It’s no secret that we’re fans of the Sheraton Maui Resort, seeing as we’ve stayed there each of the last four years on our trips to Maui. We enjoy the friendly service, the location, and best of all, the views. If you’ve browsed around our site and our photo gallery for any great length of time, you have no doubt seen some of the amazing views we seen while we’re there. Time for a little show and tell to let you in on where to get these same views if you’re staying at the Sheraton.
The Old Lobby
The first place I’d like to share with you is where you can get a view of nearly half of Ka’anapali Beach, just like this one.
In fact, the view is so nice from up here, the Sheraton chose to put one of it’s live webcams at this very spot. Decades ago, back in the earlier days of the Sheraton, this area used to be the lobby of the hotel. We were told the Sheraton was once called the “upside-down hotel” because the lobby was all the way up on the top floor.
So here’s how to get there. When you’re down by the pool area (there are two of them) keep walking along the pathway towards the cliff by Black Rock. You should now see the recently renovated Black Rock Spa, at ground level, and you want to head to the left of that. You’ll be greeted by a Starwood representative at a big concierge desk and there are two elevators across from that. Take that up to the 8th floor and once you step out of the elevator, you’re right there.
Be sure to take a moment looking over the view to your left. You can see the beach, the pools, Black Rock, and even some of the mountains to the west. From there, you can also continue walking on the 8th floor where you’ll see a big open area (the old lobby). The giant open air windows that line this old lobby are just as spectacular, and have a few benches if you’d like to take in the view a little longer.
Pretty impressive so far, but we’re just getting started.
Scenic Lookout
Once you’re done looking out from the old lobby, the next stop is to find a little lesser know spot where I snapped this photo a few years back.
Keep walking through the 8th floor opposite from the elevators you arrived in. You’ll see more open air windows, another building in front of you (building six) out through that lookout, and yet another elevator that awaits you. If you’d rather get a little workout, take the stairs next to the elevator like we do.
The numbers are gonna play a little trick on you. You’re starting on the 8th floor, and you first go down to the 7th floor (which is the Fitness Center). After the 7th floor, you arrive at the 3rd floor. I know, it took us for a surprise at first, too. From this point, it starts looking like an entirely separate hotel, no view of the beach, fewer keiki running around, and even a reserved parking lot.
At the base of the elevator/stairs you came down from, there’s a long walkway that has a slight decline. Take that walkway until you set another elevator and a set of stairs on your left. Take the stairs down to what is the ground floor (also listed as the 2nd floor). You’ll have another walkway on your right this time that will lead you towards the parking lot. When you get to the end of the walk, you’ll see cars on your left and a sign that says “Scenic View” on your right. Unless you want to see the same Mustang convertible in 4 different colors, turn right. 
Follow that short path (shown below) and you’ll find it turns into a circle walkway around a large tree and a sign with the story of Pu’u Keka’a (Black Rock).
And you’re there. One funny story about this view (the one of Lanai above), is that the tree on the right in the photo is no longer there. Maybe it took a day trip to another island.
An Ocean View
By now you’re probably satisfied with grabbing a few choice photos for the folks back home, but we’re not quite done yet. Take the stroll back down the path you came up here on. When you get to the walkway near the parking lot, hang a left and go back down that hallway towards the elevators. Continue on passed the elevators this time and make another left towards some of the rooms that have the best ocean views on this side of the island.
As you continue down this corridor, you’ll come across one open path on your right hand side that leads out to a lawn area. You can choose to take that one or keep walking all the way to the end of the corridor to find a similar exit. These both take you to the same lawn area. Once you’re on the lawn, it’s just you, a few well placed palm trees, the reef behind Black Rock, and a wide open view of the ocean.
Kahekili Beach
Well, I hope you still have room on that memory card of yours (or roll of film if that’s still your thing). One last stop while we’re on this side of the resort is a nice view of Kahekili Beach.
Retrace your steps back towards the elevator and that makeshift Ford Mustang dealership in the parking lot (sorry, I couldn’t resist). This time, walk into the parking lot th
rough the first set of cars on either side and following the driveway to the left when it starts to curve. Obviously watch out for hotel golf carts and cars. Follow the driveway and you’ll soon see Kahekili Beach through the trees.
There’s a few good spots to sneak through the foliage and grab a shot or two of the beach and the private cabana at the Maui Eldorado. If you’re brave and able, there’s a very small ledge area on the rocks, next to the sign that warns “No Diving”. We’ve seen a few people taking photos from that area (okay, I was one of them), and I’m only mentioning it because you probably would have seen it anyway.
Not Too Bad, Eh?
Depending on how long you stopped to enjoy these great views, you’ve probably killed close to a half hour by now, and might even be a little lost on how to get back. Or maybe you want to keep heading down that driveway towards Kahekili Beach for more photos. If not, you have two options on how to get back to the main resort area.
First, you can retrace your steps back through the parking lot. Once you get back to the building, hop in the elevator (or stairs) to the 3rd floor. It’s a right towards the walkway (on an incline this time) that will lead to the next elevator/stairs combo. That one goes only one way, up. Take that to the 8th floor and you’re back in the old lobby. Follow that to yet another elevator (by the first lookout point mentioned here) and that one will take you all the way back to the first floor and the lawn and pool area.
The second option is to just continue down the driveway out of the parking lot, passed the entry gates. Continue down the hill and you’ll see another parking lot and the tennis courts on the right. Follow the signs through there and you’ll make your way back to the lawn area right next to the Black Rock Spa. This is the preferred method if you’re tired of riding in elevators by now.
The Best Views
While these views are pretty amazing, the absolute best views, in our opinion, are from the deluxe ocean front rooms in the Hale O Ka Moana building, also known as building six. Imagine waking up every morning and walking out to a lanai with a view like this one.
Certainly something you could used to, right? I’ll save notes on those for another post.
Mahalo.
