In the 2004 fodors gold guide, the ritz carlton in maui is fodors pick for best hotel, but most people on the board trash the place. Has anyone stayed at the ritz recently and/or the FS. I've been to many ritz over the years and have never had a problem, weather in location or service.
what are some of the major difference between the two hotels in Maui and please no mention on the weather.

I walked through the Ritz in January and ate dinner there. I thought it was absolutely gorgeous (We stayed at the Kapalua Bay Hotel). People complain that it is far from the beach and windy, two problems that we did not find troublesome. Yes, it's a slight walk to the beach, but it is a lovely and easy walk.

One side note: The hotel is a stunning U-shaped building, so many of the rooms don't face the water. Just an aside.

The best advice I can offer is that the Fodor's Choice listings are virtually never off base, but often times it's unrealistic to try to select a "best" of anything which suits a broad array of tastes.
Sure the Ritz is a beautiful property. In many people's opinions it's the best on the island, but not among the majority (in my estimation).
I'm not sure I've ever heard anyone "trash" the RC, but many people are put off by issues such as RC's beach, weather in the area and/or the formal decor of the place.

The Four Seasons is a very different property and will appeal to many people, but not all.
No hotel on Maui receives raves from everyone.

Fodor's was simply tossing out a favorite for your consideration. But there are MANY occasions in which I've strongly disagreed with the Fodor's Choices on various issues.

Ever see those Motor Trend Car of the Year choices? Or Money magazine's Best Place To Live list? I often disagree with them, too.

We stayed at the 4S Maui a couple of weeks ago and it was fabulous. Pricey but outstanding. I do not frequent Ritz's anymore since I had a bad experience a few years ago at the Ritz in St. Thomas. We were not being provided fresh bed linen in our room on a daily basis; until I inquired as to whether this was normal practice for the hotel. At $400+ a nite at the time I didn't think fresh bed linens each day was too much to have expected. When I wrote the Ritz home office on the matter they could not have cared less

Jimsinger: I'm not sure if there was 'more to the story' than you included, but it is not unusual for expensive hotels (primarily outside the US) to have a default no linen change policy. If guests want daily changes, they'll always comply, but they may not do so without the guest's request. Usually a card in the room notifies guests of this policy.

If this is the current policy at the RC STT, what did you expect management at RC corporate offices to do for you?
Did the RC STT not make their policy clear?
If you requested daily linens did they not comply?

I once stayed in a (standard) room which cost $1100/nt in Italy and they did not change the sheets without guest input. And there's nothing wrong with that IMO if the hotel is explicit about the policy.

Why you would shun all RC's over an incident like this is unclear to me.
I'm not seeing where they were wrong.

Ndelapaz - sorry to use this forum but to answer the ? from 'travleis'.
The RC at St. Thomas informed me it was their policy to change sheets each day. Their staff was at fault. The entire staff was inattentive; this was one example. When this happened I asked to speak to the General Manager but was referred to someone who appeared to be the pool manager. That's why I wrote to the home office. I have since avoided staying at Ritz's because if the home office doesn't really care about this type of problem then why should I continue to give them business and the service issues more than likely exist at other hotels in their chain as well. Too many good hotels who appeciate business to put up with this type of service.

I had similar issues with RC in Isla Verde PR. On site management was very disinterested in my comments, as was corporate.
I had security concerns that no one seemed interested in.
I will not stay at that property again.

Ritz-Carltons seem to vary from property to property. The R-C Laguna Niguel is incredibly attentive to guests-- we use them for conferences and have only praise for their guest services.

Ah, I see your point, Jimsinger.
Obviously unacceptable.

The only possible explanation (I'm not trying to defend RC, by the way) that comes to mind is that it's been my experience at many very nice Caribbean resorts that good help is hard to find. US companies like RC are pressured to hire local workers. Local workers tend to live by a pace called 'island time' which seems very odd to most Americans. And frankly I think it's very difficult for the better Caribbean resorts to find a sufficient number of employees who can uphold high standards.
I've experienced this again and again and we've just come to accept this as part of the quirkiness of Caribbean travel.

I think you'd have to spend a lot of nights in US RC's to have a string of bad experiences due to staff underperformance.
My suspicion is that your experience was more a function of the Caribbean location than the chain in question.