Location location location. Great little hippie-casual town which has matured into its touristic boom well despite the traffic.
Kitchenette better than expected, in addition to the local eating spots, the local food & fish from the market 2-blocks away was amazing.
Barbecue. Comfortable patio, step out to a pleasant view of a local Hawaiian neighborhood. Easy walk to beaches as well as town.
This is a real place to stay, to get a sense of local culture. Use it as a base, it feels like home here afterwards. Nothing is really that far away, and you could start on the road to Hana early to get ahead of the crowd. Get to everything on Maui early if you can, it’s more fun.
Nearby, Mama’s Fish House is a culinary revelation.
Bed is quite firm. Coffee in Paia doesn’t open until 7am (we were often at Paia Coffee at opening), so if you’re coming from another time zone, you might want to get to the market for Java upon checkin...3 blocks away.