Roberto Bayardo

Review of The Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua

Beautiful resort with many excellent restaurants, ...

Beautiful resort with many excellent restaurants, amenities, and impeccable service. It's expensive, yes, but in this case you really get what you pay for. Their Banyan Tree restaurant was the best meal we had during our trip. The breakfast buffet was superb as well, and the 100% Kona coffee was to die for. We also tried a bunch of restaurants outside the property in Lahaina (including Fleetwood's) but compared to the offerings of the Ritz-Carlton, we were always disappointed. The rooms are extremely nice as well: beds have thick down comforters, bathrooms are spacious, my son even noted that the sofabed (which had a nice foam-style mattress) was super comfortable.
The beach location can get a bit windy, but there are coves just south that you can walk to (or take a free shuttle to) that are better shielded from the trade winds. The on-site enterprise rental car makes it a breeze to get a car (at rates cheaper than the airport) to tour the island. I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were no valet or overnight fees for valeting the rental car overnight. Overall you're much better off taking advantage of that than renting a car from the airport. They arranged for a taxi for a flat-rate of $120 back to the airport (gratuity included) which for a family of 5 is about the same as a shared airporter van. My only minor complaint is the room advertised as "ocean view" requires you lean over the balcony to actually view the ocean, but the view from the room was outstanding nonetheless.