Is the Grand Wailea Really That Grand?

Aloha!  For anyone who has heard of this place, the Grand Wailea in Maui, Hawaii, and is thinking of staying at this hotel,  here is some of what you can expect.  As always, this is my own opinion and I believe a fair one.
You see, its called Grand because it's just that, big. But no one wants to say the Big Wailea, it just doesn't have that swerve of haughtiness to it's name.  Its full of landscaped gardens and over-sized chandeliers that look like giant snail shells. Displays of large colorful flowers are strewn throughout in lovely beds that connect the entire main plaza. 

Main Entrance

Located in the middle of the main plaza there is a splendid water feature where upon a "Lucky Mermaid" statue is located. You can try to toss a coin into the bowl she holds in her hands to bring you luck. Directly behind this is open lounge where you can buy yourself libations and get yourself Mai Tai silly, and if you don't know what a Mai Tai contains, I found a wonderful recipe called "Molly's Mai-Tai" here: http://mauirestaurantsblog.com/mollys-maui-mai-tai/.

I have to mention that the washrooms are not easily identifiable.  This is matched by a significantly small number of map kiosks placed throughout the hotel.  The kiosks are hard to find and additionally, just like the pocket size map they leave in your room, the print is so small or the area too dark for you to read them.  

For those that are pool-fools, you won't be disappointed.  I found that I picked my favorite and by the end of my stay, I had not found all of them so I suggest a little more exploration if that's your thing. They offer some small scale water slides and even have a Grotto (what would Hef say!). Pools close at 10pm so don't think about a romantic hot tub adventure late at night.  

Pool at Grand Wailea

Meals run approximately $30 for Breakfast, Lunch and go up from there.  Rooms are average, nothing really special. The bed was overly soft which didn't work for me, however if you like big, puffy pillows and such, you will love that. 

From what I could gather from the conversations that I had at the hotel with other guests,there is some bragging rights involved to say that you stayed here.  I certainly met some wonderful people although I have to say, that I found a lot of the tourists, were actually rude to the people working there. So if your that tourist that is going over to visit and figure it's okay to lose all sense of politeness and demand unbridled attention, you have 10 billion people who will replace you, seriously you are not that special. And for that special lady that started screaming when she saw an Actor, please! Grow up. It's okay to get excited but I thought I was going to have to perform CPR the way you were going on. I think that a good job for you would be to be duct taped to the front of a Firetruck and use your vocals as a Siren, or hell, why not just become a Singer, you got pipes.

7th Floor View

Overall, my view was great. And at night the Grand shines at giving romantic ambiance by using the pools and small fountains alongside the many walkways.  

In summary, I can't complain as I was given a free trip from a friend. I can, however, say that if it was not free then I do not think I could justify the $750 per night cost, could you?