The night before, the housekeeper had left a paper in the room
describing the airport shuttle pick up times for the various flights departing Lanai. Our shuttle was leaving at 8am, so we got up early Friday morning to make it to the Terrace restaurant 7am opening to get our fill of breakfast before heading to our next destination, the Big Island.
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| eggs with kalua pork hash |
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| hearty meat skillet with eggs |
There were no flights directly from Lanai to Kona (unless you happened to know someone who owned a private plane), so we had to fly 180 degrees in the wrong direction towards Honolulu, then fly to the Big Island (passing by Lanai again). While we were checking in at the Mokulele desk and paying the baggage fees, the ticket agent told us that we had to pick up our luggage in Honolulu and check them in again as Lanai was not "clean" and our bags couldn't be transferred to the connecting flight. (Aside: we had to pay a $15 per bag fee for our checked luggage...I forgot to mention this in my previous blog entry) I was a bit annoyed that we would have to pay another $30. :( We were directed to have a seat land-side in the terminal and wait for our names to be called. It wasn't long before we were summoned by an employee, and then I understood what the ticket agent meant by "not clean" and rechecking bags in Honolulu; we exited through a side door, bypassing the security checkpoint, and escorted to the aircraft. I suppose Lanai (or the state of Hawaii) wasn't too worried about a terrorist blowing up a 9-passenger prop plane or running it into a building on the way to Honolulu.
When we boarded the plane, there were already 4 people seated inside. I didn't see them in the terminal; perhaps these were thru-passengers. The pilot wasn't as friendly as the previous flight as he didn't tell us we could use our cameras, and closed the wooden doors separating the cockpit from the seating area. During the journey, the lady behind me kept telling her friends that she didn't like small planes and was a bit freaked out when we touched down in Honolulu. We retrieved our bags and went back to the Mokulele desk to check in again. The ticket agent's eyebrows were moving questionably, and there was too much typing at the terminal. In my experience, that usually means there aren't any seats on the plane, or they couldn't find our reservation. She asked for our confirmation number, then called someone on the phone. Then she asked us if the Lanai agent had given us any documentation. Huh? Apparently the ticket agent in Lanai was supposed to give us a printout to show to the Honolulu agent to check our bags back in. All I had was a receipt for the baggage fees. The agent took this as "proof" that we checked in and checked our bags through, with no cost! I wasn't sure if she just didn't charge us (for the inconvenience) or if this documentation was supposed to let us check it through without paying again, who knows. I was elated not to pay $30 again.
The flight was on a jet and we were offered beverage service. It took the same amount of time to fly from Honolulu to Kona as it did from Lanai to Honolulu, even though it was twice the distance...thanks to jet engine technology. When we arrived in Kona airport, we were greeted by a Four Seasons representative (I had given DavidO my flight information when I reserved the hotel) and our bags were tagged. We had rented a car to take us to the resort; even though we weren't planning to drive anywhere for the two nights we were staying, it had come out to costing less to rent a car versus hiring a taxi back and forth. Again, we used National Emerald Club service. There was a shuttle bus taking us to the rental car facility, and there were two other parties on board who were also Emerald Club members. I was envisioning the dash we'd make to select a choice car. When we got there, Emerald Aisle selections consisted of a Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Venture, and Dodge Charger amongst other choices that I had driven in before. I had my eye on the Venture, as I had seen so many commercials about it (plus they were giving them away last year), but we were drawn to the Charger, since it looked really sporty. We had no need for an SUV, so we stuck with the Charger. The engine did have pick-up, so it wasn't as bad as the Chevy Aveo I rode in recently on a business trip.
It was a mere 15 minute drive from the airport to the
Four Seasons Hualalai. There was a guardhouse, and we told them we were checking into the hotel. The guard verified our names, gave us a tag for the rearview mirror and we were on our way. As we pulled up into the driveway, there were already porters awaiting our arrival, calling us by name and gave me an orchid lei and Kaleb a kukui nut lei. We told them we'd self-park (as valet would cost an extra $25/night) so they said we could leave the car in the driveway, and we were directed to have a seat in the lounge. There was a tray of juice, pineapple, and
oshibori towels to wash our hands and face. The desk clerk came up to us and joked "How did you know that was for you?" as we were sipping juice from the cups. He informed us that our room was not ready until 3pm (about 2 hours from now), but we could enjoy the facilities and shower in the spa if needed. He took down my cell phone number and said they would call when the room was ready. We then took a quick tour of the property before settling down for lunch.
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| tray of welcome amenities |
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| main lobby |
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| striking view (in the distance is Kona Village, closed since the tsunami hit) |
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| turtles sunning (center of photo) |
I had booked this hotel through
DavidO, so we also got the same Four Seasons Preferred Partner amenities as in Lanai: daily breakfast, $85 lunch credit, and upgraded room. The deal was even sweeter as I was able to use my "Free Night" certificate that the resort sent me due to the tsunami last spring cancelling my reservation during sabbatical...essentially 50% off my stay! (that was probably the most valuable coupon I've ever redeemed) Since it was lunch time, we decided to use our credit at the
Beach Tree restaurant. It was way too easy to spend over $85 just for
lunch.
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| refreshing fruit juice |
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| Hawaiian rainbow roll |
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| crispy breaded portabella mushroom burger, best ever |
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| fresh catch of the day |
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| three kinds of ice cream sandwich |
After our meal, we walked back to the lobby as it was getting close to 3pm. There were comfortable sofas and chairs to rest on. The front desk rang my cell, informing that our room was ready. I told them I was already in the lobby. :) We got our keys and headed to our
golf ocean-view room. The villas which housed these rooms were located off to the side of the main resort area. I didn't understand at the time why the front desk clerk had almost insisted we take an escort to the room. I think it was to make the experience less lackluster or help us not get lost, given our directions were to "exit out the front lobby (I was thinking, are we leaving the resort?), walk around the main driveway until you see an arch opening in the bordering wall, walk through that, go past the golf clubhouse and the villas will be on your right..." Kaleb and I joked that these villas were where they put the "riff-raff". It almost seemed like the Four Seasons annexed a few of these golf-view villas to be able to offer a lower cost accommodation; you could also
own one if you have millions of dollars lying around collecting dust. Despite being in the "ghetto" part of the resort, we overheard a guest in a neighboring balcony exclaim, "So this is where the
1% live!"
The room was as nice as expected of Four Seasons, with crisp, clean plush bedding, extensive L'Occitane toiletries, Hawaiian-style robes, coffee/tea service, and a special box of welcome sweets. It was considered an upgraded room, as we were on the 2nd floor of the villa. Though the ground floor villa wouldn't have views of the ocean or golf course, it did have a unique feature of an outdoor lava rock shower connected to the bathroom, so I wouldn't have minded staying in one.
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| don't you just want to sink into this bed? |
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| separate tub |
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| slate shower |
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| big bottles, plus "shower cream" (what's that?) and after-sun balm |
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| robes (vacuum is there to make housekeeping easier) |
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| toaster is reportedly for room service use so you'll have warm bread! |
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| box of cookies and mac nuts |
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| view of golf course and ocean |
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| sunset |
As we were stuffed from our late lunch and munched on snacks we had brought from Lanai, we pretty much stayed in the room, watched football on TV, and went to bed, only having gone outside to the balcony in the evening to take sunset photos. Since we only had 2 nights at this expensive resort, must use the room as much as possible! ;) No, we wouldn't be shacked up in the room the whole time...I intended to maximize my time in Hualalai.
The next day around 9:30am, we enjoyed a buffet breakfast at
Pahu i'a, out on the patio with a beautiful view of the ocean. The restaurant was perfectly situated with the sun rising behind the building, rendering the patio shady for breakfast so guests needn't worry about getting burned. The plan was to fill up with a late breakfast to tie us over to a fabulous dinner later tonight. There were many buffet selections to choose from, including an omelet station. I liked that there were a lot of fresh fruit to select from, including sliced papaya with lime accompaniment. I also noticed that anytime that a dish or bowl looked half empty in the buffet, there would always be an attendant swapping it out with a fresh batch.
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| shady patio, beautiful ocean view |
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| don't worry, I ate more than this... |
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| fresh fruit |
We got a cabana set up by the pool attendant and relaxed by the beach. Kaleb went for a swim while I read my Kindle.
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| staying in the shade |
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| enjoying the ocean |
I had set up a
lomi lomi massage appointment at the
Hualalai Spa at 1pm. I was looking forward to it as the spa was exclusive to hotel guests and residents of the Hualalai area. I had never had a lomi lomi before and figured if I was to get one, I better do it in a spa known for traditional Hawaiian treatments, as I had read favorable reviews about it. As cameras are frowned upon in spas, I won't have images to share, but I will do my best to describe the experience.
I walked over to the spa, which was located a bit off of the main grounds, checked in at the front desk and led to the women's locker room. There I was met by an attendant (who was already notified of my arrival) and shown my locker, the services in the area such as steam room and sauna, refreshments area and so forth. I had only 15 minutes before my appointment, so I changed into a robe and sat in a quiet waiting area within the locker room, reading magazines. A little after 1pm, my therapist Kiomi picked me up from the waiting area and directed me to an outside massage hut surrounded by breezy opaque curtains. There were other huts adjacent but I couldn't hear any sounds emanating from them. Kiomi told me to disrobe and lie face down, as massages always start, and she left the hut to give me privacy. The next 80 minutes would be pure bliss. Lomi lomi is not known to be a deep tissue massage, but whatever Kiomi was doing to my muscles, I didn't miss the pressure as I could feel the tension melt away with every stroke of her arms, hands and fingers, my eyes rolling into the back of my skull. For the first time ever at the end of a massage, I felt completely relaxed, with no stiffness or post-deep tissue aches in my neck or shoulders. Wow! As Kiomi led me to a lounge chair in the co-ed relaxation garden, she explained that she used energy from "beyond" to guide her motions on my body, that she wasn't actually controlling the massage...interesting! After Kiomi left, a spa attendant offered me some passionfruit ice tea and a snack of cookies, fruit and mac nuts. I slowly enjoyed the refreshments in quiet solitude, maintaining my relaxation level. The mood was shortly broken by the arrival of a man and woman who just received a couple's massage, so I returned to the women's side of the spa to enjoy the amenities there. I took a nice long hot outdoor shower, followed by a skinny dip in the jacuzzi. Feeling heated, I jumped into the cold plunge pool next door...boy, that was freezing!!! I immediately returned back to the jacuzzi for a while longer, then entered the steam room, which was stifling, but I stayed in there for the good of my pores. Finally, I calculated that Kaleb was on his own long enough, so I jumped back in the outdoor shower to rinse off and prepared myself to re-enter the normal world. I got back to the cabana in time to catch Kaleb packing up to return to the room. (he was done waiting!) While I was gone, beach attendants had come by and offered refreshments and snacks to him, similar to what we experienced in Lanai.
I was so looking forward to the "
Surf, Sand and Stars" dinner buffet. Where else can you eat like a king, right on the beach at night? I had read that the buffet was set up on the sand, so we wore sandals to dinner. Other guests were not as well informed, sporting sneakers and high heels. The menu was extravagant and included items such as fresh poke, steamed clams and mussels, grilled lobster tail, plus souffles! (the chef kept a couple of portable ovens on the beach) There was even a telescope set up so guests could look at the stars...super cool. Though some guests needed to learn to wait in line like the rest of us to look into the telescope! (and I'm talking adults here) Afterwards, Kaleb and I took a romantic stroll along the beach. The
moon illuminated the crashing waves; it was very
Lassen-like. What a way to spend our last night in Hualalai!
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| appetizers |
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| there were many plates of this |
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| live entertainment |
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| very happy! |
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| chocolate and Grand Marnier souffles |
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| gazing at the stars |
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| glowing wave |
The next morning, we had breakfast again at Pahu i'a, but it was rather busy on the patio, so we ended up with a table inside the restaurant, but with a nice view of the ocean out the window.
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| more yummy food |
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| can't get enough of fresh fruit! |
After breakfast, we had one more hour left before we had to pack up and head to the airport. I had to dip into the resort's signature pool called
Beach Tree Pool. Ever since I saw it in
pictures as well as when I had visited the resort several years ago as a restaurant patron, I wanted to get in it so bad. I finally had the opportunity, and it met my expectations. :)
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| so refreshing! |
With only a two night stay, we didn't have time to enjoy other complimentary resort activities, such as snorkeling in King's Pond (with a resident eagle ray!), visiting the Hawaiian activities center, or play tennis, but we managed to pack in quite a lot in the limited time. I noticed there were many families there with children, not surprising as the Four Seasons Hualalai has a great
children's program and
activities, and a dedicated "
keiki" pool area. As the resort is
family-oriented and at the same time caters to the adult-only crowd, it rates consistently high on top hotel lists. If you are part of the fortunate 1% (or saved up enough money to stay here), go for it!
At check-out, I was surprised to see not only our second night was free from using the certificate, but that our breakfast gratuity that morning was also wiped out! The desk clerk said that since that night's stay was complimentary, they weren't going to charge anything at all, not even tax. That was very unexpected!
Our flight back to the mainland was uneventful. We did not get upgraded to first class (there were at least 50 people boarding when "elite" status members were called to the gate so I could tell my upgrade chances were slim to none), but as we had exit row seats, the flight wasn't too uncomfortable. Back to the real world and back to work, saving up for the next great adventure...
