them”.
If we express that we don’t want guests to come, they for sure will not come. We are seeing that truth play out now.
In my opinion, the government needs to work with the grass roots organizations, as well as with their own councils, to change their messaging, if they want visitors to come. If they don’t want visitors to come, let’s not talk about it as if it is a problem.
Yay!
We have been coming to Maui almost every year for 38 years. We are not planning to come next year due to hotel prices. We paid over $500 a night fpr a ocean view room. Amenities were few and since we live in Pennsylvania we will go to the Carribean instead.
This isnt something that suddenly occurred overnight. This has been building for some time based on what I see with the governor, mayors and some of the local folks. Is it now.. too little… too late? Or can Hawaii get the Aloha spirit back? And appreciate what they had?
People will gravitate to where they are valued and appreciated. I think Hawaii has lost some of that in the past while.
Maybe it’s time the parties rethink what they really want from tourism.. clearly the current actions arent working the best way from an economic standpoint..
Would you go where you feel you aren’t appreciated?
If everyone stops coming, then yes, people will change. It’s survival.
Sometimes the change thay would come is a massive reduction or lifestyle, or departing the state one has grown up in, invested in, and planted roots in, going to the mainland with no way to return.
All I’m hearing about is alot of hurting people and a state gov’t that appears to be oppressing them in the most extreme ways imaginable. My heart absolutely goes out to them.
Once the Golden Goose is dead and cooked it will take along time to bring it back from extinction. Sorry time for the Governor , Island Mayors, and Locals to understand that the tourism that Hawaiis economy was built on has been driven off and it will be hard to get low and high valve tourists to come back. Wake Up Hawaii before it’s too late.