Aloha Surf Hostel, Maui, Hawaii

I stayed at the Aloha surf hostel in Paia Maui for a few nights with my family. They have a special “room” for families called the Ohana (Hawaiian for family). It is really just a shed with a loft.

The hotel has dorm rooms, private rooms along with the family shed that we stayed in.

Family Room

The Ohana room was certainly a bit tight especially since we had a fair bit of luggage for a long trip and jammed a pack and play in there for the baby. There were two singles on the lower level and maybe a queen on the upper level. The upper level was just a bit bigger than the bed and a few feet of head clearance so it was a crawl to the bed. The loft was open at the foot of the bed so we needed to hold on to the 1 year old if he were to crawl up and her certainly couldn’t sleep up there. Though this is a hostel, so actually much nicer than expected.

Kitchen / Food

The kitchen was pretty nice with a common fridge, labels to mark your food, 8 stove burners and enough cookware. You wash your own dishes and cookware when done. The hostel supplied pancake mix in the morning if you wanted to make your own pancakes along with coffee. There were tea bags available 24/7.

Common Areas

The upstairs common area was comfy and usually had nice people around to talk to and entertain / be entertained by our kids. They had a guitar that my daughter tried to play, a TV that wasn’t used much and the reception desk (not 24hr) all next to the kitchen. Downstairs there was an outdoor common area with seating, a star fruit tree (my 1 year old ate a ton of it) and a great hot tub.

Extras

There are laundry machines that take quarters (they provide bulk powdered detergent) and towels for rent. Street parking is free, though note it is across a busy dark road, so be careful parking at night.

Tours

There is a free (other than tips for the guide) daily tour. We didn’t end up taking any but many of them seemed interesting.

Staff / Childcare

Many of the staff members double as babysitters when they are off duty. We had good experiences with Annie (from Canada) and Sofi (from Italy). They generally ask for $25 per hour, which seems like a lot coming from the mainland, but we were happy with the experience overall. Note that this is not a service of the hostel, just a nice bonus. The staff in generally are all very nice. They are usually twentysomethings that are work there about 2 days a week and get a free place to stay in Maui.

Location

The Hostel is in Paia which is a surf town on the north side of the Island. It is under a half hour from the airport. Paia is a small cute town with lots of little shops and restaurants and a great supermarket a 5 minute walk away. See my Maui post.

Aloha Surf Hostel
221 Baldwin Ave
Paia, HI 96779
(808) 868-0117

Photos by Free Travel Genius