Staying busy
Lanai has long suffered from the misconception that there's not much to do there other than lounge around the resort pool or soak up the sun on Hulopoe Beach. But according to Charles Fisher, resort manager for Four Seasons Lanai, new focus has been placed on better promoting the destination's diverse range of activity options since Larry Ellison, the billionaire founder of Oracle, purchased 98% of the island in 2012.
"When you really look at what there is to do on the island, there's so much," Fisher explained. "You've got the hiking, the scuba, snuba and snorkeling, the fishing. You've got the UTVs [utility task vehicles], the horseback rides, the clay shooting, the four-wheel-drives... it's just people don't know about it, and that's primarily due to how we've marketed the property in the past."
Travelers can certainly book the growing assortment of activities during a stay at a Four Seasons Lanai resort, but travel agents can earn a commission by arranging options for clients before they arrive with companies like Hike Lanai, Lanai Surf School & Surf Safari and Trilogy. -- S.N.
Bouncing along a deeply grooved dirt road in a four-wheel-drive Jeep, I stepped on the brake while passing a blue void in an otherwise impenetrable wall of thorny kiawe trees. Shifting the rental quickly into reverse, I backed up a few yards before spinning the steering wheel sharply left and pulling into a sandy gully that traveled through the tangle of wiry tree trunks and twisted branches.
Hoping for a better look at the Pacific, shimmering now in front of me through the tunnel-like breech in the kiawe, I'd also stopped to snap a couple photos of not-so-distant Molokai, a neighbor island rising from the sea about 9 miles north of Lanai across the Kalohi Channel. Out of the Jeep now and camera in hand, I trudged through the dry sand of the parched creek bed before stepping onto a deserted, narrow beach, where it was just me, the ocean and show-stopping views of the Molokai mountains.
I've visited Lanai on a handful of occasions now, and during each stay, I ventured out in a Jeep, navigating a diverse assortment of road conditions and second-guessing all sorts of teeth-rattling driving decisions. But each of those bumpy outings ultimately showed me a new take on Hawaii, frequently offering views of several islands while allowing me a chance to admire the destination's natural beauty entirely alone.
Although Lanai has added a number of attractive activity options in recent years, many aimed at boosting vacation diversity for guests of the island's two Four Seasons resorts, renting a Jeep and driving off to a secluded beach is a distinctively Lanai excursion that rarely disappoints.
Ongoing improvement
While another Lanai Jeep trek certainly had me excited about my recent visit, I was also eager to take a firsthand look at the ongoing multimillion-dollar guestroom renovation at the Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay.
One of the new guestrooms at Manele Bay.
"It's a phenomenal change," said Charles Fisher, the property's resort manager. "Essentially, we've taken the old room product right back down to the studs. Everything has come out, even some of the structural walls, and we've rebuilt from the ground up."
Work started on a complete overhaul to each of the 201-room property's west wing units earlier this year, and that segment of the renovation will wrap up mid-December, according to Fisher. The intensive refurbishment will then be put on hold over the holiday season before shifting to the resort's eastern wing in early January.
Four Season officials announced this fall that bookings for the island's Lodge at Koele property would be suspended for most of 2015 to house the workers needed to complete the east wing room improvements at Manele.
The recently completed room improvements to Manele's west wing units are certainly an impressive accomplishment, featuring new furniture, Hawaiian artwork, hardwood floors and overhauled bathrooms, complete with high-tech toilets rivaling those found in Asia's finest hotels.
Technology upgrades were, in fact, a key focus, Fisher said, and each new room features its own Apple iPad, loaded with all the hotel information found previously in ringed binders, and 75-inch high-definition TVs, equipped with Blu-ray players enabling guests to view premium streaming options like Netflix during a stay. The TVs can also be linked easily with the free MyAway app, giving users the option to watch streaming video powered by their phone or tablets up on the room's massive flat-screen.
Asked whether the hotel's owner, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who purchased 98% of Lanai in 2012, and his connection with technology had an influence on the renovated rooms' state-of-the-art gadgets and feel, Fisher said, "Oh, most definitely."
"As our owner, he's been very involved in the creation of this new product," Fisher continued. "Everything you've seen from a change perspective has been reviewed by him and approved by him."
Fisher noted that while Ellison himself has not been on property overseeing the renovation, members of his team have been a constant go-between for island officials and Four Seasons Lanai management.
"The design intent is all very much his style and what he likes to see," Fisher said. "He's enjoyed the finer things in life himself, and I think that's now beginning to reflect in the personality of the resort, and technology is obviously important to him."
Pool reconstruction
Along with the new rooms, Ellison has authorized an overhaul of the Manele Bay resort's lone pool. The initial design and permitting process is already underway, and if approved by island officials, the pool renovation work would close the Manele property entirely from June through early November.
"We'll demolish everything that's here, and we're going to build three new pools," Fisher explained, noting that one of the additions would be an adults-only experience while another would be built specifically for families.
The pool at the Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay is set for an overhaul.
"The family pool will be very much designed for children, from toddlers all the way up," Fisher said. "It's going to have the very gentle sand edge, so toddlers can walk in and out, along with a grotto, waterfall and a splash pad with those shooting water jets."
Meanwhile, the reconstruction will also include a new main pool, intended for use by all guests, with a free-form, contemporary design likely featuring nearly twice the current water volume of the existing pool.
"Then we'll have the adults-only pool, which has been very much requested by guests," Fisher said, explaining plans to construct the new pool on the grassy plumeria lawn fronting the Pacific. "We'll build this infinity-edge pool there with tiered seating in front of it for the view out to the ocean."
A third luxury resort?
After taking too many pictures of Molokai on that secluded stretch of Lanai beach, I hopped back into my rental Jeep and continued down the rugged dirt road toward Ka Lanakila Church, built in what was once the sugar plantation village of Keomoku in 1903. However, I didn't linger long at the charming wooden building because I was excited to see Kahalepalaoa Beach, which has been discussed as a possible location for a future Ellison-built Lanai luxury resort featuring upscale, beachfront bungalows.
It certainly wasn't tough to see why Ellison's team is considering Kahalepalaoa as I sat on the white-sand beach, shaded from the sun by a line of swaying coconut palms, staring out over the Pacific toward the West Maui mountains. Maui was so close, in fact, that I could clearly make out the collection of high-rise hotels lining the island's famous Kaanapali Beach.
"Talk of the third resort has cooled recently, but I don't think it's off the table," Fisher said, noting that the topic has been a sensitive one for many in the Lanai community.
"There's still a wish to, in the future, create a third resort down there," he continued. "What it would be, how it would be run, we just don't know at this stage. It's too far off. There's zero infrastructure down there. It's probably many, many years away."
In the meantime, Kahalepalaoa Beach will likely remain a favorite for Lanai residents.
"It's great to go there with my family on a weekend off," Fisher said. "We just load the Jeep up and drive there, and we won't see another soul on the beach for the entire day."
See www.fourseasons.com/manelebay.