The Ritz-Carlton, 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.

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