The Ritz Carlton Kapalua is located on 54 acres and maintains the Honokahua Preservation Site adjacent to the property.

This was our first trip to Maui and we couldn’t have picked a better location as a home base for our time on the island. The resort gave us a great place to relax by the pool or beach and the location gave us a great jumping off point to explore Maui and neighboring islands during the day. We’ve captured a few of the activities we did while on Maui in the articles linked below. We’ll cover a brief review of the Ritz Carlton Kapalua (with plenty of pictures) in this post.

• Maui Day Trip – Biking Mount Haleakala
• Feast At Lele Lua On Maui In Lahaina
• Maui Day Trip to Lanai’s Shipwreck Beach – Many Pictures
• Maui Day Trip to Lanai’s Garden of Gods – Many Pictures

Drive To Ritz Carlton Kapalua

The drive from the Kahului airport was about 50 minutes and took us the long way around Puu Kukui. The Ritz Carlton is the way up by Honolua Bay, so we passed all the other resorts on your drive to the resort.

We stopped at a grocery store in Kapalua to pick up some goodies and before long we were pulling up to the Ritz Carlton Kapalua for our 5 night stay. 

Self parking is easy at this hotel. The parking lot is off to the right of the picture below and only a short walk from the front desk. I can’t recall how much valet cost but the short walk wouldn’t have made it worth any cost in my opinion. 

Hotel Room – Suite Upgrade On Award Stay

During our visit the property was a Tier 3 Ritz Carlton property requiring only 50,000 points per night. We booked a standard award night room for our 5 night stay. When I checked-in I presented my Marriott Platinum status card and asked about lounge access. The price was about $150 per person per day so we declined. When the front desk agent handed us our keys we were pleasantly surprised with an upgrade to a partial ocean view suite. It was a fantastic way to start our stay in Maui for sure.

The entrance opened up into a kitchenette with a living room just past the high top table to the left in the picture below. The place just felt brand new.

The living room and the master bedroom each had a balcony outside of the sliding doors with great views of the island.

The master suite was well appointed and had one of the most comfortable beds I’ve slept on in a hotel. After checking out our suite digs, we were a little sad we had only booked a 5 night stay at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua. 

Property

The resort had a three tiered pool with waterfalls running between the different levels. In general, the pool closest to the water was where the kids would play, so if you are looking for a quiet area, try the top level.

Cocktails were served daily from your closest waiter or waitress by the pool. It was tough to get Mrs. Weekly Flyer off the hotel grounds as a result. But we managed to take two day trips with a Bike Mount Haleakala and a day trip to Lanai to see Shipwreck Beach and Lanai’s Garden of Gods.

The beach was expansive but just wasn’t our style. The waves were too rough for our liking. We did hear in the afternoons the hotel guide takes hotel guests on a snorkeling tour just paste the breaking waves.

Instead of trying out the hotel snorkeling tour, we drove a few miles north and took our own tour at Honolua Bay which you can see off in the distance of the pictures below.

The hotel grounds were well kept and had many tropical flowers around. Each day there would be a new flower arrangement outside our room in the hallway, a nice touch. 

Surrounding Area

The water at Honolua Bay was much more calm, the water clear and the waves calm.

After snorkeling for a while we took a hike to ridge at the end of the bay and found ourselves at a nice little beach. It was a pretty cool and easy area to explore. 

Bottom Line

The Ritz Carlton Kapalua offered a great location and very nice accommodations. We’ll definitely return the next time we visit Maui. As a Marriott Platinum guest we received an upgrade to a suite, but this isn’t guaranteed and your experience may vary.

Have you ever visited the Ritz Carlton Maui or the Kapalua area? What was your experience like and would you return?

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