The Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort

The most popular of the Lanai hotels, and the most typical of the luxury Hawaiian beach resort that people picture in their minds is the Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort. Perched on the edge of one of the prettiest little bays on Lanai, The Manele Bay is the central and main beach location for the island. The hotel is just a few hundred yards from Hulopo’e Beach, one of the best water sport and snorkeling beaches on Lanai and in all of Hawaii. The hotel also has a beautiful swimming pool and outdoor restaurant that look out over the bay and which all guests on the island, not just guests of the Four Seasons or Manele Bay, are welcome to use. The property is gorgeous, with tall palm trees swaying in the winds and flowers exploding from hundreds of flower beds and boxes around the hotel. The hotel is built around the artifacts of an ancient dwelling site of original Lanai inhabitants and you can view these remains from the trail to the beach. Add to that the exquisite oriental art decorating in the main hall and throughout the hotel, and you have a truly unique and extraordinary destination that contrasts well with the other Lanai hotels. The Manele Bay Resort is a place that is simply a magnet for all of the guests that come to Lanai, whether you are staying at the Manele Bay hotel or not.

We stayed at the Four Seasons Manele Bay last year for the first time. We love the sister property located up-island, the Four Seasons Lodge at Koele, and generally like to stay there, but we thought this last trip we would finally close the circle of Lanai hotels and stay at the beach. And then we would be able to say that we have stayed at every one of the Lanai hotels.. all three of them! And since we were not splitting time with Maui this past trip we would have a full 10 days to soak up the sun and enjoy some of the treats offered by this exquisite property.

Since we were skipping Maui, we flew to Lanai on the Hawaiian Airlines flight from Honolulu and were picked up promptly at the airport by the Four Seasons shuttle. They snagged our bags without a word and we were off towards the hotel in mere minutes. They are very, very efficient. Upon arrival, there is the lei and cool towel routine that is so familiar with all the better hotels but pretty much everyone does it now. The assistant manager checked us in himself in just a couple of minutes. That is one thing I love about the Four Seasons. Once you have stayed at any of their hotel properties, they have all of your information and don’t fuss about asking for information and credit cards and such. You pretty much arrive and get escorted to your room.

We were hoping to get upgraded on the room, and I asked about it, but since they were pretty well full, they could not accommodate us. But, it never hurts to ask! Especially at Four Seasons. The room was quite nice though nothing particularly special. The bed was okay, the bathroom was nice, and the bath products were good. And we had a partial ocean view. We knew we would not be spending much time in the room so we didn’t splurge for this stay. Actually, staying at any of the Lanai hotels is generally a splurge for us no matter what type of room we are in!

The Pool area at the Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort is the central point and main gathering spot for this smallish hotel. And it is a very nice, if small, pool on the back patio area of the property overlooking the bay. It’s a great view. You pick a lounge chair and sit and within a minute or two an attendant arrives with towels to stretch over your lounge and take your order for drink, food, etc. The service is excellent as you would expect it to be at the Four Seasons. Every half hour or so a pool attendant comes around the pool and offers the guests fruit popsicles, and we both thought that was a nice touch. Over the course of our stay we spent a couple of hours total at the pool since we are not so much the sun worshipers as we are the snorkel hounds. But, if you like the pool scene, this is a beautiful pool area if a little crowded during the main part of the day. Note that all visitors to Lanai are welcome at the pool regardless of which of the Lanai hotels they are staying at – hence the relative crowd.

The beach directly adjacent to the Manele Bay Four Seasons is a public beach called Hulopo’e Beach. This is an absolute jewel for this island or any of the Hawaiian islands. And even though the beach is public it was never crowded (as opposed to the pool). Sure, there are plenty of people on the beach during the day sunbathing, swimming, snorkeling, and boogie boarding, but you never need to feel like you are being crowded. If you do feel crowded, you can always pick a more open part of the beach.

The beach itself is located inside a protected bay and is part of the Hulopo’o-Manele Marine Life Conservation Area. This means the area is a protected marine habitat and as a result the snorkeling is awesome, especially the left end of the bay off of the black lava rocks. We snorkeled here every day for several hours and saw the best variety of fish we have seen anywhere else in Hawaii. The bay is also home to a pod of spinner dolphins that tend to make an appearance during their daytime resting period. We saw dolphins on a couple of days, but none ever came close and you are not supposed to swim to them. One thing to watch out for snorkeling around the rocks is when the surf picks up you can be washed (or slammed in my case) up onto the rough and sharp lava rocks. It is better to stay in deeper water if possible. Turtles are also often in the area, but we saw none at Hulopo’e this trip.

Dining options at the Manele Bay resort consist of the more formal restaurant, Ihilani, and the less formal Ocean Grill on the terrace by the pool, and the Hulopo’e Court restaurant. We ate at all three during our stay for various meals, but generally we’d have lunch at the Grill if we were around the hotel or beach area. The Ocean Grill is outdoors and has a great view of the bay. We saw humpback whales going by and playing just outside of the bay on several occasions while having lunch there. The food is alright, but nothing so great that I remember what except for the homemade potato chips which were yummy. The same goes for the Hulopo’e Court: not bad, but we generally just had breakfast there which was fine if not remarkable. We do the same at the other Lanai hotels when we have stayed at them: we generally enjoy breakfast at the hotel.

Ihilani, on the other hand, was excellent. We are both Italian food lovers and Ihilani is an island of delicious Italian in a sea of Hawaii fare options. We had dinner there several times and enjoyed every meal. I especially enjoyed the spinach gnocchi and the osso buco. This is easily the best of the restaurants, but is only open for dinner and it is expensive, but you don’t have a lot of options directly around the hotel.

Other dining options include going into Lanai City and trying the couple of restaurants that are open there for dinner or dining at the other two Lanai hotels.  In Lanai City, we really liked Pele’s Other Garden. It’s good food at a decent price (at the Lanai hotels, the food is excellent but the price is… er.. pricy). You can also dine at the Lodge at Koele which has the Terrace restaurant that is very good and the Dining Room which is more formal (as in wear a jacket). You can sign for meals in any of the restaurants at either resort as a Four Seasons guest.

Like virtually every Four Seasons hotel or resort, the Manele Bay Resort delivers excellent, but understated service. Things just get done and your wishes and desires are easily met sometimes even without anybody asking. In the case of both the Manale Bay Resort and the Lodge at Koele there is the added benefit that the hotels are so small that they remember your name. The service is what places the Four Seasons slightly above peer hotels like the Fairmont or Marriott. Where these two are generally good and also have beautiful properties, the Four Seasons service is virtually always excellent. The Four Seasons Manele Bay Resort is no different.

If you are the Four Seasons type and you have never been to Lanai, I would select the Manele Bay Resort over the other Lodge at Koele for a first visit to the island. However, they are both excellent and top the list of Lanai hotels. The Manele Bay Resort has all the typical beach accoutrements: it would be a gorgeous place for a wedding and/or honeymoon. But, if you don’t need the luxury, I think the best of the Lanai hotels for a first visit is the Hotel Lanai.