The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua

We were instantly greeting by the friendly valets before getting our necklace greeting. We were able to check in early which was a relief after a long, but pleasant flight. Our room was supposed to be a Deluxe Ocean View and it really was a partial ocean view at best. We tried to switch rooms, but they were all booked up. We had a nice enough view of the pools and greenery so we didn't make a big deal out of it. And the bellman did try. We ordered up room service for dinner and it was heavenly! Fast, hot, gourmet food. The first of many delicious meals. The breakfast buffet is to die for and the Banyan Tree restaurant was first rate, including the service. We were right on the private beach which was convenient and we spent a lot of time swimming in the three pools and hot tubs. The fitness room was well equipped, though often crowded and my 9 year old was not allowed in and wanted to exercise, too. The concierge book our activities outside of the hotel (submarine tour; luau) and I think we could have found better deals elsewhere but didn't know this was a commission type situation to book tickets and vendors were all over Lahiana. But we enjoyed the events and everything went smoothly. In fact, anything we needed in the hotel came right away. It made for a wonderful trip with fantastic family memories.

The hotel is away from the crowds, which was appreciated, but also rather far from the shore, which was hated. (Incidentally, it should have been closer, if not for a hawaiian burial site that happened to be on the initial construction site). The architecture is bland, almost boring, only saved by a spectacular vista from the terrace. The ones with the good fortune to be in the the ocean front suites, they may have a nice vacation, the rest will suffer in silence - if they are hearing impaired, if not they will have their sorrows crushed by the sounds of the lawn mowers starting at 5:30 am.

We have stayed at Ritz Carlton hotels many times in the past and this particular hotel once before. The service level was not up to the standard that Ritz Carlton has set for itself. The food was at best mediocre and quite pricey. My son's room service breakfast of 6 pancakes and some fruit was $60. The pool was dirty and many of the pool chairs were broken. This hotel underwent a complete renovation less than 3 years ago. However, the furniture in the room was faded. The valet/doorman staff was very pleasant and helpful. The housekeeping staff appeared to do a great job and were also quite friendly and helpful. However, a $500 credit which was part of our reservation package was not credited to our account until I called the front desk on the day of checkout. We utilized the concierge staff to make reservations for activities and they seemed helpful and efficient. We did have a problem with one of our activities being cancelled and no one notifying us. I do not know however whether the communication breakdown was with the vendor or the hotel.

The hotel staff just doesn't have the customer oriented focus of a five star hotel. Other guests are far more likely to say good morning or good evening than the Ritz Carlton staff. If you want to feel welcome at a great hotel with a nice sand beach, try Caneel Bay, St John or Cap Juluca, Anguilla or the Intercontinental, Tahiti. The beach services close in the early afternoon - so bring your own chair...

The Ritz-Carlton Kapalua was not quite up to my expectations of a luxury hotel. Rooms were attractively and comfortably furnished--nothing really dramatically special. BUT the pillows smelled musty and sour--I had to ask to have them replaced. Towels were fine, but not as fluffy and luxurious as I might have expected at a Ritz. Staff, especially the concierge staff, was unfailingly polite, cheerful and helpful. Food was fine, mostly (the chicken added to a salad one night was so dry as to be inedible), but everything is WILDLY expensive. Any mixed drink was a minimum of $12. Cold breakfast buffet (while nice) was $20; hot buffet was $28. Sandwiches were crazy expensive. Admittedly, it's the Ritz and Maui, a pricey combination. The pool was lovely, but unless you paid $100 a day for a cabana-ette (the "real" cabanas were $255 a day!), there was virtually no shade. A few umbrellas for the fair skinned and cancer-averse might be nice! All of this, plus the somewhat remote location on West Maui, might incline me to explore hotels in Ka'anapali on my next trip. If you're a runner, keep in mind this is very hilly territory! The Internet access is not wireless, and the wired location is hard to find (hidden in the side of the TV armoire) and awkward to use--small shelf that barely fit my Netbook, and no real chair/desk set up. Daily resort fee of $16 is annoying, and should just be merged into the room rate. Shopping boutiques are again very expensive.

The Ritz Carlton Kapalua was a nice resort but I expected better from a place with amenities for children. When we arrived we were greeted very nicely and had a bellman take our luggage to our room. He explained all the amenities about the hotel and pointed out where the gym, pools, beach, spa, and restaurants were located. Over the course of our stay, the staff always smiled and had a pleasant greeting. The housekeeping staff was especially pleasant with our 3 year old daughter and took the time to fold her blankets and line up her stuffed animals every day and that made her happy. The pool area and the beach were nice and my wife said the spa was very pleasant. Almost every morning, we went down to the Terrace Restaurant and had breakfast and the staff there was very pleasant and the food was delicious. Outside of breakfast, we only ate 4 other meals at the hotel the entire time. Two of those were room service which was very good, one was at the upstairs bar area by the lobby (terrible service, slow with food, forgettful with orders), and one was at the pool area (forgot to put the order in and we waited a total of an hour). We were comp'd for the two meals with bad service but it seems like we weren't the only ones complaining about service. As for the rest of the amenities, every thing was nice from the time we got up until right about dinner time. The pools were great and the beach was fun. From dinner time on, it felt like the hotel became kid-tolerant and not kid-friendly. There were no activities for small children other than the kids pool and playground but the "quiet time" started at 6pm so a 3 year old who screams with joy in the pool isn't welcome and the playground closes at 6pm anyway. We had to ask for a kids menu at all restaurants at dinner and it was all unhealthy food (fried or hot dog) with a side of fruit. We were the only people we saw with a small child for 2 days and felt like people looked at us like diseased rats after dinner. It got better after some other families showed up. I would go back if it was just my wife and I but I wouldn't go back with kids. Look elsewhere with small children.

I came here for two weeks and to be honest by the second week I switched resorts. The Ritz Carlton is world reknowned for its excellent service and luxurious resots.... at least it used to be. The staff was rude. The front desk people such as "[...]" and a "[...]" do not live up to their names. These girls had bad attitudes and made my stay that much more unenjoyable. The room service was mediocre and the overall feel of the resort can be somewhat pleasant minus the staff. However, if your used to staying at the Ritz Carlton and expect first class service, goto the Four Seasons or somewhere else. They have lost their touch and I am dissapointed.

Hotel was nice the only thing was that the night life was over at 10pm no activities for singles. In our group we had a couple of single people that may have wanted to stay up and eat later but everything was closed by 10pm

While The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua boasts a very professional and courteous staff, the hotel itself falls short of its reputation in some other areas. The staff, from front desk and concierge, to house keeping and room service are very warm and friendly. They make you feel welcome. One of the problems we had was with guests staying next door to us. While the hotel abides by the smoking-free law of the state of Hawaii, they did not do much to enforce it in this case. We were unable to use our room's balcony, which had a beautiful view, for the 5 days out of 7 days that we stayed there, due to second hand smoke of cigarette from balcony to the left of us. We couldn't even open the balcony door for that matter since the wind blew all the smoke right into our room. Imagine you're in paradise and you have to inhale someone else's cigarette smoke! This was loss of use in our opinion and prevented us from enjoying what we had paid for. This was brought to the attention of the staff and a manager on 2 occasions and both times we were assured that the matter would be resolved immediately. It did not happen until the smoking guests checked out days later. The second negative score would be the extra delivery tax on room service. It seems pretty obsolete to charge a guest a delivery tax. Usually, tips suffice, but apparently not at this hotel. Also, the office for guests is a tiny room with a computer and a screen in it. No room to sit down with a laptop and a couple of books. Overall, a very nice hotel, but sadly, I have to admit that I'm not too impressed with Ritz-Carlton, at least this one.

Big, comfortable beds, efficient housekeeping, friendly bartender. The ocean and pool views are fantastic and interesting. Our first room started leaking from the ceiling in the bedroom on the second night and smelled of rotten eggs. After waiting a half-hour, an engineer came up and told us we had to change rooms. We collected our things and waited as he said a bellhop would be arriving shortly. An hour later, we called and they apparently never dispatched one. We were moved to a smaller room, but it had an ocean view, which was nice. The adjacent beach is nice and quiet, albeit incredibly windy - don't expect to be able to sit on the sand, it just blows into your face the entire time. The pool is very comfortable and is nicely separated for children and adults. Towels are also available at every beck and call (both at the pool and beach), which is immensely appreciated. Overall, it's a nicely remodeled building, but you'll find parts that are way old (e.g. the ice room), and you might be hit with a leaking/stinky room. This place is not cheap (of course). We'd rather spend more on dinner, so we went to the Safeway in Lahaina and picked up some bagels so we didn't have to deal with finding breakfast or paying the $26/person for a continental breakfast (please). Finally, the activities are very expensive, but were a lot of fun. We did the snorkeling and underwater photography. At $90/person, it's expensive, but was a great experience. We were the only people on this expedition so we had free reign and a lot of time. The guide was very friendly and helpful.