Maui County has a love/hate relationship with tourism. Of course, Maui County realizes that tourism provides jobs and income for a large percentage of Maui residents. Large swaths of oceanfront property such as Wailea and Kaanapali have been zoned for the construction of hotels and condominiums aimed at accommodating Maui’s visitor population. The thinking at the time was that, in order to keep hotels from springing up all over the island (Mauians seem deathly afraid of their island becoming too much like Oahu), hotels and tourists should be limited to specific areas of the island.
All of that was prior to Americans discovering alternate lodging accommodations like bed and breakfast inns. Individual Mauians realized that they could glean a little extra income from renting a room or two to visitors looking for a more authentic experience than could be provided in a hotel or condo setting. Due to a certain laxness in Maui’s zoning laws and their enforcement, and due to the fact that Maui’s government really didn’t want to quash this business which provided income (even it was “off the books”), B&B’s (legally defined on Maui as rooms in a home where the owner or manager lives on site) and transient vacation rentals (also known as TVR’s, where there is no owner or manager on site, such as an entire house that is rented to vacationers) proliferated in all areas of Maui, dedicated or not to tourism. Of course, this being Maui, the story is a bit more complicated than that, but that will do for the time being. Upon being installed in office, Maui’s current mayor Charmaine Tavares decided to enforce the law that all vacation rentals outside of those areas that were zoned for hotels were illegal and needed to be permitted and that those accommodations that lacked permits were to be closed. After years of wrangling by Maui’s county council, the cumbersome permit process has been somewhat streamlined (if you call reducing the waiting time from 5 to 10 years to one year “streamlined”!) and there are actually B&B’s and TVR’s that have permits and are currently legally operating. To find the official list of permitted Maui County B&B’s and TVR’s, go to http://www.co.maui.hi.us/index.aspx?NID=1206 and scroll down to the “Permitted TVRs and B&Bs” link listed under “Resources”.
As you can see from the list, each accommodation has a permit number. There are also quite a few pending applications. Always inquire (or check their website) of your potential host to be certain they have a valid Maui County permit number. B&B and TVR accommodations without permits are illegal. The owners of illegal accommodations may not carry adequate insurance and may not pay hotel and or property taxes. And, should something go wrong or be unacceptable, you may have no recourse at all since you are dealing with someone operating outside of the law. And who’s to say they’ll still be around between the time they cash your advance deposit check and you finally arrive on Maui?
While most states and tourist areas have well-developed, time-tested laws and permits to regulate alternative vacation accommodations, Maui is just now slowly getting it’s act together. A pretty website does not necessarily make for a satisfying vacation experience. Given the current circumstances, it is up to you to do the research prior to plunking down your hard-earned vacation cash.
Bill Rees is the General Manager of the Outrigger Maui Eldorado Resort. He has been in the hotel business for longer than he cares to admit and he has the anecdotes and nervous tics to prove it! When not at work or exploring Maui, Bill, who is a Honoapiilani Highway road warrior, spends time working on his historic Wailuku home. Bill can be reached at bill.rees@outrigger.com
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Tags: Lahaina Bed and Breakfast, Lahaina Hotels, Lahaina Vacation Rentals, Maui Accomodations, Maui Bed and Breakfast, Maui Hotels, Maui Vacation Rentals
