KristenNix

We spent 12 nights over Festive on the Big Island, splitting our time between two resorts, the first of which was the recently renovated Mauna Lani. We had never been to the Mauna Lani before and we were excited to see the results of the recently completed $200 million resort wide re-imagination that included a redesign of the lobby area, a refresh to all guest rooms, suites and bungalows, three new pools, new dining concepts and more. The finished product is contemporary, organic, and beautiful. Here are some of the things we loved the most:

- Great pools… a modern and chic adults-only infinity edge pool hidden away just in front of the Serenity wing and just steps from the Hā Bar; the main Resort pool has lots of comfortable loungers under large umbrellas with ocean views; and a fantastic sand bottom zero-entry pool that is just perfect for the toddlers.

- The oceanfront Surf Shack is a really fun spot… it's the center of all ocean activities and the spot for lawn games by day, and by evening, it’s the place to be for live music, local beer, craft cocktails, and incredible Hawaiian sunsets. It’s a great area for kids to run around, play cornhole, spike ball, or throw a football, and we loved our daily Surf Shack happy hours.

- The Canoe House is iconic. The oceanfront setting is really spectacular, and we thought that the food and service were fantastic. We also loved breakfast and dinner at the more casual and very family friendly HāLani. The Market, just below the lobby, is a great cafe and deli where you can pick up all the usual things you might want for your room or the road. Also within the Mauna Lani resort complex are Brown’s Beach House and the Shops at Mauna Lani. We loved all of the great dining options.

- The ocean sports with the resort's Kainalu guides are fantastic, especially surfing! The team is awesome and the surfing that we accessed directly from the resort was so much fun. We took a guided surf lesson, and the instructors got us up on a lot of waves. Guests can also rent boards to take out on your own, or borrow complimentary boogie boards.

- The beach is somewhat protected and it's great for kids and those that don’t want to have to worry about getting knocked over or swept away by waves. Snorkeling off the beach was also very good… we saw lots of fish and a sea turtle.

We absolutely loved the Mauna Lani. The oceanfront setting is level and spectacular, the vibe is laid back and soulful, service was excellent, and we loved surfing and snorkeling right off the beach. And for golfers, the Mauna Lani South course is a must play. We left trying to figure out when we could return again. Here are a few of our photos...

Lemon-Lime

Thanks for a great review and some nice pictures! We're trying to plan a trip in July and looking to split a stay between Mauna Lani and Hualalai. This was very helpful.

KristenNix

FS Hualalai and Mauna Lani are two of my favorites in HI and I think a split stay between them sounds like a great idea. Thanks for the nice feedback and enjoy your trip!

uclabruin82

Currently at the Mauna Lani and figured I would share my thoughts after a few nights:

In fairness, I have not been to Hawaii since 2007 so not sure how much of this is the overall local market or this hotel specifically, but I really do not view this to be a luxury hotel. The remodel is nice in the sense that the bedding is very comfortable now, the TV is modern and the wifi is fast, but the rooms are still small (I think the sq ft advertisied includes the balcony) and basic and the building itself is nothing special. Further, they did not include any outdoor lights so one cannot read outside in the evening. The beach is quite poor. It is corral so you don't get the soft sand you would find in other parts of hawaii or the carribean nor do you get the rocks/pebbles you have in parts of the med that can be fun when you find a quite cove with clear water.

Our only previous stays at an Auberge are in Napa and I would have considered both of those to be luxury (we have also visited Esparanza but never stayed). This is the first hotel we have stayed at where there was no little gift for our 10-month old son, turndown service does not include chocolate or water or anything by your bed, there are no treats when lounging on a day bed, etc. Really no service at all on the beach - only at the pool until 5 or so. Further, this is the first hotel we have stayed at where the non-motorized water sports are not complimentary. Just to rent a paddle board is $60 for an hour! This is crazy to me.

As for rooms, we are in a garden king room because we wanted to be on the ground floor so our son could just crawl right out. Be very careful about an ocean view room as they consider being able to see the ocean only by twisting you neck while out on the balcony to be an ocean view.

Another sense of non-luxury are the group stays going on at our hotel. There are two seperate companies hosting trips for top performing salespeople at our hotel with the dinners and everything at night. It doesn't bother me at all that the people are here, but seeing employees holding up signs in the lobby for specific companies is not really a nice relaxing vibe and being told to wait for a table at breakfast is absurd. The concierge is also fairly useless as they will not book things if they are not contracted. So you are limited to their partners only. My wife and I could deal with this but my parents are a different story.

One more negative note, which is not necessarily the hotel's fault, but being in Hawaii right now is not really that pleasent. Many things are closed or only open for limited hours, your negative covid test is required all the time, etc. Even with Biden/CDC saying you don't need to wear masks outside anymore, nothing has changed here.

On the plus side: The food, while very expensive, is quite good. The basic food is done well and enhanced by the view of the ocean and Canoe House is very good with quality ingrediants and interesting choices.

Apologies if this comes off as a rant. Our vacation is fine because it is nice to be outside with good weather, but given the options available I cannot see us ever coming back here.

francophile

Thanks uclabruin82 for the review. We're staying at this resort in late June and already I'm having ominous feelings about it.

In March, my wife left two voice mail messages with the concierge regarding bike rentals and reservations at Canoe House and they never called back. When she subsequently called a separate time, she spoke with someone at the front desk asking to send menus with prices at Canoe House; they told her they were very busy (well, this call did occur during early April during the busy spring break season) and told her to call back at a later time closer to our stay because they said they prioritize responding to requests based on the date of stay. This is not the response I would expect from a luxury hotel. Reading your review only reinforces by negative outlook about this hotel.

We were able to confirm a one category upgrade from garden view to ocean view under a Virtuoso offer. Thanks for the heads up as I'll be ready to do contortions with my neck to get a glimpse of the ocean.

Finally, we're staying their with another family and we will have 3 young children. Neither the hotel nor our Virtuoso agent asked about the children's ages (even though it's noted in our reservations that we have children in our party) so I can assume our kids will also not receive welcome amenities. Four Seasons is always very good about reaching to ask about children's ages and consistently welcomes kids with a treat.

On the bright side, we made our reservations back in early March when rates were under $600 per night during late June. I can see rates have now jumped to over $1,000. Still I can't help but kick myself for not having the good sense to reserve the FS Hualalai late last year when rates were still under $1,000 for a stay in late June.

United747

Thanks for the review, uclabruin82. I’m a tad worried about your comments since I’ve got a stay the first week of June. But thankfully, I’ve got most of my stay planned out doing things outside of the hotel (hiking, dining, etc) and I’m traveling solo, so the room size hopefully won’t be an issue.

As for Canoe House, francophile, I am similarly looking for a menu with prices. Best I could find was a menu on Opentable, but I’m not sure if it’s up to date?

I’ll be sure to report back on my stay, I was basically priced out of FS - I wasn’t really interested in spending $1k+ per night for this trip. Hopefully I don’t regret that...

Goodmorning2U

Unfortunately, Hualalai, Maui, and Lanai Four Seasons seem to be pricing out at around 2k a night for the entire summer. I am sure we will see more of this as things open up.

SanDiego1K

We ate there in March thanks to @Weatherboy. We loved it, both for the ambience and the food. It was so serene and had a lovely view over the grass to the ocean. I brought back a menu for a friend who went a couple weeks back. Sadly, I failed to keep a copy for myself. If you plan to eat there, book early. Places are booking up well in advance.

Here's a useful thread about area restaurants: Big Island: Consolidated "South Kona-Kona-North Kohala-Waimea restaurants" Thread

Weatherboy

The menu changes somewhat regularly at CanoeHouse as do the prices. This was last week's menu. Im going next week and will let you know if anything changes.

uclabruin82

Confirmed that the menu above is still the menu - and it is very good. Canoe house is clearly a highlight for food, service and ambiance. We had a proper dinner one night, desert and a nightcap at the bar another, and then some snacks in the lounge area and they were all great. The only entree we had was the Kampachi and it was big enough to feed two. The My five menu was also a nice way to try different things and they were flexible on dessert. Not shown here, but for those curious, the (great) cocktails are ~$20, wine by the glass starts at $20 and they have a $65 corkage fee (friends always bring their own wine...)

A few other items to note:
1) I would personally recommend requesting a room on the north side of the building. This is facing away from the pool so significantly less noise and slightly more privacy during the day. If you are facing south, wherever you are, then everyone at the pools will see you on your balcony
2) We loved the garden view on the ground floor because it let the kid crawl out and have some green space. Literally our entire row of rooms was families. We were in room 131 and had a great view of the ocean, and were close to the gym / beach / pool / market.
3) The breakfast amenity through virtuoso is sub-par. You do not get breakfast, but an $80 credit. If two people each get an egg dish and a latte then that will be $80 for two people when taking into account tax + tip. We did not ask, but should have, about getting incremental credit for our son and anyone sharing a room with a child should ask as well. Either way, I think that complimentary breakfast should include juice + coffee and X dish
4) The surf shack where you rent equipment for the water closes at 3. This was unfortunate since 5 - 7 is a great time to be out on the water when the sun is setting and it is not so hot
5) The gym is very nice with a lot of varied equipment and in good shape. They make people wear masks if working out inside which is tough if you are on a stairmaster or treadmill. They do have peletons and other equipment outside you can use without a mask and when I was the only person there they did not care at all.
6) The service / employees at the different food outlets were all great. Helpful, friendly and efficient.
7) Housekeeping does a good job. My only request would be to start the day earlier. They do not start until 8:30am and considering how many people are on mainland time, it would nice to be able to have the room cleaned while you are out at 6 or 7 for a sunrise walk, etc. They are quick with towels however if you need some before the room can be made up.
8) The dearly departed BHrubin would not be happy. The AC turns off automatically anytime the glass sliding doors to the balcony are opened. Makes it tough to keep the room cool and no matter how hard we tried it always felt warm during the day.

Weatherboy

Had a delicious dinner with friends tonight and can confirm the same menu is there.

It remains pricey: dinner for 3 with 2 bottles of wine came in just under $600.

jja34-1

I was at dinner at Canoe House around the same time you were there and I wondered who all the groups were - there was a lot of talk about hotel sales, etc. It definitely made the restaurant feel less than exclusive.

This is consistent with my experience, too. What I would do for some Canoe House bread right now...

Weatherboy

I once ordered the Shokupan loaf and took home most of it as a left over. The next morning it made for the most delicious French toast.

jja34-1

I should have dont this! I was so proud that I didn't eat a whole loaf by myself this time. I think it would make great bread for a PB&J sandwich. Great mix of sweet and savory.

Weatherboy

I went to CanoeHouse again for dinner last night. No change to the menu although the MyMenu did offer slightly different things. They said they don't like to change the menu too much because people develop favorites and want to repeat them in future visits.

On this visit, I had their butter poached lobster paired with a 4oz filet mignon, a break from the usual MyMenu I do. Also started the evening witb one of their new cocktails, "Guava on Ice" which was refreshing.

The restaurant and the resort was absolutely packed, with some conference/convention having an outdoor dinner with live entertainment on the beach between the hotel and CanoeHouse. Many staff, including the resort GM, tell me its as if COVID never happened with crowds at their highest numbers yet.