I was skeptical when booking a luau, as I tend to listen to what locals have to say: "Stay away from luaus - they tend to be tourist traps!". My wife has "See a Luau" on her bucket list, so I went ahead and begrudgingly booked this. My first choice - The Old Lahaina Luau" was booked up solid one month in advance. The Maui Nui Luau looked to be one of the more scenic venues and was associated with the Sheraton. It landed on many "Top 5 Best Maui Luau" lists... so I went ahead and booked it for a
Friday night.
Right off, the Sheraton valet attendant was very nice and helpful. There was no hard sell to use valet parking ($5) versus self-serve ($2) and he explained exactly how to get to the event. (BTW, $5 for valet parking is a steal! I went with that.)
The Luau was well organized. The performers helped people find their seating areas, the drinks, activities, crafts, etc. There was a spear throwing/rock rolling game, Henna tattoos, a viewing of the roasted pig in the imu ... plus the incredible sunset view of Black Rock. All of this kept us busy until the show started.
The show itself was a well-tuned machine - and included amazing dancing, singing, musicians and a fire blade show...and, oh yes, a delicious buffer. Even my picky kids loved the food.
The dancing was well choreographed and explained - without being an overburdened history lesson! There was some audience participation thrown in - that fortunately did not include me going on stage. The fire-blade performer - who we were told had won awards/titles - was amazing. My only wish is that he had been accompanied by a few other fire-blade performers on stage (although, maybe they tried and nobody could keep up with him!). The MC had a fantastic singing voice and kept the show moving along at a nice pace with her stories and fun sense of humor. The 5-piece band that provided the back-bone for the show, played wonderful Hawaiian music through out the entire event. Very talented and obviously seasoned professionals. The time went by very quickly and before I knew it, the show was over.
For someone who went into this very skeptical, I came away a believer. I am not sure I will go to another luau on any returning trips (hard to top this), but I am glad my wife talked me into going to this one. Very entertaining. I highly recommend this show.