I am finishing up a 7-day tour of the Big Island during which I spent 2 days at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park (very worthwhile) and 5 days on the Kohana Coast, 2 nights at Four Seasons Hualalai and 3 nights at Mauna Kea (where I'm writing this report.) This is my trip report.

As always, I want to emphasize that these are my personal opinions and based on room product. It's hard for a TA to comment objectively on service, as resorts always want to be impressed. Your opinions can and should differ!


Four Seasons Hualalai

I enjoyed a two-night stay at FS Hualalai. This was my first stay since the 2011 tsunami that swamped Palm Grove, and I wanted to see the changes that have been made to this crescent. Pre-tsunami, Palm Grove had a large lawn shaded with many palm trees, chaise lounges being positioned strategically under those trees. It also had a small adults-only jacuzzi. All of this has now been replaced with a quite large (about 40’ by 60’ at its maximum dimensions) adults-only Tranquility Pool with swim up bar. The pool is very popular in the afternoons, and I spent an hour in the jetted hot tub. Good news: it’s not too hot, so you can stay in the tub a long time!


Other updates from Hualalai…

Beach Tree pool is now open to guests of all ages. It had previously been reserved for adults, but with Palm Grove’s new Tranquility Pool, Beach Tree is now open to children and teens. Sea Shell remains the pool where active kids can play, splash, make noise, and generally be kids.

Kings Pond has more fish than ever. The tsunami washed more fish into the pond, so the snorkeling opportunities are even better.

Hualalai is planning a renovation of all guest rooms, and there is a mock-up of the new design. I was unable to see the mock-up room during my stay, as engineers were working on the room. I’ve been told that the new room design will offer a more contemporary white-on-white color scheme, de-emphasizing the dark wood of the present rooms.



I stayed at Hualalai with the intent of creating a slide show describing the four crescents and Ocean Golf rooms, updating the iPhone videos I had previously posted on my blog. I will publish the link to that slide show when it’s ready!



Mauna Lani

I previously did a site of Mauna Lani nearly a decade ago. As all rooms have subsequently been renovated, I made another visit during this trip to see their new room product.

As before, I found the open-air lobby visually very impressive. Although the resort is large by luxury hotel standards (341 rooms), all of the hallways are open to a central courtyard attractively landscaped with lush plantings. When walking down the long, closed hallways of some hotels, you could be anywhere in the world, not in a tropical resort

The room decor is attractive with Hawaiian-themed decorating motifs. The room is adequately sized, but the bathroom is a bit compact. There are two vanities and a WC, but the shower is in the tub with a fabric shower curtain.


We were also shown a Suite, quite spacious with a pullout sofa in LR in addition to a King-bed in the bedroom. The bathroom has both a tub and step-in shower, and the suite features an additional powder room.

Mauna Lani has a small number of private 2-bedroom bungalows, either Ocean View or Ocean Front. Each bungalow comes with its own private pool. The front door leads into a central living room that is large and attractive, with a small kitchen off the dining area. There are two bedrooms, a King-bedded room to one side and a Queen-Queen bedded room to the other. Each bedroom has a fully featured bathroom.

Virtuoso bookings get an upgrade at booking. Standard rooms (overlooking the entrance) upgrade to Garden. Garden upgrades to Ocean. Ocean upgrades to Oceanfront. Oceanfront upgrades to Deluxe Oceanfront. We were shown an Ocean View room which I would consider a “partial ocean view” From the room, I could the swimming pool. Only when standing on the patio, could I see the ocean off to the side. My advice: book at least an Ocean View and enjoy the upgrade to Ocean Front.


Mauna Lani's resort facilities seemed a bit tired to me, especially having just spent two nights at Hualalai. While the beach had a good swimming area, both beach and pool would benefit immensely from some lush landscaping to beautify and visually separate these areas. There is one resort pool and a small outdoor dining facility between the pool and the beach. These also really need lush landscaping.


Along with the Fairmont Orchid, Mauna Lani competes for the business of more price-conscious guests; rates are less than half of what you might pay at the Four Seasons. I did not have the chance to visit the Fairmont during this stay.



Mauna Kea

Mauna Kea was developed by Lawrence Rockefeller in 1965 along the best beach on the Big Island. Let me emphasize the beach — if you want to spend your vacation on the beach and in the surf, Mauna Kea is where you’ll want to stay.

The building itself is visually stunning, recognized in 2007 by the American Institute of Architects as one of the 150 best works of architecture in the United States. The imposing facility is massive on the outside, but with only 252 total rooms and suites and a generous amount of open-air space throughout the public areas, you’ll never feel like you're in a big, crowded resort. During my last visit to the Big Island, Mauna Kea was closed for renovations, and I was unable to go inside. The resort reopened on December 20, 2008 after undergoing a $150 million repair and renovation project.

Here’s how to decipher the room categories at Mauna Kea.

Beachfront rooms are the lead-in category, located in the separate but connected Beachfront building. Each of these rooms is ocean-facing, and ground floor rooms are especially prized as they step out directly onto the lawn in front of beach. Rooms are comfortably sized. Bathrooms have a single vanity, toilet, and shower/tub combination. The decorating scheme in the Beachfront rooms is a bit more contemporary than main building rooms with accents of blue and brown.


Golf Vista rooms (facing the golf course) and Ocean Vista rooms (facing the beautiful beach) are located in the north end of the main building. these rooms are decorated using Mauna Kea's trademark orange color scheme. These rooms have 600 sq ft. of total space inclusive of the large lanai with two chaise loungers. Bathrooms have a single vanity, toilet, and tub/shower combination.


Golf Vista Deluxe and Ocean View Deluxe rooms are the top room category at Mauna Kea. have 900 square feet of space. This was the most significant improvement of the renovation, essentially turning sets of three guest rooms into two guest rooms, the “middle” room being split in two and added to the two outside rooms. Your room door opens into a small foyer with a large walk-in closet to one side. Straight ahead is the bedroom, similar to Golf Vista and Ocean Vista rooms described above. To the left (or right) is a very large 300 square foot bathroom (i.e., 1/2 of the 600 sf “middle” room) equipped with two large vanities, a soaking tub, separate step-in shower, and even a lanai with a view of the golf course or ocean.

There are also 10 suites on property.



Volcano House

Volcano House is not a luxury hotel or resort. It is a lodge in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and the place to stay (if you book early enough) when visiting the park. There are only 33 rooms, and they always sell out.


Why stay here? It’s inside the park, and if you book a room on the volcano side of the building, you’ll be able to see the smoke rising from the crater during the day … and the rose glow of the lava throughout the night. Definitely go for a Volcano room or Deluxe volcano room (which has sliding doors to a concrete patio) so that you get the view.

Rooms are attractive but basic — and the small bathroom has a single vanity, toilet, and tub-shower combo.