The Ritz-Carlton Maui, Kapalua Reviews

We got married at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in April 2019, and we could not have been happier with our choice of venue. From the moment I first contacted their wedding coordination service a year prior, I could tell this was a place that wanted our business and would treat us like highly valued clients, regardless of how much or how little we were looking to spend. I originally sent an inquiry on a whim, thinking there was no way we'd be able to afford a wedding at the Ritz-Carlton, but it turned out that for what we wanted (outdoor wedding with a view of the ocean, with dinner for ~30 guests), their prices were comparable to or more affordable than other venues we looked at on Maui (Merriman's, Royal Lahaina, Four Seasons, Hyatt, etc.). We thought their wedding package was quite reasonable, and having dinner at their restaurant rather than getting catering on the lawn made the prices closer to what you might get on the mainland.

More important than that, however, was the unbelievable quality of service we received from every person we interacted with at the Ritz, particularly Akiko Nakazato and Sierra Hanneman. We got all the information we needed, viewed the venue, and booked our wedding date with Akiko, followed by wedding coordination and vendor booking mostly through Sierra. Both women were fantastic in their prompt, professional, and friendly replies to all of our (many many) questions and requests, and they made what would normally have been the stressful process of planning a wedding a complete breeze.

Once we arrived at the Ritz (we stayed at the hotel for a few nights before and after the wedding), we were completely blown away by everyone who works there. We could not believe the attention and care we received in every interaction. Sierra was in regular contact with us throughout our stay and made us feel like VIPs, even though she coordinates a wedding almost every day at this hotel and we are just one of probably two hundred couples she works with every year. (I don't know how she does it, but I hope they pay her handsomely.) On the day of the wedding, Sierra sent over several lovely surprises that helped make our day feel even more special. Everything went incredibly smoothly, we were very happy with the vendors they recommended, the service at the cocktail and dinner receptions was impeccable, and the food was to die for. Our guests kept telling us how beautiful the wedding was and how much they enjoyed themselves. We did too. I wouldn't change anything about our day.

We are beyond thrilled with Zheilla, Kristina, Akiko and the entire wedding team at the Ritz-Carlton who gave us the wedding of our dreams. Planning and holding the ceremony and reception on 3 months notice from far away was a total pleasure. The entire experience was everyone one could want for a wedding in paradise. Everyone in our bridal party and all the guests felt that they had received the A-list treatment. I have always had a wonderful time at the Ritz-Carlton properties and this was no exception. Thank you to all at the Ritz-Carlton for a memorable and utterly seamless experience. Highly, highly recommended. They were very flexible and attentive to detail.

One nice feature is that they will only hold one wedding per day at the property, so that you can feel it truly is your special day. The wedding planner was the key that made it all happen in such a fun and stressless way. We loved the photographer, Mike Andrews, and DJ Michael of Maui DJ Services. We will be savoring these memories all our lives.
Mahalo, Ritz-Carlton, Zhellia, Akiko and team!

This was our first time staying at a Ritz-Carlton and the entire staff at the hotel totally exceeded our expectations. Their customer service is out of this world right down to every little detail, they think of it all! My husband and I are so happy that we decided to go to Maui and stay at the Ritz Carlton - Kapalua resort. It's truly paradise!

We had an amazing destination wedding thanks to the Ritz Carlton! They truly made our dreams come true. We visit the prior year before we booked and our wedding planner, Kristen Sterbeck was top notch. We communicated via email the whole time (due to living in different time zones) and was executed to my vision. Staff was very nice and my guests felt like royalty. Not super budget friendly however worth while for their wonderful services for a special day.

Couldn't have found a better location! We had a group of 80. 95% of attendees stayed at the Ritz-Carlton and probably 75% of them never left the resort! Amazing private-ish beach connected to the resort, massive grounds for walks, etc and amazing food.

Held our ceremony at Napili Lawn and reception at Anuenue Room. Our wedding coordinator was amazing and overall service at the resort is exceptional.

Yes, you do pay for it but the value is well worth it if you go during off season. Our wedding was in late October which is considered off-peak season so the rates were very reasonable for a Ritz-Carlton. The average on high season is $700 but during low season, we were able to get a room rate of only $324 for our guests. Many upgraded given the initial savings for booking under our room block. We stayed in the Royal Pacific Suite. AMAZING! Definitely worth it if you have the budget.

We also incorporated surrounding venues for events throughout the weekend. We hosted a welcome happy hour at the Wine Palette which is a nice wine bar just a 5 minute walk away. We also hosted a very successful beach party at D.T. Fleming Beach which is connected to the resort. We held our rehearsal dinner reception (we invited everyone per destination wedding etiquette) on the deck at Merriman's down the street.

The whole weekend was perfection thanks to this amazing property with great service, fabulous wedding coordinator and beautiful wedding venues.

The staff here was amazing! I got married here and it was the perfect setting! Kristen Sterback is the best Special Events Manager! The resort was beautiful and all of the staff were genuinely sincere and attentive. They provide the BEST customer service. Planning a destination wedding is difficult but working with the Ritz-Carlton team was wonderful. If you are looking for a beautiful location, please do consider this venue. Having my wedding here was worth it all! Thank you Ritz-Carlton Kapalua, best time ever!

Katie did a great job bar tending. Her service was very professional and accurate. There were no complaints.

I had my hair and nails done on the day of my wedding. They were professional and the environment was very relaxing.

This location has a great ocean view for weddings, and the price is more reasonable than Four Seasons.

It has several sites for outdoor ceremony and reception, and indoor ballrooms as well. The rooms are very well decorated with high ceilings.

However, their group sales department really messed up on our rooms. They changed all the room numbers on the day our guests arrived. And they delivered our welcome totes to every room before they made the change. So many totes were sent to the wrong rooms. Luckily, our wedding planner was able to trace them and got them exchanged.

Overall food and wedding services were good. Entertainment was a bit overpriced. They insisted on using their preferred vendors on many services and did a major markup.

But they are very flexible on last minute changes. We had a storm on our wedding day. They were able to make the changes on the day of. Also, their front lobby staff and catering staff were always there catering our needs.

My fiance and I did a ton of online research when scoping out wedding venues in Maui, as we live in California. We were in touch with Akiko at the Ritz whom we immediately shared our ideal budget with and preferred wedding date (a Friday) to see if the Ritz could be a contender for us. At the beginning of contact, Akiko was helpful and sent over a quote noting our preferred wedding date in her email. While the quote didn’t exactly meet our ideal budget, it wasn’t too far off and so we asked if there were any adjustments to be made to get closer. Akiko was able to extend a discount on our wedding package, making us feel comfortable and confident that it could be a top contender for our big day and that proposal from her is what we used as a basis of our decision to fly and visit the property before signing a contract. We flew to Maui for a site visit which went well and things were heading in the right direction, until we returned home. Akiko sent a revised proposal based on some estimates we requested, and in that proposal we noticed the discount she originally extended was no longer there. We pointed this out to her as we thought it was a simple miss, but to our surpise she said she could only extend that discount for Monday - Thursday weddings and didn’t recall us talking about our wedding date until the site visit. We let her know that this was not the case, and in our initial communications with her her proposal that included the consessions was attached to her email that noted our Friday wedding date. We said that anyone would reasonably assume the proposal provided was for the date referenced, and if this was not her intent that should have been communicated clearly, and then told her we weren’t sure what the best course of action from here was (giving her the opportunity to fix this). Instead of acknowledging her miscommunication and misrepesentation, her only response back stated that she was “available by phone if we wish to discuss further”. We let her know that we didn’t think there was anything further to discuss if she wasn’t able to honor her proposal. Akiko never responded. We were appalled at the lack of professionalism and misinformation provided from such a high-ranked resort, and even gave Akiko multiple chances to turn this around. On the bright side, we are very fortunate to have experienced this when we did and not be locked into a contract with the Ritz and have such circumstances happen afterward. This experience was very indicative to us of things to come down the line with the Ritz and for that reason we were happy to go in another direction on Maui. In an already stressful time of wedding planning, this experience was not how we wanted to feel going into securing our venue and we hope that by us sharing our experience it will save others from making a big mistake too.