08/12/2023
Aloha to all of our upcoming guests.
We’re here on the ground. Here’s what is really happening. The Lahaina fire is actually in a very concentrated area. Our condo is six miles north of the affected area. For us, we only experienced a loss of power, cell service, and internet. So, for the first few days, we didn’t know what was going on. Everything north of Lahaina is unaffected. Kaanapali, Kahana, Napili, Honokowai, Kapalua, and points north are unaffected by the fires other than loss of services. If you were in those areas and did not know better, you’d think nothing happened.
That being said, Lahaina was a total loss. The problem lies in the fact that there is basically one road in and one road out of Lahaina around the south side of the island. And to get to our condo, you need to travel through the affected area. We did leave the area by the north route, but that road is worse than the road to Hana, be it shorter. For the next few weeks travel to Lahaina will be limited to residents and relief crews. Unfortunately, the news has made it sound like the entire island of Maui is a disaster. The government has declared Maui as a disaster area to get much-needed resources to Lahaina. But if you go anywhere else on the Island, it’s business as usual. All the other tourist bubbles are going on as if nothing happened. Many of the guests from the west side of the island found accommodations at Kihei, Wailea, and Makena. About 15,000 tourists left the island in the first two days. Most of the tourists on the west side of the island were evacuated because they did not have power and services. All the restaurants and stores were closed because of the loss of power. Not because they were in immediate danger.
So here are the challenges for us. We know it will be weeks before power is restored. Power has been restored in some parts of West Maui, but we don’t know if or when we will have power in our condo. We left the condo and are staying with friends. As soon as we have power, we will be heading back to the condo. Our biggest concern is that Trinity Maid Service (our cleaning company) was destroyed in the fire. We’re not sure how that is going to play out. At the moment, we’re still counting our losses and our blessings. The bright side is that all of the grocery stores, gas station restaurants, and tourist activities will be up and running soon. But it’s going to be a few months before things are back to normal. Lahaina excluded.
Where does that leave us? We know that access via Lahaina will be disrupted for the next month or so. We know it might be weeks before we have power. We know that our cleaning company is gone, and we don’t know the full extent of the disruption to tourist services. We are blessed that our area in Maui was unaffected by the fire. It’s still too soon to understand the entirety of the issues around the fire in our area.
All of this being said, we have decided to cancel/ allow guest cancellations to existing reservations for the next several weeks. We will waive any cancelation fees. We will also allow the transfer of travel dates if the guest would like, for any open spot on our availability calendar with the exception of holidays. We suspect that travel will be back to normal by late fall. But at the moment it’s too soon to say for sure.
We are trying to make the best of a really bad situation. This disaster was not anyone’s fault. It was a true natural disaster. So as a gesture of gratitude for booking with us and having to cancel because of the fire, we would like to give you a discount on rebooking with us in the next year. (Holidays excluded) If you choose to rebook with us, we will give you a discount code to receive a 20% discount on your next booking if you book directly with us via our website. Not only will you receive a discount for rebooking, but you will not have to pay Airbnb or VRBO’s 12% booking fee. We know it’s not perfect, but if you rebook, your tourist dollars will go far in aiding the recovery efforts in Lahaina.
Thank you for supporting us during this difficult time. We hope that you come back to Maui and help with your tourist dollars to support the rebuilding of Lahaina. Maui is still open for tourism and remains a magical place to visit. Please pray for the families and businesses in Lahaina.
Mahalo,
Mark & Annette
