hawaii travel

Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Bay Offers Culturally Immersive Retreat

by Michael B. Dougherty (RSS feed) —

The drive to Kapalua, along Maui's Honoapi'ilani Highway, hugs the western rim of the island and provides an amuse bouche of what awaits: a nearly endless horizon of surf and sky, perfumed air and an unusually strong sense of place. That last element being especially evident at the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences, Kapalua Bay. If the mention of Hawaii still produces reflexive images of tiki heads and loud shirts, the Ritz-Carlton Club and Residences has made it a point to provide a more authentic, and thereby transcendent, island experience for its residents and guests.

Not to be confused with the Ritz-Carlton hotel, the Club and Residences property is part of the brand's equity-based program that allows members to either purchase a fractional residence at a specific location or sample any of the portfolio's options through a real estate trust. Either way, buying in results in a deeded interest that can be passed down to family members. But the quality sure to lure most into the former arrangement with Kapalua Bay is the lengths the Ritz-Carlton has gone to ensure that luxury and cultural accuracy aren't mutually exclusive concepts.

Tags: hawaii, hawaii travel, hotel review, kapalua, maui, ritz-carlton