Just be glad you didn't stay at Maui's Pioneer Inn when it was new. In 1901, the house rules barred women from the rooms and wouldn't allow men to drink on the front porch. That's what Maui's first hotel was like a century ago. Nowadays, the 45-room inn's harshest warning to guests is to beware of falling mangoes in the courtyard.

Is it plush? No. Luxurious? Not a chance.

The Pioneer Inn in Lahaina is refurbished. Clean. Comfortable enough. And in Maui, a dream destination many people assume is beyond their means, it's affordable.

Granted, there are few experiences more delightful than spending a week at a luxury resort in Maui — if you can afford $350, $400 or more per night. But if you have only a modest budget and want to be able to pay for sightseeing, excursions, meals, souvenirs or the airplane tickets to get to Maui in the first place, then you need an affordable place to stay. Here's a rundown on six lodgings — clean, comfortable and with something in the way of convenience or charm to recommend them — that cost around $135 a night or less, high season, before taxes (the 11.5 percent tax increases the cost to about $150 a night).

The prices below are a guide, not a god. While they represent actual winter rates (a peak season in Hawaii), they're also subject to change, often for the better. Internet discounts, package deals or beyond-the-peak-season specials can save perhaps 15 percent.

Lahaina

Lahaina has always been a gathering place. Once Maui's capital, and for a time the capital of all the Hawaiian Islands, Lahaina became a whaling village, a missionary outpost and a plantation town. It retains the flavor of its more recent past — and its status as a National Historic Landmark — because many of the wood-frame buildings along Front Street date from the 19th century.

Most of those structures today house art galleries, souvenir shops, jewelry stores, trendy restaurants and two decently priced hotels — all within strolling distance of one another. Lahaina's other draw is its harbor, from which most of Maui's sunset sails, snorkeling and whale-watching excursions, scuba dives, submarine rides and Lanai ferries embark.

Pioneer Inn

The Pioneer Inn is at the mouth of Lahaina's harbor. Beyond the falling mangoes, it has kept up with the times while maintaining its place on the National Register of Historic Places. The famous, from Jack London to Jackie O, have slept here or eaten in its restaurant.

Standard rooms have air conditioning, ceiling fans, cable TV, coffee makers, tubs with showers and are furnished with a bistro-sized table and two chairs in addition to the usual queen bed-nightstands-dresser-TV hutch combo. Plantation shutters are at the windows, and a back door opens onto the partitioned porch.

To reach rooms on the second floor of the two-story building, you'll have to climb a flight of leaning stairs, luggage in tow. If your room faces the 130-year-old banyan tree in Banyan Tree Park, you may not need to set the room's alarm clock. The pre-dawn chirping of the birds roosting in the banyan tree — so enormous it covers a whole square block — might well wake you in plenty of time to watch the sunrise and catch your snorkeling excursion.

Pioneer Inn is on the waterfront, though the nearest sandy beach is two blocks away. But parking — which you have to pay for in Lahaina — is included in the room rate, there's a swimming pool in the courtyard, and the desk clerks remember your name.

Published rates (before taxes): standard $120-$140; deluxe $150-$165; suites $165-$180. Address: 685 Wharf St., Lahaina. Contact: 800-457-5457 or www.pioneerinnmaui.com

Lahaina Inn

Before the Lahaina Inn hit the big time with accolades from Travel & Leisure and Conde Nast Traveler magazines, it had a checkered career. Built as a store in 1938, it was converted to a multi-use property with hotel rooms in the 1960s, gutted by fire the same decade, then reconstructed only to devolve to flophouse status by the 1980s.

That all changed with the restoration that turned it into a 12-room boutique hotel furnished with Victorian antiques. Standard rooms, all up the stairs on the second floor, are small — cramped, even — but manage to contain double beds heavy with gingerbread, a wardrobe, and accessory pieces such as side tables and Tiffany-style lamps.

No two rooms are alike, but they all keep to the Victorian theme with wooden floors, floral wallpaper border, nostalgic prints in ornate frames and hand-made Hawaiian quilts. Comforts include air conditioning, ceiling fans, telephones and music systems, but no TVs. Balconies are set with rocking chairs, though you may not care for the views: of a parking lot from rooms on the back, or of the street from rooms on the front.

The two-story Lahaina Inn isn't on the beach or the waterfront. It doesn't have a pool or grounds. Kids under 12 aren't welcome. But its location is central for shopping and dining, particularly at the wildly popular David Paul's Lahaina Grill, adjacent to the inn's tiny lobby. Guest parking (next to the hotel) costs an extra $5 a day.

This member of Small Elegant Hotels is charming for two or three nights, but standard rooms are likely to feel confining on longer stays.

Published rates: standard rooms $119-$139; deluxe rooms $169. Address: 127 Lahainaluna Road, Lahaina. Contact: 800-669-3444 or www.lahainainn.com

Beyond Lahaina

Outside Lahaina proper, between the beach resorts of Kaanapali and the sea cliffs of Kapalua, lies a region loosely defined as Kahana. It's coastal, with beaches pocketed between high-rise condo communities and hilly neighborhoods of single-family homes — ranging from five to nine miles from Lahaina, despite a Lahaina address. There's a close-knit — some would say crowded — feel here among the curving streets and shady vegetation. It's more likely to rain on this part of Maui, hence the vegetation and the rainbows. Shopping centers, supermarkets, restaurants and souvenir stands dot the area but don't overpower it.

Noelani

At the oceanfront Noelani studio, one-, two- and three-bedroom condos may be rented by the night. All units have private terraces that directly overlook the ocean, either across a narrow strip of landscaped lawn or one of the property's two swimming pools. From here you can watch clouds move across the nearby island of Molokai or keep an eye on the sea turtles bobbing in the surf. A sandy beach is next door.

Each unit is privately owned, and individually furnished and decorated. However, all rentals must meet certain standards: All have queen beds, TVs, VCRs, phones and ceiling fans; full kitchens come complete with dishes, cookware, utensils and microwaves. The four-story Noelani, which is smoke-free, provides towels, soap, shampoo, bed linens and midweek maid service. The desk staff is on hand during the day.

But the lack of air conditioning may cause discomfort when the tradewinds stop blowing (two or three weeks, usually during August). Even with the windows open, some units don't catch the breeze. This is an AAA three-diamond property where you could settle in for a week or more, as long as you won't miss the air conditioning.

Published rates: studio $135; deluxe studio $150; one-bedroom $180; two-bedroom $257; three-bedroom $317. Address: 4095-L Honoapiilani Road, Lahaina. Contact: 800-367-6030; www.noelani-condo-resort.com

Kihei

The town of Kihei is in South Maui, a region identified in the Hawaiian language as kamaole, meaning barren. Vacationers may take that to mean days of sunshine unbroken by clouds, much less rain.

Kihei's shopping centers, supermarkets, movie theaters, restaurants and souvenir shops line up along a flat straightaway that's often clogged with traffic, all sandwiched between the shoreline on one side and a narrow strip of neighborhoods on the other. The feel is open and suburban, with waterfront parks (not all of them have sandy beaches) taking wide swaths of the shorefront between mostly mid-rise condos.

Hale Kamaole

By now you should have the condo-rental concept down: Each unit is privately owned, individually furnished and must meet certain standards. At Hale Kamaole, the standards start with large floor plans (950 square feet in the one-bedroom units), queen beds, cable TVs, VCRs, stereos, phones — and full kitchens with cooking and dining gear, toasters, blenders, coffee makers and microwaves. Air conditioning is being installed as window units.

All condos here — one- and two- bedroom, and two-bedroom with loft — have private terraces or balconies and are set at an angle facing the sweeping, landscaped lawn, which contains tennis courts, barbecue grills, two swimming pools and lots of room for kids to run. The angle of the two-story buildings means that most units have an open view to the beach park just across the road, and mountain views as well. Toiletries and linens are provided. Maid service can be arranged at reception.

This property is managed by Hale Kamaole Homeowner's Cooperative and is a place you could comfortably stay for a week or longer, if crossing a busy street to reach the beach doesn't bother you.

Published rates: one-bedroom $122; two-bedroom $167; two-bedroom with loft $177. Address: 2737 S. Kihei Road, Kihei. Contact: 800-367-2970; www.halekamaole.net.

Maui Oceanfront Inn

Just refurbished to the tune of $7 million, this roadside motel is on Keawakapu Beach, within shouting distance of the pricey Wailea district. It shares a parking lot with the adjacent and award-laden Sarento's on the Beach restaurant. Renovation notwithstanding, the rooms are a bit on the small side. But the clutter-free decor — tile floors, plantation shutters and recessed entertainment cabinet — leaves the rest of the space free for the queen-size bed and glass-topped bistro table with two chairs. The TV, alarm clock, coffee maker and mini fridge are all in the entertainment cabinet. A safe is in the curtained closet. The bathroom is so compact, it's easy to catch your hip on the corner of the sink while trying to get to the toilet, and the shower stall is narrow.

Even so, the rooms have both ceiling fans and air conditioning, and the beach — with beach showers and a water-sports kiosk — is so comely it was voted Maui's most romantic.

This Best Western affiliate is a tidy beachfront bargain where you could stay four or five nights before starting to feel crowded.

Published rates: standard room $112; two-room suite $149. Address: 2980 S. Kihei Road, Kihei. Contact: 800-263-3387 or www.mauioceanfrontinn.com

Upcountry

It's natural to think of Maui in terms of the beach, but Maui is a mountain destination as well. The lower slopes of 10,000-foot Haleakala Volcano are home to cattle ranches, flower farms, botanical gardens, bedroom communities, the vintage storefronts of Makawao town, and panoramic views. The climate is cooler and sometimes overcast.

Kula Lodge

The 1970s still reign at Kula Lodge. Wood shingles on the outside, wood paneling on the inside and a rock fireplace in the lobby are more reminiscent of John Denver than Don Ho. That's what it takes for this aggregate of mountain cabins to fit in here among the eucalyptus, ironwood and Norfolk pine trees, 3,200 feet above the Maui coast.

Rooms, or chalets as the hotel calls them, are rustic in the sense that there are no TVs, no stereos and no phones, and smell faintly of cigarette smoke. But they're not without homey touches, such as queen beds spread with duvet covers and antique-look mirrors.

Even the standard garden-view chalets have elbow room and private wood decks, though at least one garden-view deck is spared a parking-lot view only by a screen of vegetation. Mountain-view chalets have mini lofts that would be fun for kids old enough to climb the ladder. In the aptly named vista chalets, stairs lead to a second-story loft furnished for grownups; there's a fireplace in the living area, and picture windows overlook the isthmus and West Maui.

This home-grown family retreat is good for two or three nights to explore nearby Haleakala National Park in depth.

Published rates: garden $115-$135; mountain $145-$165; vista $175-$195. Address: 15200 Haleakala Highway, Kula. Contact: 800-233-1535 or www.kulalodge.com

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