Maui condos & vacation rentals: how to choose
A Kīhei condo with a kitchen and a lānai is the classic Maui rental, and for a family staying a week it usually beats two hotel rooms on both cost and comfort. But Maui now has the most consequential short-term-rental law of any destination on this site: in December 2025 the County Council voted to phase out vacation rentals in the apartment zoning districts, which is exactly where much of the island’s condo inventory sits. Read the note below before you book — and especially before you book a long way ahead.
⚠︎ Maui’s vacation-rental phase-out — read this before booking
Short-term rentals on Maui are legal only where the zoning allows them: in hotel- and resort-zoned properties, in districts where transient vacation rentals (TVRs) are a permitted use, and under individually issued Short-Term Rental Home or Bed and Breakfast Home permits — the County publishes lists of every permitted property. On 15 December 2025 the Maui County Council passed Bill 9, CD1, FD1 (2025) by 5–3, phasing out TVR use in the A-1 and A-2 apartment districts — the legacy “Minatoya list” condos. As passed by the Council and pending the mayor’s signature, TVRs in those districts would be prohibited from 2029 in the West Maui community plan area and from 2031 in the rest of the County. The Council also introduced Resolution 25-230, which would set up new H-3 and H-4 hotel districts to let roughly 4,500 of those units keep operating, handled through council-initiated zoning changes rather than individual owner applications. Practically: rentals are bookable now, those two dates are the ones to watch, and for any stay near or after them you should confirm the specific property’s status with the County of Maui rather than with the listing.
Rules and individual property statuses are still changing — confirm the current position: County of Maui — short-term rental permits and published property lists.
Who a rental suits
Rentals suit families and groups who need bedrooms, laundry and a kitchen; anyone staying a week or more, where cooking a few meals materially moves the budget; and travelers who would rather be in Kīhei, Upcountry or on the North Shore than in a resort corridor. A short stay, a first visit, or a trip where you want a serviced beachfront is simpler in a hotel or a resort-zoned property — and comes with none of the zoning homework below.
Verify before you book
- What the property’s zoning actually is: hotel or resort-zoned, a permitted Short-Term Rental Home or B&B, or an apartment-district TVR subject to the phase-out. This is the first question, not the last.
- For dates from 2029 in West Maui or 2031 elsewhere in the County, whether that specific unit has been rezoned into the new H-3/H-4 hotel districts — ask the operator to confirm it in writing.
- The permit or registration number shown in the listing, checked against the County’s published lists of permitted bed and breakfast homes, short-term rental homes and transient vacation rentals.
- The all-in total: nightly rate, cleaning fee, resort or amenity fee, parking, and roughly 19% in combined state and county accommodation taxes plus passed-on excise tax.
- Whether the unit has air conditioning (plenty of older condos are fan-and-trade-wind only), which floor it is on, and whether the building has a lift.
- The cancellation terms, given both the regulatory uncertainty above and a hurricane season that runs 1 June to 30 November.
Where to look for rentals
Kīhei has by far the deepest supply — low condo blocks facing the Kamaʻole beach parks, most with kitchens and self-parking. Honokōwai, Kahana and Nāpili do the same job on the West Maui side, a few minutes north of the Kāʻanapali resorts and for less. Wailea and Kapalua hold the villa and residence-style units at the top of the market. Upcountry (Makawao, Kula) and Haʻikū offer cottages and houses with cool nights and no beach, and East Maui around Hāna has a small, genuinely remote supply. Note that the phase-out bites hardest on apartment-district condo stock — which is concentrated in precisely the West and South Maui blocks visitors book most.
Check live rentals & availability
Browse current Maui rentals on Vrbo — then confirm the property’s zoning or permit status with the County before you pay.
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Prefer a serviced beachfront and no zoning homework? Compare hotels & resorts →