The Ritz-Carlton Half Moon Bay was built between 1998 and 2001 on a point in the bay with long coastal views. It has 261 rooms and two golf courses, one designed by Arnold Palmer, and some of its services have a Scottish Highlands theme. With about 550 jobs it is the biggest employer in Half Moon Bay and a main source of the city’s tourism tax revenue.
A hotel executive has described the bagpiper ritual as a daily moment at sundown, in which a piper walks the grounds playing for guests.
A 2022 city study found the hotel and its infrastructure vulnerable to sea-level rise, and in 2019 the California Coastal Commission fined the hotel $1.6 million over beach access.