Earlier this month Maui County authorities announced a crackdown with hefty fines on vacation rental owners who were letting their properties out without county approval. This caused most vacation rentals and the majority of B&Bs to stop taking visitors and cancel their upcoming reservations. That's the majority of vacation rentals on Maui, numbering probably nearly 1,000 as opposed to the far smaller number permitted and legal B&B's and vacation rentals. The crackdown, however, appears to be poorly thought out and executed. I called the Maui County Planning Division (the body that will enforce the crackdown) to get a list of legal B&B's and vacation rentals so I can make sure that if, say, some friends want to come, they can rent with confidence that their place won't get shut down. Unfortunately, the process of accessing permit records is a multi-click ordeal that involves wildcard keystrokes and knowing which the proper entry field a special permit code. A nice guy from Maui County walked me through although he was apologetic and did admit the shortfalls. Here is the Web page that should lead you to permitted vacation rentals but you'll need to call the county first and ask for the Planning Department. Most of these listings, however, are not vacation rentals but are conditional permits for other things. Some of vacation rentals listed on this site have expired permits so they could get shut down, too.

So it's pretty much click and miss. There are only 230 matching records. Less than 1/4 of these are vacation rentals. Over on the B&B side, there are only 63 permitted B&B's on Maui. Many have expired permits. The upshot? Less than 1/10 of all the vacation rental and B&B rooms on Maui are permitted and most of them have shuttered. This is huge. Hotels and condos (most of which have dodged this bullet due to grandfathered laws or something like that, according to the Planning Department) should be jumping for joy. Going to Maui has, in essence, gotten a whole lot more expensive and in a hurry. Rental agencies are freaking out. Hotel occupancy historically pretty tight on Maui so in the coming year Maui hotels could get a bump from refugees from vacation rentals. For families traveling, a hotel or condo is now about the only option because the thought of getting stood up with three kids in tow is total Maui buzz kill. I hope the county can work out an easier way for potential visitors to figure out what's legal and what's not and compile a simple list of permitted, legal properties. It would probably take them all of an afternoon but do an immense service for travelers. Maui, No Ka Oy!

—Alex, 07/26/07