The best surf hotels · Maui, Hawaii
Paia Inn
The only boutique hotel on Maui's North Shore sits in the middle of Paia town — a yellow plantation-era building on Hana Highway, flanked by a surf shop and a gas station, with a hidden courtyard behind it and a beach house at the end of the path that has been the Maui headquarters for more people than will say so publicly. Ho'okipa Beach Park, where the North Shore swell and the trade winds converge on a reef that the world's best windsurfers and surfers have been competing at since 1980, is three minutes east. Mama's Fish House — which has been sourcing directly from the fishing boats that dock at the harbour across the street since 1973 — is five. Architect Michael Baskin bought the 1920s plantation building in 2008 and renovated it without moving the walls, which is why the rooms are small and the common areas are specific and the whole thing feels like it belongs to Paia rather than being placed in it. The beach house at the end of the path is a different proposition: three bedrooms on the sand, Viking stove, Jacuzzi, outdoor living room, the Pacific in front of it. Paia Inn doesn't announce itself. That's the point.
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The hotel
The Design
A 1920s plantation building on Hana Highway. The architect kept the walls and the character. Everything else is his.
Baskin kept the original internal wall configuration and the plantation exterior, then layered in Balinese antique drawers repurposed as sink cabinets, travertine-tile bathrooms, organic Malie bath products, and handpicked art throughout. The buildings step toward the ocean — the beach house, at the end of the path, has a Viking stove, a Jacuzzi, and an outdoor living room on the sand.
The Design
A 1920s plantation building on Hana Highway. The architect kept the walls and the character. Everything else is his.
Baskin kept the original internal wall configuration and the plantation exterior, then layered in Balinese antique drawers repurposed as sink cabinets, travertine-tile bathrooms, organic Malie bath products, and handpicked art throughout. The buildings step toward the ocean — the beach house, at the end of the path, has a Viking stove, a Jacuzzi, and an outdoor living room on the sand.
The Surf
Ho'okipa Beach Park is three minutes east. The North Shore of Maui does not require an introduction.
Ho'okipa is where the trade winds and the North Shore swell converge — a reef break that holds world-class surf and the world's best windsurfing in the same bay. Baldwin Beach, five minutes west, is the longboard and beginner break. The inn keeps surfboards and boogie boards for guests. The North Shore's surf culture predates tourism on Maui and shows no signs of accommodating it.
The Surf
Ho'okipa Beach Park is three minutes east. The North Shore of Maui does not require an introduction.
Ho'okipa is where the trade winds and the North Shore swell converge — a reef break that holds world-class surf and the world's best windsurfing in the same bay. Baldwin Beach, five minutes west, is the longboard and beginner break. The inn keeps surfboards and boogie boards for guests. The North Shore's surf culture predates tourism on Maui and shows no signs of accommodating it.
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