slackjawed1

Has anyone stayed at the Lanai Hotel? Is it easy to get back and forth from Hulopo'e (Manale) Bay and other points without renting a car ($100+/day!)? Is 4-5 days there more time than you recommend staying? Mahalo!

FlyinHawaiian

Born and raised in Hawai`i; it's been a while since I've last been on Lana`i, but visited many times when I was a child, mostly on hunting and fishing trips for the weekend. I remember when the Hotel Lana`i was the ONLY hotel on the island! What a special place it was back then.

I think the longest I stayed as a tourist was about three days and that was about right for me. That was about ten years ago and I stayed at the Manele Bay Hotel. Hung out at the beach for a few days, went snorkling, and drove the Munro Trail in one of old man Kuroda's jeeps rented from his Chevron. Man, that red dirt is something else - you'll never get it off of your clothes.

Manele Bay is a goodly distance from the village of Lanai City. Gotta be a couple of miles and also 1000 feet or so of elevation. I seem to recall that there was a shuttle that ran from the Manele Bay Hotel to the Lodge at Ko`ele - that might be worth looking into.

Hope this helps. I'm sure someone who's been there recently can offer more suggestions.

PremEx2000

Slackjawed:

My wife and I just returned from Lana'i and the Big Island a couple of weeks ago. It was our first trip to Lana'i. We stayed at Manele Bay. We ate at the Hotel Lana'i which was excellent (but not cheap!) The two Starwood hotels -- Manele Bay and The Lodge at Kehole (sp.?) have a shuttle that runs between them and stops at the Hotel Lana'i. There's a shuttle every twenty or thirty minutes. You could definitely get away with not renting a car. I am sure that you could take the Starwood shuttle (they would never know that you weren't staying at one of their hotels), and if you are going to one of their hotels to, among other things, eat, I'm sure they wouldn't be upset that you are taking the shuttle.

Lana'i is very nice. It's definitely worth going to. We spent 2 1/2 days there. I think 3 to 3 1/2 days is plenty. You'd be really bored after that. It's a very peaceful island but aside from some hikes and snorkling (and the obvious lounging by the beach/golfing), there's not a whole lot to do--not that there's anything wrong with that.

If you go, you definitely should check out the 2 other hotels. They are really beautiful and worth seeing. The Lodge is maybe a 1/4 to 1/2 mile walk from the Hotel Lana'i. It has this amazing putting golf course--like putt-putt but real greens. It's fun for those of us who don't golf much or ever.

We took a snorkling trip that took us past the huge cliffs on the south/west end of the island. The cliffs are huge--soaring straight up 1100 feet from the water. The snorkling was pretty good but not phenomenal. We saw a ton of dolphins up close and a bunch of whales from a distance (it was whale season).

I definitely recommend Lana'i. I can't speak to the quality of the Hotel Lana'i but it seemed okay and it's restaurant was great. Lana'i has a real small town feel to it--only 2700 residents and everybody knows each other. It's well worth a trip.

Scigirl

You definitly don't need a rental car - as the poster above noted the shuttle will take you between all three hotels. I think Hotel Lanai guest also have access to many/most of the amenities at the Starwood properties. The golf at the Lodge is fun - you can also rent bikes, go horseback riding, skeet shoot, snorkel, etc. There are several nice hikes to do - the hotels usually have maps or one or two.

If you decide to rent a jeep for one day to do some exploring (the cars have to stay on the 30 miles of paved road) don't rent until the day you plan to use the jeep. Cancellations are not allowed less than several days in advance, and rain makes many of the dirt roads impassable even in a jeep. Jeep run, I think, about $150 a day - there are two rental companies (the hotels have information).

I liked Lanai - undeveloped, enjoyed doing several hikes, hanging out, etc.

Have a good trip.

Sweet Willie

Was just on Lanai last week. As ChicagoBound mentions, the shuttle stops right in front of the Hotel Lanai to drop guests off for the "downtown" area.
Just make sure you get on the bus you want, there will be a little sign in the window saying either Lodge at Koele or Manale Bay dictating which resort the bus is headed to.

We ate at the formal dining room at the Lodge, out of two appitizers/two entrees only one app was weak, the other three were exceptional. Dined at some other places that I am going to post in Flyertalk Dining section soon. Also trip report is coming.


We spent two full days and were driving off road each day to the secluded beaches and off road viewpoints. I recommend renting a Jeep so that you can view parts of the island that most never see. It was a real treat driving down to the harbor to see the sunset w/some drinks w/o anyone else around except two people fishing. Seeing as I dislike monopolies and Dollar is the only major on the island, I rented from the following: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum...ML/000022.html

I personaly loved the seclusion and lack of people. It's busy at the Manale Bay but not at the Lodge or away from MB. I will go back just to get away. If just laying/walking on a beach for days w/o many choices of dining location bothers you, then 4-5 days is too much. For me, to have a beach in HI to ourselves for hours at a time was priceless.

slackjawed1

Wow! What helpful answers! Thanks everyone!

msp3

I noticed an ad for Hotel Lanai on FT of all places, clicked through and it's been given a Four Seasons Lanai-style renovation! If you've stayed at the FS before and after renovations you'll know what I'm talking about

https://www.travelweekly.com/Hawaii-...ter-renovation
https://www.hawaiimagazine.com/conte...ive-renovation
In the Loop | News, Sports, Jobs - Maui News

747FC

I wonder whether you hold the FT record for resurrecting old threads? Sixteen years! Awesome

msp3

When I first joined FT one of the first things I noticed was some wiki message saying threads are heavily consolidated and noticed they were always long running. Ever since then I've strongly believed it's good manners to continue a discussion and not start unnecessary new ones. Plus, this is the only actual thread on the Hotel Lanai I could find...

I am looking very much forward to trying it out, and can't wait for when Koele too reopens

747FC

I've stayed at all of the Lanai hotels, but not since FS took over. The former owners/operators used to provide Kamaaina discounts, but the FS group does not (so I hear). I'm sure the Koele will be a fantastic re-do. Hope they still have the putting course next to the hotel operating.

msp3