We were looking forward to our stay at the Maui Eco Retreat, mainly due to the beautiful pictures of the gardens, the view and the pond, main reason with reserved the Lotus room which opens onto the pond, since we reserved months in advance, as we were going to be in Maui anyway for a family wedding, but staying somewhere the week before.
Whilst communication with the retreat in the leading up was exceptional, albeit with a different person every time, and the check in was easy (Raphael even called us earlier in the day to double-check we had all the directions, etc) the stay from the first day was a disappointment at first sight and below our expectations. To begin with, and it saddens me to say, the picturesque pond seen in the pictures is really a bog, infested with mosquitos that feasted on us on the first night. We were unable to keep the screen doors only, as somehow the insects still got in. So we had to close all the doors and deal with room being very warm. The portable Fan was not enough to cool the room down.
Another issue was the description online of the proximity and access to the beach and the rock pools. Neither are easy to get access to, and since we tried after a rain storm, the trail downhill was muddy, slippery and risky, so we did not go further.
Although we considered checking out earlier, since we were only staying 3 nights we instead spend most of the day out, driving on the Road to Hana, or visiting the surrounding towns such as Haiku, Paia and Makawao.
We realize there are mostly positive reviews for Maui Eco Retreat, and I am sure most guests experienced what they were hoping for, but we are not interested in yoga (perhaps as an exercise only) or any esoteric or spiritual practices.
Raphael whilst a very outgoing and eccentric gentleman and somehow friendly did however come across too blunt for our taste in a host, but I am sure there are guests that won't mind that. Having said that, he was very kind in giving us maps and showings the way of the land.
In all places there positives and negatives, unfortunately there were more negatives this time for us , but I have stay in place where I had a great experience where others didn't. So make your judgement based on more than my review. To Kutira and Raphael, thank you, and please update the pictures and descriptions! Namaste!