The Hilton Amex
Tyler has the Hilton Amex Surpass credit card, and it comes with some serious perks. The annual fee is $150 as of October 2023, and if you use the card wisely, the value the card provides is definitely worth the fee. Like most credit cards, the Hilton Amex came with an amazing intro offer – we got 130,000 points after spending $3k in the first 6 months of owning the card. You also get complimentary Hilton Honors Gold Status as a cardholder. But now, the best benefit, and the one we keep coming back for: you earn a complimentary 1 night free stay after spending $15k in a calendar year. You have 1 year to use the free night. You can use the free night stay at virtually any Hilton (excluding all-inclusive resorts) for a standard room – this is a HUGE benefit! It doesn’t matter the cost of the standard room, nor the star rating of the Hilton – you get 1 night free! Tyler and I make a game out of finding the most expensive and best Hiltons to book to get the most bang for our buck. The only downside is leaving after 24 hours; we practically have to get dragged out of there each time we use a free night stay. In 2023, we chose to use our 1 free night stay at the Hilton Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria resort in Maui. It was nothing short of incredible. Read on for more details, but the quick summary is: don’t walk, run to book your stay at the Hilton Grand Wailea resort in Maui now!
The Room
We were lucky and got our room upgraded 2 levels higher than the “standard” room upon check in. You can’t always count on this, but we’ve been lucky both of the years we’ve used our free Hilton Amex reward night at some of the best Hilton resorts. Perks of being a Hilton gold member include automatic upgrades when you check in, if there are upgraded rooms available. This afforded up a beautiful view of the Hilton Grand Wailea property, as well as the ocean. The room itself was nice, but the balcony was definitely the best part of our room. There was a patio set on the balcony that was perfect for people watching and hanging out in the cool evening air post-dinner. Sitting on the balcony was also how we realized “omg we need to get down to the beach for sunset ASAP!” The bathroom in our room was also amazing, and huge. It featured a giant soaking tub, including a little packet of calming bath salts, if soaking is your thing. To have the best chances at scoring a free upgrade, the staff recommended coming in the fall, which is Maui’s lowest season. The fewer people in Maui, the better chance you have at getting upgraded!
The Grand Wailea Pools
I am a self-proclaimed ocean girl versus a pool girl, but the Grand Wailea was working hard to change my mind. The “activity pool” area features 9 different pools connected by 5 small waterslides. It was so much fun going between the 6 different levels of pools and sliding down to get to the next. There’s even a lazy river at the bottom where you can float – I wish we had brought inner tubes with us! Tyler also enjoyed the Tarzan rope swing where you can jump into a plunge pool after swinging on a suspended rope. There are also 2 bigger waterslides: the less extreme one is white and you can sit up the whole time, which was totally my jam/thrill level. Tyler preferred the red lava tube slide which is totally enclosed and you have to go down on your back. That’s a no for me, but he loved it. Needless to say, it’s hard to get bored at this pool(s). If you’re looking for a more serene experience, there is an adults only pool called the hibiscus pool where you can chill out. There aren’t a whole lot of beach chairs at this pool, so I recommend getting there early to grab a spot. This is definitely the best hotel pool I’ve ever been to!
The Grand Wailea Beach
The beach right off the back of the Hilton Grand Wailea pools is just gorgeous. Wailea beach is a public beach, so you don’t have to be a hotel guest to enjoy the soft, clean sand here. Make sure you look up what time sunset will be so that you can leave behind the awesome pools and scamper down the 50 feet to the beach for a beautiful sunset! Lots of people gather for the sunset, as the view from this beach is perfect. Grab a towel and take a seat on the sand – the show in the sky starts roughly 45 minutes before sunset. This is definitely one of the best sunset beaches in Maui.
Another bonus of staying at the Hilton Grand Wailea is the easy access to the Wailea Beach walking path. It’s a really nice paved path that is right along the ocean and grants access to several public beaches. The path stretches both north and south from the Hilton Grand Wailea and lets you scope out some of the competition, like the Four Seasons Resort Maui and the Marriott Wailea Beach Resort. Work off some of those Mai Thai’s and take a stroll during golden hour!
Dining at the Grand Wailea
I’m going to be honest, the $50 Hilton dining credit you receive with the Hilton Amex won’t get you far at this resort. We looked at the menu for Olivine, the Grand Wailea’s signature restaurant featuring Italian and seafood dishes, and had total sticker shock. We are not huge foodies, but some of the dishes did look amazing – if only we had $45 pasta dishes in our budget! Instead, we pivoted and ate a light dinner at the Botero Lounge in the heart of the Hilton hotel. The rooms look down upon the lounge, and it was really beautiful all lit up at night.
The lounge was more in our price range, and if we hadn’t had Koloa Hawaiian rum punch in our mini fridge in the room (iykyk), we definitely would’ve had one of the fun cocktails on their menu. The food menu is quite limited, but it was perfect for us. We had a big bowl of edamame (Tyler’s first time trying them, I think he grew up under a rock) as well as an assortment of various dim sum. It was a great way to wrap up the evening.
The Hilton Grand Wailea is the only Waldorf Astoria we’ve been to, and it was pure bliss. Book your stay at one of the world’s best Hilton beach resorts and get the most bang for your buck with the Hilton Amex free night award here!