Go Visit Hawaii

One of the top highlights of Lanai is Hulopoe Beach. Why is this beach so special? Let’s start with five great reasons:

1. It’s a protected marine preserve which makes it great for snorkeling.

2. Hawaiian spinner dolphins love to play in this bay. We saw many dolphins during our stay here. I’ve been told that this area is an amazing spot for watching humpback whales in season (December - April).

3. The crescent shape makes the bay very picturesque.

4. A Lanai icon, Sweetheart Rock, Puupehe is just a short hike away. See our photo and video of Puupehe

5. You’ll find fascinating tide pools along the east side of the bay. The tide pools form in the lava rock to make a natural aquarium making it a nice way to see marine life without getting wet.

Hulopoe Beach would have to rank in my top five favorite beaches of Hawaii. If you don’t want to take my word that this beach is great, then consider that Dr. Beach named Hulopoe Beach the best beach in America in 1997.

Tips for Visiting Hulopoe Beach

• If you are staying on Lanai, it’s easy to find this bay on the south coast of the island. It’s situated between the Four Seasons Resort and Manele Bay.
• A day trip to Hulopoe Beach from Maui is really easy to do. You simply take a 30 to 45 minute ferry ride to Manele Bay from either Lahaina or Maalaea Harbors. Roundtrip tickets are $50 for adults and $40 for children. Trilogy offers packaged day trips that include meals and snorkeling gear. They are the only tour company with permission to bring guests to Hulopoe Bay.
• You’ll find picnic tables, restrooms and shower facilities here.
• Note that the only nearby restaurants are at the Four Seasons. My favorite place for lunch here is the clubhouse restaurant.
• You’ll need to bring your own snorkeling gear if you are not a guest of the Lanai Four Seasons.
• This bay Lanai’s only swimmable beach and the water is typically more calm in the summer months.
• If you are in the bay when the Spinner dolphins are visiting, don’t ever chase the dolphins or attempt to touch them.

I took this photo at the Four Seasons at Manele Bay on the island of Lanai. Beyond the pool, you can see the lovely beach and marine preserve of Hulopoe Bay.  Also, in the distance, you can just catch the top of Puupehe (Sweetheart Rock). I love this photo, because each time I see it, it instantly relaxes me by transporting me back there. So, let’s all picture ourselves here while we get into our weekend frame of mind.  Happy Aloha Friday!

Happy Aloha Friday and Memorial Day weekend! Here are some interesting newsy bits and enticing Hawaii deals for you.

• Dr Beach announced his 2008 list of the ten best US beaches.  Hanalei Beach on the North Shore of Kauai made the list at number 2.  Hamoa Beach on Maui near Hana is this year’s seventh best US beach.
• BookIt.com named ResortQuest’s Waikiki Beach Hotel in their top ten list of Memorial Day weekend getaway deals.
• Starwoods hotels have some fantastic Hawaii hotel deals.  They’re offering 35% off, fifth night free and a $100 dining credit. .  The offer is only available for Starwoods Preferred Guests, if you’re not already a member, don’t worry, sign up is quick and free.  The offer is valid for stays through December 25th, but you must book before June 30th.
• Four Seasons Resorts are offering a couple of freebies that vary by Hawaii location.  They’re offering a free night’s stay on Lanai, and free breakfast for two on the Big Island and Maui. 
• American Airlines announced that it will be charging a fee of $15 for the first checked bag. Elite status passengers are exempt from the fee.  Other airlines are considering adding this fee, but Delta said they wouldn’t. Remember that you’ll save yourself money and time by packing light. 

I completely understand the daunting task of planning your Hawaii vacation. If you’ve never been to Hawaii, it’s difficult enough to select which island(s) you want to visit. Once you’ve selected an island, you have brief sense of accomplishment before you realize that you’ve got to plan your itinerary. Can I get an amen?

We all want to make the most of our vacation time. So, how do you get to see all the best sights and do all the best activities? How do you plan to see it all logistically? To find your ideal itinerary that suits your tastes, you’ll have to do a bit of researching. The good news is that there are some useful free online resources to aid you in your personal research. I’ll list some of the top resources that make a good starting point. Though these online recommendations may be self-described as perfect, I hesitate to describe them as being perfect. There can’t be a perfect once size fits all.

So, let’s take a look at some good websites to use in your research:

Hawaiian Airlines has useful vacation itineraries. If you click on their “trip details” button, the website will provide you with estimated time to allocate for each activity. Here are links to their suggestions:

• Kauai
• Maui
• Oahu
• Big Island

Fodor’s has itineraries that are a bit more general, but still quite good. Here are their free suggestions:

• Kauai
• Maui
• Oahu
• Big Island

Frommer’s also have itineraries suggestions for one-week Hawaii vacations. Their recommendations are quite a bit more specific - even to the point of recommending a few businesses. A big caution I have about Frommer’s plans is that their day one arrival suggestions are way too ambitious! For example, on Maui they suggest you go to a luau on your arrival day. I can tell you from much experience, if you are coming from the Midwest or East Coast, there is absolutely no way that you’ll have the energy to enjoy a luau on the day of arrival. Still, I think their free vacation plans are still worth reviewing, though I wouldn’t necessarily take all their recommendations on blind faith.

• Kauai
• Maui
• Oahu
• Big Island
• Lanai
• Molokai

If you haven’t already seen my suggestions of what to see and do in Hawaii, be sure to review these budget friendly recommendations. Almost all the activities are free. They aren’t necessarily in itinerary format, but you could easily use them for that purpose.

• Maui’s Top 7 Free or Nearly Free Things to Do and See
• Top 5 Things You Should See and Do on Maui
• 10 Best Free Activities and Sites on Oahu
• Best Free Activities on Kauai
• Best Big Island Budget Activities

If you’ve been to Hawaii on vacation, please share what resources you used to help you develop the ideal itinerary that worked for you. What seemed to work? What didn’t work?

I think the best restaurant on Lanai for an amazing view is the Challenge at Manele Clubhouse restaurant on the Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort grounds. The restaurant is perched on a cliff with a tremendous view of Sweetheart Rock (Puu Pehe), Hulopoe Bay, and the island of Kahoolawe off in the distance. I recommend getting a table under an umbrella on the lanai. The restaurant serves nice sandwiches, salads, and such. The prices aren’t cheap, but the view makes it worth the price. The restaurant is open for lunch only from 10:30am to 4:30pm.

When I was trying to plan my first trip to Lanai, I really had a difficult time trying to determine the most direct way to get there.  I knew Lanai was very close to Maui, so I assumed it would make sense to fly into Maui’s Kahului Airport (OGG) from the mainland and then get a an inter-island flight from there to Lanai (LNY).  I had assumed that there would be several direct flights from Maui to Lanai since it was less than ten miles away.  Well, my assumption was wrong.  There were no direct flights to Lanai from Maui.  Almost all of the flights from Maui to Lanai connect in Honolulu and that makes the total flight time at least 2.5 hours or more.  The costs of the roundtrip flights from Maui to Lanai were tallying up near $250 per person.  So, I marked that plan off my list as it didn’t seem like an efficient use of time or money. 

Another alternative to get to Lanai from Maui that I researched was taking the Maui-Lanai Expeditions Ferry.  The ferry goes from Lahaina Harbor on Maui to Manele Bay Harbor on Lanai.  (Note: ferry departures from Maalea Harbor have recently been added.) This alternative had logistic problems, too.  The first hurdle is timing the flight arrival with the ferry departure times, which would have been a bit tricky.  The next hurdle was arranging transportation from the Maui airport in Kahului to Lahaina Harbor.  If you pack very light (e.g. one medium-sized suitcase, duffle bag, or carry-on bag allowed, no larger than 22”Hx14”Wx9”L), you can use the Maui bus system to make your way to Lahaina.  Using the Maui bus will save a lot of money, but requires transfers.  The other alternative to get to Lahaina was to get a shuttle or tax, with a brief look into that I started hearing the sound of “kaching, kaching” in the background racking up the costs.  Though taking the ferry to Lanai is feasible if you can work out the logistics, one thing to bear in mind is that you are responsible for carrying your luggage on the ferry. I quickly decided that this alternative wasn’t a good use of time and money.

So, at this point I had two strikes.  I was nearly ready to scrap my vacation plans to Lanai, but then I got a second wind.

Next, I looked into flying in to Honolulu (HNL) rather than Maui and then flying onwards to Lanai.  Ah, success at last!  This option ended up being the most direct option.  It reduced our overall travel time and it turned out to be the cheapest, too.  So, if you are planning a vacation to Lanai, my recommendation is to get there via Honolulu.  It’s the quickest, easiest, and cheapest way.

After spending four nights at the Four Seasons Resort at Manele Bay, I hope to have the opportunity to return again someday. The resort has so much potential if they could only improve some service issues it could truly become top notch and live up to its five-star rating.

The Location
The resort’s location on Lanai’s remote, south shore makes the resort very special. It feels secluded and swank. The resort is perched on a bit of a cliff over looking the marine preserve of Hulopoe Bay where pods of spinner dolphins frequently visit and one of Lanai’s more famous landmarks, Puupehe (sweetheart rock). The scenery will not disappoint.

The Resort Grounds
The resort grounds are beautiful. Guest rooms were scattered among nine different buildings. (See this photo to get a better idea of how the resort is configured.) The guest room buildings were only two stories high and seemed to blend into the landscape as you can see from the above photo. Between each building were beautiful Oriental and Hawaiian themed gardens. Our room was located in one of the buildings that was furthermost from the lobby, but we didn’t mind the walk as we enjoyed the antique art and gardens scattered through out the resort. (Our walk to the lobby took less than five minutes.)

The pool was nice, but rather small for the size of the resort. I liked that there was an abundance of umbrellas at the pool and down by the beach. Occasionally pool staff would bring pineapple bits, cold lemonade and towels. The beach staff set up chairs and umbrellas and provided snorkel equipment.

Though we didn’t play any golf, we heard nothing but wonderful things about the golf course from other guests. We had lunch at the golf course club house and the view was amazing. We wished that they served dinner there.

In addition to the golf course, to keep in shape, the resort has tennis courts, a fitness center with a beautiful view of Hulopoe Bay, and hiking trails.

We had considered getting a massage at the spa, but when we saw the entrance to the spa, it didn’t seem inviting or special. The spa is located in the ground level of the lobby building. It seemed cramped and it didn’t offer any views.

The Rooms
Guest rooms are quite spacious. The bed was very comfortable with quality linens. All the mattresses were being replaced in September 2007. The marble baths had double sinks, a tub and and separate shower. We had a mini-bar that could be customized at check in. Each room has a lanai, but we didn’t spend much time there unfortunately because the furniture wasn’t that comfortable and design of the lanai prevented air circulation, so it was uncomfortably hot to sit there for long.

One big disappointment to us is that we booked a partial ocean front room. With a special offer we found, we could be upgraded if upgrades were available. We were supposedly upgraded to a ocean front room, however the primary view we had was of another guest wing. When we sat on the bed or in the club chair, our view was completely of the other guest building. We had to keep our shutters pulled the majority of the time. So beware if you are booking an ocean front room, it may not be what you’re expecting.

We had also clearly requested a second level room. We even called the hotel directly the day before arrival to confirm our reservation and request for a second level room. We were there the second week of September during a slower time, so the rooms should have been available. We were disappointed that our request was never acknowledged at check-in. We were so exhausted and jet lagged that we didn’t have the energy to complain.

The Restaurants
The only restaurants in the area are located on the resort grounds. You can take a shuttle into Lanai City or over to the Four Seasons Resort at Koele for other options. Because of our brief stay, we ate all our meals at the resort. (Here is a link to the dining facilities.) Due to the limited dining options and how remote the resort is, the cost of meals was a bit on the expensive side.

We very much enjoyed the breakfast buffet at the Hulopoe Court. We aren’t normally fans of buffets, but this one impressed us very much. It was so clean and spacious. Several options changed daily so that you don’t get bored.

We also had dinner at Hulopoe Court. We had a lovely table overlooking on the open air terrace overlooking the bay. Everything we ordered was outstanding. The service was very attentive.

We had lunch and dinner at the Ocean Grill. The grill is located by the pool and and pool bar. The outdoor tables offered views of Hulopoe Bay. We had good lunch service, however the dinner service we experienced was not up to IHOP standards let alone Four Seasons standards. After we finished with our entrees, we waited for at least 20 minutes with our dirty plates sitting in front of us and empty beverage glasses while our waitress chatted with friends. No other wait staff seemed to care. Eventually a bar manager recognized our frustration and asked if he could offer any help. He insisted that we have a free desert, which was a kind gesture, but our dining experience for that evening was already ruined.

The Service
At times, service was tremendous. At other times, it was a big disappointment.

Turndown service was inconsistent. We only received turndown service one night of the three nights we wanted it. (Note: we made sure that the do not disturb indicator was not on the door when we wanted the service. We even left tips each time.)

Another significant service issue came from the concierge. She called and woke us up the night of arrival (and our jet lag) to tell us they had just tried to deliver a confirmation letter to our room, but we had a do not disturb sign on the door. Uh, hello! There was a reason the do not disturb sign was on the door! The concierge realized her error and apologized, but our slept was interrupted.

——-

So, that’s my review of the resort. As you can tell, there were some outstanding aspects along with some fairly significant disappointments. Would I return there? Absolutely, but only if I find a good deal or until I can determine that service issues have been resolved.

I’ll add more thoughts on Lanai and getting around in the upcoming weeks. For other opinions, see what TripAdvisor members are saying about this resort.

Thirteen Hawaii resort hotels and eleven Hawaii restaurants have a bit more sparkle since they are showing off their top AAA diamond ratings. AAA has announced its 2008 Four and Five Diamond Resort Hotels and Restaurants. AAA conducts their thorough evaluations unannounced and they have a long list of criteria for evaluations. If you are looking for luxury and top notch service, you should consider these AAA Diamond award winners.

I’ve organized the winning properties by rating and by island. For your convenience and at no extra charge I’ve linked to the official web site of each winner.

Five Diamond (The Best of the Best)

Hotel Resorts

Maui: The Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua; Four Seasons Resort at Wailea

Big Island: Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Kailua-Kona

Restaurants

Oahu: Halekulani Le Mer (at Halekulani Resort at Waikiki)

Four Diamond

Hotel Resorts

Maui: Hyatt Regency Maui Resort & Spa at Kaanapali; Hotel Hana at Hana; Fairmont Kea Lani at Wailea; Grand Wailea Resort and Spa at Wailea

Big Island: Fairmont Orchid at Kohala Coast; Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows on the Kohala Coast

Lanai: Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay

Kauai: Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa at Poipu

Oahu: Halekulani at Waikiki; Kahala Hotel & Resort at Honolulu; JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa at Ko Olina

Restaurants

Oahu: Azul (at the JW Marriott Ihilani); Bali by the Sea (at the Hilton Hawaiian Village at Waikiki); Chef Mavro (in Honolulu); Hoku’s (at the Kahala in Honolulu); Tokyo Tokyo (also at the Kahala in Honolulu); Orchids (at Halekulani Resort at Waikiki)

Maui: Sarento’s On The Beach (in Kihei); Banyan Tree (at the Ritz-Carlton at Kapalua)

Big Island: Pahuia (at the Four Seasons Hualalai in Kailua-Kona); Hualalai Grille (also at the Four Seasons Hualalai in Kailua-Kona);

Since I’ve been fortunate to have vacationed or dined at many of these resorts, I have some thoughts and observations worth sharing:

• The Hyatt Regency Maui doesn’t deserve a four diamond rating, in my opinion. I’ve stayed there and quite honestly I wasn’t impressed. The bathrooms are direct replicas of those used on Noah’s Ark. Okay, perhaps, I’m exaggerating a bit, but a tiny tub/shower/commode bathroom with one sink outside the cramped room just doesn’t cut it with me. I’ll have my review of this property coming soon.
• I’m glad to see the Four Seasons Manele Bay on Lanai make the list with four diamonds. I think if they can correct some inconsistent service issues, they could become five diamond. This property is phenomenal. I will have my review of it in the near future.
• The Princeville Resort on Kauai dropped out of four diamond listing this year. Hopefully, the renovations they’re working on will help launch them back to the AAA prestige next year.
• The Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua should be putting the finishing touches on an extensive renovation. If they rated at five diamond now, I just can’t wait to see how much better the resort is. To be sure, I’m going to be keeping my eyes peeled for a deal to check out the renovated digs.
• The Halekulani at Waikiki racked up multiple awards for their restaurants as well as hotel.

Sources: Star Bulletin 1 & 2; USA Today

The only city on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai wouldn’t meet most people’s definition of a city.  For starters, it doesn’t even have a stoplight. The population of the entire island is around 3,000 people and the vast majority reside in Lanai City. 

What attracts people to Lanai City is the fact that it is small and unencumbered by the typical hectic city life.  I didn’t see a single traffic jam.  There were no honking horns.  There were no badgering street vendors. 

What I did find there were friendly people, interesting restaurants, and unique shops.  The photo above is of a typical shop in the city.  If you zoom in closer on the picture you’ll be able to see a comical street sign that reminds you how far away from city life you really are and also how remote Lanai is.  I wish more cities were as laid back as Lanai City.  Maybe people wouldn’t be as stressed if that was the case. 

There is one hotel that is located “in the city”.  It is aptly named Hotel Lanai.  It’s a small and somewhat modest hotel that has recently been refurbished.  It is the only budget friendly hotel on the island.  There are only two other hotels located elsewhere on the island and they are both Four Seasons Resorts.  (Note that the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele is just a couple of minutes outside of Lanai City.)  If you ever feel like “getting away from it all”, then Lanai will certainly fit the bill.   

If Shakespeare was planning a vacation to Hawaii, I’m sure one of the first few questions he would ask is “To rent or not rent a car?” (Okay! I realize he didn’t have rental cars back in his day, but just play along, would you please? ) Many people ask that same question and the answer varies by island. I’ll share my advice for rental cars by island below:

Oahu
I’ll start out with the trickiest island first. Whether you need a rental car or not, largely depends on where you are staying:

• If you are staying in Waikiki, you really don’t need to get a rental car. Traffic and parking in Honolulu/Waikiki can be quite a challenge. (Who wants to be stuck in heavy traffic on their vacation? Not me!) You can take a shuttle bus to get to your hotel. If you’d like to do any tours, there are tons of tour companies that will arrange to pick you up at your Waikiki hotel. If you don’t want to do any driving you don’t have to in Waikiki, however, I do advise that you you rent a car for at least a day to drive around the island at your own pace. There are several agencies with offices in Honolulu and some hotels offer rental cars.  Read a more in depth article to help you decide if you need a rental car in Waikiki Beach.
• If you are staying outside of Waikiki on Oahu, you would be very wise to get a rental car. Not only will a rental car help you with all the tremendous sight seeing, it may also save you money. Depending on where you are staying, you may end up saving money by renting a car for an entire week rather than getting a cab to and from your resort.

Oahu has the best public transportation system in Hawaii. So, if you don’t mind adhering to a bus schedule with lots of stops, consider using TheBus. If you aren’t sure which bus to take, then you can use Google Transit to help you navigate Oahu’s bus system.

Kauai
The Garden Isle is best explored by a rental car. If you are staying on the North or South shore you should definitely get a rental car. If your budget is tight, you might be able to save some money by staying near the airport around Lihue. You could reduce the number of days you would need a rental car. The Hilton Kauai Beach Resort in Lihue offers complimentary shuttle service to and from the airport. The resort also has a rental car desk on-site which would make it convenient for renting a car for a day or two or three, rather than a week. I do advise renting a car for two days and planning one day for exploring the North shore and another day for exploring the South shore and Waimea Canyon and Kokee State Parks.

Maui
I definitely advise getting a rental car for Maui. I really can’t even think of why you wouldn’t want a rental car in Maui. Most resorts are about 45 minutes or more away from the airport, so it would cost a bundle just getting a shuttle to and from your hotel. Maui has much to see that’s spread out, so definitely consider investing the money for a rental car here.

The Big Island
Without a doubt, you should rent a car on the Big Island. This fact may come across as being surprising, but the Big Island is actually big. My ideal itinerary, includes staying on the Hilo side of Hawaii for about three nights and then spending a leisurely day driving along the Hamakua coast over to the Kohala coast for a relaxing stay of three or more nights.

Lanai
You really don’t need a rental car on Lanai, particularly if you are staying at one of the two Four Seasons resorts. If you stay at one of those resorts, you pay a flat fee of $35 per person for unlimited shuttle rides. Though you won’t need a rental car for your entire stay, I do advise renting a Jeep for a day to see all the best sites that can only be accessed via 4-wheel drive.

Molokai
You will need a rental car to get around while staying on Molokai. This island has the least amount of tourist conveniences such as large bus packaged tours which makes it a bit adventurous and charming.

Final Thoughts and Advice
The good news is that rental cars in Hawaii are relatively inexpensive on most islands. Four-wheel drives and convertibles tend to be pricier, of course. Gas in Hawaii is more expensive than on the mainland. On Molokai and Lanai, gas prices are considerably higher. For example we paid around $4.35 per gallon on Lanai when the average cost on the mainland was close to $3.00 per gallon.