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Costco Travel is offering some travel deals that may be of interest. The headline deal is at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua in Maui. It isn’t cheap, but if you would otherwise consider paying the cash rate for a one-bedroom suite it is a great deal. YMMV on other deals, but based on the package deal for the Ritz they may be worth a look.
The Deal
- Costco Travel is offering a package deal for the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua Maui as well as some other hotels/resorts. See below for more detail
- Direct link to this deal
Key Terms
- Rates on Costco Travel are per person based on double occpancy
- Must be a Costco member
Quick Thoughts
When I first saw this on Slickdeals this morning, I thought to myself, “No deal!”. At $3600 for 5 nights (it’s $1819 per person based on double occupancy), it just seemed like way too much (especially given the potential hassle in getting the required negative COVID test to travel to Hawaii right now as I understand they only accept tests from certain places). But then I realized that this is for a one-bedroom ocean view suite, which would typically cost much more for the room alone. In this case, it’s actually an excellent deal if you might have otherwise paid a cash rate at this hotel. Here’s what is included:
- 5 nights in a one-bedroom ocean-view suite
- $150 per day in resort credit ($750 after 5 nights)
- a rental car from Avis
- daily breakfast for 2
- waived daily resort fee
- $100 Aloha VIP tour credit
- hotel and car taxes
That’s actually pretty solid compared to cash prices. I looked up a sample 5-night stay. Here were the comparison points:
- Marriott.com (AAA hot rates – AAA membership required):
- Standard room: $636/nt, $3183 before tax
- Ocean view suite 1 bedroom: $1826/nt, $9133 before tax
- Costco
- Ocean view suite 1 bedroom: $3606 total
Considering the inclusions of the rental car, daily breakfast for 2 (which you don’t get with status at Ritz properties), waived resort fee, and $150 daily resort credit looks like a terrific deal by comparison. If you’re a Costco Executive member, I think you’ll get an additional 2% back.
If you think about it in terms of Chase points, you could theoretically “cash out” just over 240,000 Ultimate Rewards points via Chase Pay Yourself Back for the ~$3600 you need to pay for the hotel. That is far fewer points than an award stay would cost and it comes with far more inclusions.
All that said, I’ve stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua and while this is a matter of personal preference, it is my least favorite luxury hotel out of all of the various luxury properties at which I’ve stayed around the world. The area where the hotel is located is windy, the hotel doesn’t really have its own beach (they will golf cart you to a nearby beach, but then you’re stuck waiting for a pick up to go back to your room), and service was pretty sub-par based on my experience there (I booked three rooms through Fine Hotels & Resorts and couldn’t get one upgraded to an ocean view, never mind any sort of room size upgrade for any of the 3 rooms). I haven’t yet found a hotel on Maui that I love, but this wouldn’t be my pick out of those I’ve tried. Obviously preferences vary — the place stays open, so I assume some folks love it. To each his own.
Still, this deal makes me think it might be worth keeping an eye out on the upcoming Costco Travel deals in the hopes that something else is priced more attractively to me. There are a couple others going on now and coming up soon according to the Costco Travel home page.
H/T: Slickdeals and Pizza in Motion
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Meh. Lukewarm.
Think about how many Marriott points you would pay for this stay. And given your valuation of those Marriot points in cash, how does the Costco price compare?
Just because the cash rates for a suite at this property are ridiculously priced, doesn’t make the Costco package a good deal. That, and Hawaii has made it very clear they don’t want visitors. I will oblige them.
It also rains every single day there. We got what we thought was a sweet deal on an ocean view room on points several years ago – there was a malfunction that did not charge for the upgrade so we got base price. Then we got there and experienced the daily monsoon. I was told by people who work there that it is pretty typical. We moved to the Wailea end of the island for our last two days for a splurge at the Marriott and it was like night and day. Our latest favorite was actually the Residence Inn Wailea because it was so affordable on points and yet still near to all the beaches, but now it is moved up to the higher level so we may not be going back.
I might not even stay at the Ritz Kapalua if it was free.
We’ve gone summer and winter and had some rain and afternoon winds but we’ve always had sun. The Ritz was very nice but not worth the cost to stay there and with no beach I’ll use my points elsewhere. The Kapalua Villas have easy walking access to Kapalua Bay Beach, great for kids as it’s reef protected.
Its absolutely poured rain one day we were in Kapalua but the rest of the time weather was great.
But it wasn’t the nicest property I’ve ever stayed at, but then again I was staying there on free nights from the RC credit card.
Maui in general is my least favorite Hawaiian Island to visit, but I would prefer to stay in Wailea I just never have the right points for it (and Andaz screws around w availabilty).
I’m staying at the Residence inn next week. Any recommendations or tips?
Outrigger’s Kapalua Villas has been our goto on Maui, especially good if Costco has any deals. It’s still not cheap and the benefits have definitely slid the past few years; our first trips there about 10 years ago included use of the spa that is now part of the Montage and full Ritz amenity/shuttle use. Lately we’ve swung the other direction, though, opting for the Days Inn in Kihei…it’s pretty crappy but is nice and cheap and directly on the beach.