I was just there a few weeks ago, first time to the property. Um, wow. Where to start: Basically, heaven on earth. Four hours after I arrived in Kona I had already snorkeled with sea turtles and watched the sunset from a lava rock jacuzzi that sits just off the pool. Hard to top. I spent much of the rest of the trip trying to decide whether this or the Banff Springs were the most perfect hotel I've ever been too.

I should say -- I didn't eat in any of the restaurants. I'm not a foodie, so I was fine with the club floor buffet, the on-property deli and in-town food as I traveled around the island. The location of Brown's is very cool -- but you can also sit in basically the same place w/o eating there, so go only if you're into good food.

I'm more of a beach girl, and I loved the Fairmont's. It sounds like you've been there before, so I won't go into the description. The hotel room itself was wonderfully lush and I loved that they gave us full-size toiletries (that might just be the club floor, though.) Most comfortable bed I've ever slept in.

The lushness extended around the property -- but so did a nice island informality. Everyone was very tidy, but I didn't feel like I had to deck out in full "resortwear" everytime I left my room -- nice change from the Four Seasons. Service was also a nice mix of a lush hotel and island informality. One woman I spoke with said she came to work there because her father did as well -- I thought that said a lot about how well the hotel treats its staff. (The woman who drove the shuttle from Blue Hawaiian also commented, unprompted, that the Fairmont staff seemed the happiest of the hotels in the area.)

There was construction visible on the way to the hotel, but I forgot about it after that -- not visible or hearable from the property itself. People have also griped about the views and I think that's probably fair -- really only the top floors or the north side of North tower have "partial ocean views" that deserve the name. On the other hand, the south side of North tower you get to fall asleep to the sound of waterfalls, which is awesome, and the South Tower is about 4 feet from the beach.

Things are much closer together than they look from the maps I had seen. I was staying in the North Tower and was concerned I might be too far from the beach, but no problems at all (I'm somewhat mobility impaired, though not in the water.) At the same time, however, the design of the property is so well done that you never feel like you're surrounded by people. I assumed the occupancy was low -- but it turned out it was almost full.

My only disappointment, and it was very very minor, is that the spa has kind of cramped pre-treatment facilities. I mean, the massage on the beach was great, and the waterfall huts looked cool, too, but there's a very limited number of treatments you can get in them and otherwise you're in the very small main building. And things like facials and pedicures are relegated to a small "salon" that could be in any shopping mall. I was told there were plans to turn it into a Willow Stream, which would be awesome, but they were shelved over the summer.

But anyway, awesome property. You'll have a great time. Happy to answer any specific questions.