|
|
|
|
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai Review
Read our Big Island hotel reviews. Or post your own.
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai
- Address: 100 Kaupulehu Dr., HI
- Mailing: Box 1269, Kailua-Kona, HI, USA, 96745 | Map It
- Phone: 808/325-8000; 800/819-5053; 888/340-5662
- Fax: 808/325-8200
- www.fourseasons.com
- Price range: $$$$
- Location: Kohala Coast
Fodor's Review:
Beautiful views everywhere, polished wood floors, brand new furnishings and linens in warm earth and cool white tones, and Hawaiian artwork make Hualalai a peaceful retreat. Ground-level rooms have outdoor garden showers. Bungalows are large and cozy, with down comforters and spacious slate-floor bathrooms. One of the five pools, called King's Pond, is a brackish water pond with loads of fish and two manta rays that guests have the opportunity to feed daily. The main infinity pool looks like something out of an ad for an expensive liquor -- it's long and peaceful, surrounded by cabanas and palm trees with a clear view to the ocean beyond. The on-site Hawaiian Cultural Center honors the grounds' spiritual heritage, and the sports club and spa offer top-rate health and fitness options. Hualalai's golf course hosts the Senior PGA Tournament of Champions. Despite its quiet luxury, the resort is also super kid-friendly, with a great activities program, and a few pool options for families. The downside is this: despite valiant efforts to the contrary, the Four Seasons doesn't feel much like Hawaii; add to that the number of guests who will be squawking on their cell phones next to you at the pool (despite the sign reading no cell phones), and you can see why some folks avoid this place. Still, it is beautiful, the restaurants are fantastic (the infamous Alan Wong operates the Hualalai Grill and Pahuia serves up the best beachfront Sunday brunch on the island), the rooms are more than comfortable, and the service is definitely of Four Seasons quality.
- Hotel Details: 243 rooms, 31 suites
- In-room: safe, DVD, Internet.
- In-hotel: 3 restaurants, golf course, tennis courts, bars, children's programs (ages 5-12), pools, gym, spa, laundry service, beachfront, no-smoking rooms. A/C.
- Credit Cards: AE, DC, MC, V
Member Reviews & Ratings:
A Slice of Heaven on Earth ...Unless your Single!
Posted by rogerisright from Portland Oregon on 7/18/08
I have learned after much traveling ...sometimes with nightmare results ...that you can never go wrong at a Four Seasons property and this one is no exception...unless you are going their as a third wheel or god forbid ..stag! This is a resort for lovers...it's quiet and luxurious and very very intimate. The first time I visited was a 10 day stay with a friend of mine and his wife and he friend (a gay man for her to shop with) we stayed in the Presidential Suite ($5,000.00 a night) and it was fabulous. The staff tirelessly saw to every single detail and our excursions (and the transportation to and from etc.) were all highly choreographed by professionals who know how to deliver 5 star service and who value your need to rest and be pampered as much as you do. the food was good but not great (great was down the road hoewever ..I won't say where) like most Four Seasons experiences everything you do pushes the envelope of being over priced but is done so well that it seems worth it. Did not notice any issues with children like some of the other reviews have stated. Great Jack Nicklaus Golf Course that was not overplayed like so many courses in Hawaii. As the 'friend' and with no date in tow..plan on being envious of everyone there with there girlfriend or spouse and do not plan on finding love ...even for a night anywhere on this side of the Island and especially at this resort ...The second trip found me in a more modest suite with someone special and was the best and most relaxing carefree time I have had on vacation ever. two thumbs up ...now how do we fix the restaurants so that the prices match the rest of the meal?? Not bad by any stretch of the imagination just not where it should be
Just what you'd expect
Posted by go_anywhere from Califorinia on 5/9/07
A beautiful location with lush, well-manicured landscaping coupled with the attentive but not hovering Four Seasons service adds up to a perfect (albeit expensive) spot.
Mostly heaven...with bits of hell
Posted by madisonskidmore from New York, New York on 4/25/07
This was our second visit to the Four Seasons Hualalai. It is a truly wonderful final destination resort. The rooms are dreamy, the planting is luscious,and the staff is nice to a fault. Alohaaaaa!
It is a perfect vacation spot except for a couple of problem areas. Our biggest misery is the constant onslaught of children in the adults only pool area below our lanai. At check-in the hotel needs to tell families about this restriction. Also, they should instruct security to drop by regularly. We had to call the front desk to get someone over to fish the little darlings out of the pool. Also needed is a definition of what the hotel means by adult. (Hopefully, 18 or 20)
The quiet pool is not exactly quiet either. After listening to people talk endlessly on their cell phones; watching young girls chase each other around the deck; and seeing parents swirling their diapered infants in the pool we decamped to the relative quiet of the beach chairs. The ocean drowned out most of the noise. The quiet pool is beautiful&but only from a distance.
The dining experience is generally good . Alan Wongs restaurant is one of the best we have ever eaten in. Bravo!
Breakfast at Hualalai is quite wonderful. The food is excellent and the selection vast.
A fine restaurant replaces the breakfast buffet in the evening. Although reasonably expensive, it is good value for money.
The Beach Tree restaurant is a disappointment - numbingly expensive and not very good. We tried it several times on both trips with the same result. We felt ripped off by such things as a bottle of $40 wine with a screw off top that we could have bought for $6.99 in Kona.
Overall, Hualalai is a fine resort that we will probably visit again. We do wish they would make some dramatic changes in these two problem areas, however.
Can't really fault it but...
Posted by AaronZZ from Faraway on 4/22/07
But...it's just kind of too fake and dull, just like some hotels are too fake and over the top. Staff are uniformly courteous, the pool attendents are annoying and asked me for my room number, i declined politely, which confused their sense of order. Alan Wongs is good, and the main reastaurant okay and a lovely breakfast, the beach grille or whatever its called was quite poor. I thought the rooms were fine but stay somewhere away from the main pool unless you have kids, then it's good to be near it. The "grown ups" pool is a silly looking affair with awful gazebos around it and feels quite out of place in the setting. The snorkel pond is nice. Not much beach to speak of which is a negative. Overall though a very relaxing place but for some reason it just didn't quite grab me.
Get Advice From Other Travelers
- Highlights of our ten-day stay on the Big Island
9 responses; most recent on 09/14/2008, 02:51 pm - Big Island home rental review
1 responses; most recent on 09/13/2008, 09:32 am - Luau on Big Island
1 responses; most recent on 09/10/2008, 04:51 pm
Visit the Travel Talk forums for help on planning your trip >>
Buy the Guidebook
-
$19.95
-
$17.95
Get the Fodor's Newsletter
Read the current issue
For more travel ideas, tips, and deals, sign up for the Fodor's newsletter here. Browse previous issues.
