ClefsDor

We’ve just returned from 8 nights at the Four Seasons Hualalai. This was our first time to the big Island and the trip was booked to celebrate our 10th anniversary. We flew into Honolulu and had the first 4 nights at the Halekulani. We tried to book into Hualalai from the 3rd of Jan but even booking a year in advance we were only able to get accommodation from the 5th – which I believe is the last day of their official festive season.

We had originally booked to stay for 4 nights and then move onto FS Maui for another 4 nights. Within half an hour of arriving at the resort I knew 4 days just wouldn’t be enough. I duly contacted our agent, David O, who in his usual prompt and efficient manner, was able to cancel Maui and extend Hualalai. A huge thanks David for your patience in dealing with all the last minute changes!

Here’s a run down of our experiences and impressions:

Room
I was unsure of which crescent to choose – I was torn between the Beach Tree crescent and Palm Grove. David O highly recommended Palm Grove and I’m so glad he did. It feels like a slightly smaller crescent than the others but I don’t know if that’s actually the case. It’s certainly quieter and more private. We opted for an ocean view room which means it’s on the lower level. Given the time of year we didn’t receive a room upgrade. I actually really liked the lower level room (and not for the outdoor shower which I don’t particularly enjoy) but for the ease of the dual access from the room by either the front door or the lanai – the latter has you by the pool or the beach within a minute of leaving your room. Our room, which was on the right arm of the crescent, had good ocean views from both the bed and the lanai. One thing that surprised me was how little we used the lanai and the room, making the view a bit of a non-factor. Just about everywhere you eat, drink and swim here has amazing ocean views so enjoying it from the room wasn’t a big deal, so next time I would probably opt for a partial ocean view instead. The room itself is large and well thought out with just the right amount of a Hawaiian theme without going overboard.

Restaurants
We tried all of them and our favourite was hands down the Beach Tree. The menu is diverse enough to eat here for a week without getting bored. Fantastic burgers/pizzas and one of the best gnocchi’s with oxtail ragu I’ve ever eaten. The chef is Italian and the food is cooked with love and care. I also think that prices are actually very reasonable and far less expensive (not to mention better quality) than anywhere we dined in Honolulu. The other thing we loved of an evening was sitting around the bar at the Beach Tree for a couple of sun downers. Sitting at the bar, with the ocean just metres away and often with whales swimming by in the distance was truly magical. They have a very unique way of pricing the wine list at the Beach Tree which I thought was fantastic. Any wine can be purchased by the glass, the carafe or the bottle. They are pieced in categories with the bottle price being either $44, $66 or $88 and there are a good dozen bottles of red and white wines in each price category.
We ate at Ulu twice and whilst it was good it wasn’t great – lovely location and views though so it was nice to change up the dining experiences a little.

The restaurant which surprised me the most was the Hualalai Grill which is their steak restaurant. My husband, a New Yorker and very fussy re steakhouses, was dubious about trying this but we were both really amazed at the quality of the steaks – they were really good. It is however one of the only venues that doesn’t have water views and the atmosphere wasn’t as buzzy as the other restaurants so we just ate here the one time.

Service
In a word, exemplary. From the bars, to the breakfast staff, to the restaurants and in particular the poolside, the service was amazing. Friendly, efficient and totally on the ball. There was not a staff member that we didn’t enjoy speaking to. It says a a lot about a place when you see return guests going up to wait staff , hugging them hello and proceeding to ask after each others families and children. We witnessed this on a number of occasions and it speaks a lot to the staff and the guests here. The one area which I personally didn’t find great, and I know from other reviews that this is not the norm, is the concierge staff member who assisted us with dining reservations. I made sure to book all our dinners way in advance of arrival but as we extended our stay at the last minute we needed to make more dinner reservations. I spoke to the concierge but I was unable to get a table for the 7pm slot we prefer at either the Beach Tree or Ulu on any nights. We had to dine at either 5.30, 6.00 or 8.00pm as she insisted that the restaurants were fully committed. I made the bookings for the times available but on the previous day would go up to the actual restaurant to see if I could change the time to 7.00pm and was able to do so with no problem at all for each night - so that was a little strange.

Pools & The Dreaded Deck Chair Issue
On our first few days we sat around the tranquility pool/adults only pool. There are only about 24 chairs around this pool so it’s very peaceful and all the deck chairs face the ocean. On our first morning we headed out to the pool at around 8.30 am (we’re early risers) and there wasn’t a staff member around and no towels. The pool was actually roped off. We found out that it opens at 10.00 am. This was in some ways a welcome surprise from Waikiki where guests at the Halekulani were reserving deck chairs at 5.00am in the pitch dark (I kid you not). But 10.00am was a little bit the other extreme for us. We like to wake up early, have a run, shower and hit the pool at 8.30, read the papers and then head to breakfast at around 10.30. We then go back to our chairs and use them for the rest of the day, as we tend to skip lunch. At the adults only pool they were very strict about not reserving chairs for more than 15 minutes outside of 11.30-2.30 where you can leave them vacant. I admire that they enforce this and I wish other resorts would be as vigilant but when I explained to them that we wanted to go for breakfast at 10.30 and that we don’t do lunch so the 11.30-2.30 vacancy would not be required for us they were hesitant to agree and in the end we said that if anyone came after the chairs whilst we were at breakfast then they could give them away, luckily that didn’t happen. Don’t get me wrong I abhor it when people reserve chairs and then don’t turn up until hours later, have a quick dip in the pool, dry off and depart again. I dislike it even more when hotels let guests get away with that. But if you can see that the guest is using the chair throughout the entire day and is only absent for breakfast for 30 minutes it’s a different case. I noticed some people around the tranquility pool were very aware of the 15 minute rule. In one instance a gentleman sat in the pool keeping an eagle eye out for any one who was absent for 16 minutes at which time he pounced on the staff to remove them so he could take the chairs - the poor person had gone for a swim and then to the bathroom! For the rest of our stay we used the Beach Tree pool, which I preferred. Lots more chairs and the cabana’s (free) at the back give the best shade options for any time of the day. In general this is one of the only resorts we’ve been to a peak times where both the staff and the guests used good etiquette and were sensible re deck chair use. I wish other resorts would use the same good sense. We loved the fact that there was a kids pool which meant that even the Beach Tree pool, which has no age restrictions, was very quiet and peaceful and the children who did use it were incredibly well behaved.

In closing we had an amazing time at Four Season Hualalei. It’s a very special and unique property. I wasn’t sure what to expect – I’d read all the glowing reviews but wondered if it would live up to the hype and it absolutely did, and then some. We can’t wait to return!