We hoped for exactly what Mike delivered by finding a smaller home/cottage away from the masses of tourists and therefore the typical resort experience. Some research into the town of Haiku seemed to support our guesstimations and while we found the previous reviews helpful, we still hoped we made the right choice.
We made the right choice.
Mike owns a really thoughtful, clean, and amenity-laden cottage in the middle of a small town with, in our opinion, everything anyone would need for a trip to Maui. While we echo other comments about the loft access more suited for younger folks (our 13 and 10 year olds thougt they found Nirvana), it still provides a great look and feel in the space. The kitchen offers everything necessary to really cook and the bbq gives another option for fresh fish and whatnot. WiFi and TV all service the house we got surprisingly strong cell connectivity, even in the spacious backyard. The yard itself provides a lot of secluded room and the lack of light at night allowed for really great stargazing right off the porch with a clearing area past the trees.
Maybe even more than the house we really like the town and the area. The food truck court 2 min walking away provided some of the best (and most affordable) food we ate all week made by some just great people. The store, also within 2 min walking distance, sold anything we needed at reasonable prices, including prepared food like poke. Withing 15 min we could drive to Paia if we wanted a little more tourist vibe with bars and whatnot, a solid central point after visiting some great local-centric beaches (go swim at Sprecklesville Beach inside the reef to kick it with turtles and fish, ignoring the label as a baby beach.) 25 min drive got us to the airport and Kihei area and a leisurely hour took us to the center of tourism in Kaanapali-area on the couple of days we wanted to drive the West Side of the island. Turning the other direction we could immediately and easily jump on the road to Hana and explore the East Side of the island by way of driving over the rest of the North Side.
Ultimately, if you want a really nice home in a very quiet town, away from tourists, but with central access to just about anything in Maui, we definitely recommend Mike's spot in Haiku.