The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua

Absolutely stunning location. However the unwelcoming ,Ho- hum, mundane service was a real disappointment. My husband and I have traveled and I’ve stayed at many of Ritz Carlton‘s locations and this by far has been the most disappointing. When you come to a five star luxury hotel you do expect an elevated experience in feeling that your business is appreciated. This was a very underwhelming experience to say the least. The vibe here is different.

If you’re wanting the normal experience when you come to a Ritz-Carlton location, unfortunately Kapalua has fallen short. My husband and I have traveled and have stayed in many Ritz-Carlton‘s around the world. The location is absolutely stunning. The rooms are OK. they could use an upgrade but it’s the staff that was just sub par not inviting not endearing as I’ve come to experience other Ritz Carlton’s. Not sure why the vibe is what it is here, but it didn’t make our stay here very memorable.

First thing first - absolutely top class service across concierge, front desk, house keeping, restaurant (breakfast and banyan tree) Though my favourite is the concierge team who I was in touch before arriving to book all my tours. Super helpful and professional team. Front desk as expected delivered a great service with a smile. Whenever and wherever you are in the resort you will always meet somebody greeting you with a smile and genuine politeness. I had a great experience at Banyan Tree which I have posted separately but still my favourite is the team at breakfast service. Great breakfast buffet (my favourite fresh juice and omelette). Room service though had limited option atleast the day I ordered. The restaurant/bar at the lobby level is packed all the evenings and they don’t book table if you are solo. It’s crowded noisy so I would say check out some of the great restaurants within walking distance outside the hotel. Ofcourse Banyan Tree in the hotel is a great choice for dinner one of the days. As it’s a resort there are tons of activities for family with kids but I went for the tales of Kapa Moe (includes dinner) one evening and spa. Tales of Kapa Moe was bit disappointing because of sitting and even average food, inspite of the resort having one of the best restaurant on the island. Spa was 10/10 and they probably have some of the best therapist!!! The resort is located on the north west part of the island which means it’s 45-60 mins drive from the airport, totally on the opposite side of Hana ( south east) or turtle beach (east coast). So this is more like away from the touristy places. But the resort has its own beach which is quite nice too. Also one of the factor what made this a great stay was booking through Fine hotel & resort - AMEX which adds lot of extra benefits like breakfast upgrade late check out etc. I got a great partial sea view room. Lastly super nice Fitness centre.

To call this stay disappointing would be an understatement. The property itself is beautifully landscaped and well maintained and situated behind a fabulous beach (especially for those, like us, who enjoy a more energetic beach with fun waves, bodyboarding etc.), but all this is completely destroyed by the service experience. We stayed over the new year - and while this might be an excuse for poor service, the caliber of the staff was so far off from “ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen” to be almost comical. Unless you really don’t know better or have had your service expectations completely beaten down by big chain cost cutting, I guarantee you will be appalled by the standards here. A standout was on this same (lovely) beach, sitting in front of the two “gentlemen” managing the loungers and listening to the one (in Ritz Carlton attire - not Chris btw, who was one of the few professional staff members we encountered) tell the other how he had vomited all over a girl, including in her hair, the night before. And there is more 1. We twice waited over an hour to be served in the lobby restaurant (the only evening option outside of the fine dining restaurant) despite devoting ourselves almost entirely to flagging down servers; we were told on three separate occasions that “this is not my section”. 2 Dirty towels everywhere including two wet towels left on an end table in the corridor outside our room from about 6pm through to the next morning. 3. Zero management of loungers at the pool, it became a ‘Hunger Games” situation with (presumably otherwise reasonable) guests going down at 7am to book loungers despite there being signs that servers would allocate these and set them up - plenty to go around but, unsupervised, more than half the loungers ended up unoccupied but “booked” by guests who sauntered in after lunch, leaving us to sit on towels on the ground on the day we arrived. 4. Staff generally at the end of their tether - we overheard servers twice complain to each other loudly about poor management and how overloaded they were - everyone looked frazzled and unhappy and completely brought the vibe down. If anyone is listening from Ritz Carlton or Marriott/Bonvoy in general - if you’re going to jack your prices up to highs of $1000pn+ for the seasonal rush, please staff up accordingly and perhaps send the Ritz Carlton “ladies and gentlemen” at this establishment back to “ladies and gentleman” school.

The area was nice.

Even though the brand is Ritz Carlton, the hotel was not up to the brand standards in any way. It felt like a low cost all inclusive, with Ritz Carlton prices.

We chose The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua expecting the level of service and comfort associated with the brand, but unfortunately our stay fell far short. From the beginning, there were multiple issues that compounded over time. We experienced significant noise early in the morning (around 6:30 a.m.) from the room above us, making rest difficult. Surprisingly, the rollaway bed provided for our son was more comfortable than the king bed in our room. Dining was inconsistent. Dinner at Banyan Tree was excellent, but lunch the following day was a completely different experience. Service was extremely slow and disorganized — it took a very long time for a server to take our order, deliver food and drinks, and even bring the check, which we had to request four times. We noticed several nearby tables were equally frustrated, suggesting this was not an isolated issue. One of the biggest disappointments was the pool. Despite the hotel advertising that the pool is heated to 80 degrees, the water was too cold for our family to use at all. This was a major factor in our stay, and the pool was essentially unusable. We did receive a call from the hotel around 8:00 p.m. one evening while we were at dinner, but no follow-up call was made afterward. For comparison, we spent a day at the Four Seasons nearby, and the difference was immediately noticeable — attentive service, better food quality, and a warm, enjoyable pool. That contrast highlighted how much this property is currently missing the mark. Overall, the experience did not reflect the standards we have consistently encountered at other luxury or Marriott Bonvoy properties, and we ultimately considered changing hotels mid-stay. This property may be beautiful, but service, comfort, and attention to detail need significant improvement

We had a very unpleasant stay and would strongly advise others to look elsewhere. From the moment we arrived, the service was unprofessional and unhelpful. Staff seemed disinterested, slow to respond to requests, and at times outright rude. Basic customer service was completely lacking. The cleanliness of the hotel was equally unacceptable. The lobby and pool area was not kept clean. Pool was full of sand, I never saw anyone clean the pool. This made the stay uncomfortable and frankly unsanitary. Don’t bother to go to the beach, they had broken plastic lounge chairs and do not offer food/drinks service. This hotel failed to meet even the most basic standards of hospitality. I will not be returning and cannot recommend this place to anyone.

First, being a Marriott Titanium Elite is ignored at this hotel. Period. no upgrades, no perks. Everything you need to know about this hotel happened just after we arrived. We checked in, and while we were waiting for our bags to be delivered to the room (which took about 45 minutes), we sat down in the lobby for a drink (the Ritz does not give out welcome drinks). After sitting about 15 minutes, with staff going about other tasks, I finally got up and went to the bar, where the bartender told me they don't have lobby bar service until 4 pm. So, I ordered my $29 drinks form him and waited. While I sat there, a young local couple came up and asked if they could bring down the honeymoon bottle of Champagne a. friend had ordered for them - from Ritz room service - that had been put in their room and drink it at the bar. The bartender had to go ask his manager and came back to tell them their would be a $50 corkage fee - for the bottle the Ritz had sold their friend to put in their room. Net, that is how this hotel operates. Basically nickel and diming you at every turn. The rooms are slightly bigger than your typical Sheraton. And our "Ocean View" only had an Ocean view if we went out on the balcony and looked left.

Beautiful room and club level

Lack of help when we needed it the most when our son was injured at the beach. Absolutely zero help from the beach hut staff including not calling a buggy to help us get back to the hotel with our crying son who we found out later had a broken collarbone. Requested a wheel chair to our room and that wasn’t delivered until well after we needed it.