- Hotel Website: The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach
- Location: Google Maps
- Book: Check availability
- Room Type: Deluxe Ocean View Suite – 1 Bedroom Suite, 2 Double, Sofa bed, Ocean view
- Review Score: Results of our review
- Hotel Fact: This hotel is not near the beach, its a long walk to the water. The beach near this area isn’t as unique as the Moana.
The hotel offers good bar service and friendly bartenders, along with spacious, well-appointed rooms that have kitchenettes and in-room laundry. It also has a good selection of dining options, including Quiora, Solera, Dean & DeLuca, and Sushi Sho. The location is excellent for shopping, but this doesn’t compensate for the lack of direct beach access if that’s a priority for your vacation.
Amenities: The hotel offers good bar service and friendly bartenders, as well as spacious and well-appointed rooms that include kitchenettes and in-room laundry.
Dining: There is a strong selection of dining options, including the Italian restaurant Quiora, the Hawaiian regional cuisine at Solera, the marketplace-inspired Dean & DeLuca, and the exclusive Sushi Sho.
Location: While the location is excellent for shopping, it doesn’t make up for the lack of direct beach access, which is noted as a significant drawback if a beach vacation is your priority.
🛎️ 24-hour room service
🧸 Babysitting services
🍸 Bar
🏋️ Gym
🏢 Meeting rooms
🏊 Outdoor pool
🍽️ Restaurants
💆 Spa
The Luxe Atlas Rating
Design: 7/10
Vibe: 7/10
Romantic: 6/10
Air Conditioning: 10/10
Room: 9/10
Food: 8.5/10
Location: 6.5/10
Gym/Fitness: 10/10
Cleanliness: 10/10
Wow Factor: 7/10
Overall Experience: 8.1/10
A Review of The Ritz-Carlton Residences, Waikiki Beach: The Luxury Hotel That Missed the Beach Party
As a connoisseur of fine hotels, I’ve had my share of unforgettable stays. But a recent visit to The Ritz-Carlton Waikiki Beach has me scratching my head more than a tourist who forgot to apply sunscreen. It’s not a bad hotel, mind you, but it’s a baffling one. It’s the kind of place that feels like it showed up to the legendary Waikiki beach party a few hours too late, only to find all the prime beachfront real estate had already been snatched up by its more established rivals.
A Vertical Village, Not a Beachfront Sanctuary
The first thing you notice about this hotel is its towering, high-rise presence. Instead of a sprawling, tropical resort that spills out onto the sand, you get a vertical village. The user is spot on—it’s more of a residence than a traditional hotel. This architectural choice gives it a peculiar, almost clinical feel, especially when compared to the classic, sprawling layouts of neighboring properties. The lobby, for instance, isn’t on the ground floor. It’s an elevator ride up, making the check-in process feel less like an arrival in paradise and more like a trip to a fancy dentist’s office.
Dining and relaxing are also done in the sky. While the views from the “floating” restaurants and the highest infinity pools in Waikiki are undeniably stunning, it’s a different experience. You’re observing paradise from afar, not living in it. The feeling of being suspended above the “bustle of Waikiki” is a double-edged sword; you escape the crowds, but you also feel disconnected from the vibrant, chaotic energy that makes this area famous.
The Beach Access Conundrum: A Treasure Hunt for the Ocean
Let’s get to the main event, the elephant in the high-rise room: the lack of direct beach access. For a hotel with “Waikiki Beach” in its name, this is its most glaring and fundamental flaw. It’s a bit of a tease, really. You get these glorious, floor-to-ceiling ocean views from your luxurious, apartment-style room, but the ocean itself feels a world away. To get to the water, you must embark on a mini-pilgrimage.
First, you have to cross a bustling road. Then, you have to walk through other properties to find a small patch of sand you can call your own. The hotel offers a beach kit with towels, but it feels a bit like receiving a map to the treasure after the treasure has already been moved. For a Waikiki luxury hotel, this is a significant drawback, especially for those seeking an effortless, sun-soaked vacation.
If direct beach access is a priority for your Honolulu hotel stay, your money is far better spent down the street. The user’s recommendations are spot-on. The historic Moana Surfrider, A Westin Resort & Spa and the iconic pink palace, The Royal Hawaiian, a Luxury Collection Resort, offer not just easy beach access but a full-immersion Waikiki experience. These resorts are literally steps from the sand, giving you that quintessential Hawaiian feeling from the moment you step outside.
The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict
To its credit, not everything is a miss. The bar service is, as mentioned, consistently good. The bartenders are friendly, and a well-made cocktail can certainly help you forget your walk to the beach. The rooms themselves are beautifully appointed, spacious, and feel like a modern, upscale apartment. The kitchenettes and in-room laundry are a godsend for longer stays or families, but again, that begs the question: are you on a vacation or a residential staycation?
The hotel also boasts an impressive selection of dining options:
Quiora: A modern Italian restaurant serving lunch daily from 11:30 AM to 3:30 PM and dinner daily from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Solera: Offers Hawaiian regional cuisine. Breakfast is served daily from 7:00 AM to 11:30 AM, and dinner is available Tuesday to Saturday from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM.
Dean & DeLuca: This marketplace-inspired cafe is open daily from 7:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
Sushi Sho: An exclusive sushi experience with two seatings for dinner, typically 5:00 PM and 8:00 PM. Reservations are required, and it is closed on Mondays.
The location is excellent for shopping, with “Luxury Row” just a short stroll away. But if your goal is to spend your day building sandcastles and jumping in the waves, the prime location for high-end retail just isn’t enough to compensate for the major drawback.
Final Recommendation:
Overall, I do not recommend The Ritz-Carlton Waikiki Beach for anyone whose dream vacation involves walking directly from their resort to the warm sands of Waikiki. It’s a fantastic choice if you want the high-end amenities of a Ritz-Carlton combined with the convenience of a residential apartment, and you’re perfectly happy to observe the ocean from a distance. However, for a truly immersive and effortless Hawaiian getaway, there are far more superior options that have already claimed their rightful spot on the beach.
