To get to Lanai, we flew from KOA (kona) on the Big Island. Had an 8am flight on Aloha to HNL, and then had to walk to the commuter terminal at HNL to catch the 9:55am flight for Lanai on Island Air, an arm of Aloha. We arrive into LNY (Lanai City) at 10:30am. On the way into LNY you can see how uninhabited Lanai is.

We make it, but our checked bags (and those of three other pax from KOA do not). Greeter from the Lodge at Koele (the Lodge) mentions that it happens all the time and the bags will be on the flight from HNL which arrives at 11:55am. There were two shuttles, one for the Lodge and one for Manele Bay at LNY. We take the shuttle to the lodge.

We are greeted by the concierge Fiona who presents us w/leis (wife loves the leis) and takes us on a brief tour of the lodge and shows us to our room. The corner room on a second floor we had has tons of character; it feels more like a Ritz in the northwoods than a resort on an island in HI. The shuttle fee which I was not aware of until checkout is $25 roundtrip. I explained that I did not know there was a shuttle fee and could have had my rental jeep company pick me up so I wished to have ½ the fee refunded to me, which was done w/o a hassle. Don’t you just love *wood customer service, simply tops.

On a side note, Dollar is the only “major” rent a car company on the island, you definitely will want to rent a jeep and get to some of the beaches that only can be accessed w/a 4WD vehicle. Seeing as I detest the sort of monopoly that Dollar has on Lanai, I rented from the following place that was incredible and much cheaper than Dollar: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000022.html

After lying on a deserted beach for the afternoon, we were ready for a nice formal meal. The Lodge at Koele has a formal dining room where jackets are required for men at night, if you did not bring one, no problem the concierge will be happy to provide you w/one as I had needed to (most men in the formal dining room were wearing the “concierge special”.

We had two appetizers: Lobster salad and something else which was not memorable. Lobster salad was incredible w/huge chunks of lobster. Two entrees we had were excellent as well. I had grilled medallions of venison over a vegetable root hash w/huckleberry sauce. Wife dined on the grilled lobster. The lobster that the restaurant used were Kona-Maines, small just hatched lobsters are flown to Kona and raised w/cold seawater that is pumped from a depth of 2000’+. They beat the pants off of warm water lobsters yet fell short of those from NE US waters.

Left our balcony door open all night, no screen, none needed. The cool mountain air was so conducive to sleeping. In the morning, I look out on the lawn to see a big tom turkey fully strutting his stuff w/18 hens and other males in line. Very bizarre to see a turkey fly and land on a bough, they are not graceful birds! Had breakfast served on the balcony. Excellent were the macadamia crusted blintzes w/marscapone/mango stuffing. A toaster is provided to make sure you have “fresh” warm toast.

I had wanted to do the sporting clays at the range one afternoon (the only afternoon I had time) but they were full. Price for the Sporting Clays is a charge of $75.00, per person, for an intro (25 targets) or $85.00, per person, for a pkg B (50 targets). The pkg B requires that you have experience. Both take approx. 1hr to complete, and they provide all of the equipment (gun, hearing/eye protection).

At The Lodge pool one day we had a venison pastrami melt. There is a local deer population on the island from which they make the pastrami. This was one of the best sandwiches in my life, delicious pastrami, melted cheese, sautéed onions on a warm roll. WOW.

The pool at The Lodge is very small, however most guests go to the Manele Bay for the larger pool, beach and Oceanside atmosphere, that if you are lucky like we were, you will have The Lodge pool all to yourself. Another nice thing was NO KIDS, very restful.

Spa treatments are provided at the Lodge’s small poolside building or at the larger more formal spa at Manele Bay. We decided to get massages at the Manele spa. The registration room at the Manele Bay was a nightmare and was not conducive to relaxing before your massage. There were kids running around, a dad making pedicure reservations for his two 12 year old daughters while they shrieked and chatted which is just ridiculous IMO. I was given a robe, but no slippers as was supposed to be the case. If you are a large guy the robe does not cover. My wife and I were very glad when our masseuses came out and took us into the silent sanctuary of the back. My massage was good and my wife said it was the 2nd best she has ever had. On a side note, my masseuse and I were talking; he questioned me on my last name and asked if I had a brother. Turns out he went to HS w/my brother and used to party w/him, SMALL WORLD! And to meet him on Lanai.

After our massage and showering, it was early evening just as the sun was setting, which you could not see from the Manele Bay. We had some drinks in the upstairs veranda bar overlooking the bay. Very nice, but then a convention was checking in and had taken over the pool area for a dinner. One more reason we were glad to be at the Lodge.

Overall we loved the Lodge and most guests we met there, the clientele of the Manele Bay were not our style and we were very glad to have chosen the Lodge.

It did get cool at night up at the elevation of Lanai City and The Lodge probably mid 50’s but warmed up to high 70’s/low 80’s while we were there.

The Lodge has one computer on the first floor near the lobby that provides complimentary high speed internet access, there is a time limit though, but the two times I used it there was no one before or after me.

Our trip report of Lanai, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii is here: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum81/HTML/003652.html

I wrote up other Lanai dining in the West US Flyertalk Dining Forum.


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[This message has been edited by Sweet Willie (edited 04-06-2003).]