We just returned from our first-ever trip to Hawaii and it’s safe to say we are smitten! Jason and I were able to sneak away to celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary and some R&R was just what we needed.

We opted to only visit Maui and we seriously fell in love with the island. It’s less developed than Oahu, but still plenty to do. Instead of high rises it’s mostly gorgeous resort areas and tons of undeveloped natural beauty (from beaches to mountains).

We split our time between two different areas of the island- Ka’anapali and Wailea. We started at the Hyatt Regency Maui Resort and Spa in Ka’anapali (west shore of Maui). Ka’anapali was once home to sugar cane fields but was turned into Hawaii’s first planned resort area and is home to quite a few beautiful beach resorts.

We had a fun little anniversary surprise waiting on us in the room.

The view from our room was pretty spactuclar, but the room itself was a bit small.

The beach was stunning in Ka’anapali!

There is a public beach walk that connects the resorts (directly on the beach). so we enjoyed strolling from resort to resort and taking in the scenery.

The Hyatt would be great for families- we saw tons of kids! The pool was great.

So after two nights at the Hyatt, we made our way to central Maui to another resort area- Wailea. We stopped for brunch at Merriman’s, which I’ll cover in my food post. The views here were insane. Most beautiful piece of property I’ve EVER seen. Just stunning.

We took the scenic route around the back side of west Maui (which can be kind of dangerous!), but we were rewarded handsomely with gorgeous and off-the-beaten path views.

I highly recommend the book Maui Revealed– it has tons of info about Maui, much of which you won’t find in any other reviews or guidebooks. We read about these Olivine Pools and decided to stop. You have to hike down a little way to the water, but these are the most incredible tide pools in barren lava. SO COOL! And beautiful. And dangerous with HUGE crashing waves and sharp pieces of lava rock, so be careful!

After our planned detour, we finally arrived at the Four Seasons in Wailea, which was about as dreamy as it gets.

I just really cannot say enough about this hotel. We certainly splurged since it was a big occasion for us and we were treated like royalty! The service was spectacular. Every employee was kind and accommodating.

The concierge so graciously upgraded us to the club level in celebration of our anniversary, which meant our room had a balcony overlooking the pool and ocean.

My view every morning…not too shabby!

Our floor had a special lounge that was always overflowing with hot bites to eat, cold drinks, and drawers full of candy, chips, ice cream, and anything else we could have wanted. Our kids would have been in heaven!

This was the lounge…we frequented it for snacks and drinks. And a candy bar or two.

The grounds at the Four Seasons were just stunning. The most lush landscaping dotted with beautiful white pool cabanas all overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Heaven I tell you.

Our favorite spot was the adults only serenity pool. Oh, goodness. It was quiet and relaxing and just perfection. We spent quite a few hours there our first afternoon at the hotel.

Here was our view:

When we were finally able to pull ourselves away from the pools, the beach at Wailea was pretty spectacular, as well.

The beach here in Destin is about as gorgeous as it gets, but having mountains in the background in Hawaii is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Jason and I probably said to each other “this is so gorgeous!” about 500 times during our trip. We were in awe!

And you know food is super important to us so I’m planning a separate post just dedicated to our Maui eats. The restaurants at the Four Seasons are great- Spago was our absolute favorite!

I’m glad we decided to split our time between different sides of the island. That said, I wouldn’t have wanted to stay in the Hyatt after the Four Seasons. We were very pleased with the Hyatt, but the Four Seasons was just so spectacular that anything else would have been a let down after.

We cannot wait to visit Maui again! We’d love to bring the kiddos in a few years!