Trip Report (Jan. 20-25)

Aloha!

Wow, this was a fantastic trip! There is so much to say, that I must warn you all....this is long!

We first spent a couple of nights in Maui, and came to Lana%26#39;i via the Expeditions Ferry from Lahaina. The ride was very enjoyable, especially with the constant views of the spouting humpback whales around the boat. While the ride there was very smooth, the return trip was a bit windy and rocky. All in all though, we enjoyed this means of transportation and highly recommend it!

Upon arrival at the harbor, we were picked up by the Four Seasons shuttle and taken to the Manele Bay property to check in. As soon as we got off the shuttle, we were greeted with leis and escorted to the front desk.

I went on this trip with my fiancee, the purpose being to celebrate our recent engagement. We literally got engaged the week before. This was more or less a bonus surprise for my fiancee. I let this be known when I made the reservation. Having read some reviews here, I thought maybe we would get an upgrade or at least a bottle of champagne from the hotel to welcome us. No such luck though. We were given the room we booked, which was a garden view. My fiancee really wanted to see the ocean though, so I asked to upgrade and even offered to pay for it. This did not do us much good though, as they said there were no rooms available at the Garden Ocean level. We would have had to go two steps up to a partial oceanview. The extra $1000 to do this really was not in my budget, so we stuck with the room we were given. We were bummed for a bit, as we were escorted to our room.

After a few minutes, we arrived at our room, walked in, and BAM, there was the ocean! Our primary view was in fact of gardens, which were beautiful by the way. We were lucky though, and placed on the second floor (Starfish wing). Because of this, we were able to see the ocean (not the beach though). This was great for us though, and we were so happy that we did not spend the extra $1000 to upgrade the room. Walking around though, we did note that the rooms on the ground floor below us definitely did not have any view of the ocean. So if you are booking a garden view room, see if you can get on the 2nd floor....there was no champagne or anything else for that matter at any point during the trip. Actually, no one ever really did anything for us or said anything. This was a bit of a bummer too, but I guess that is just life. Somewhat sad though, considering the Hyatt in Maui gave us a double upgrade in rooms to a partial oceanview on the top floor! Oh well.....other than that, I really do not have anything bad to say about the hotel. Everything else was great!!!

The service at the Four Seasons Manele Bay was fantastic, especially at the pool and beach. The snorkeling was great. Many people love to be in the water with dolphins, but for me the highlight was the sea turtle that swam by me as I was floating along the reef. For me, that was a real treat!

The golf was excellent and the dining was pretty good too! I hit on both of these topics in other related posts though, so I won%26#39;t go into any additional detail here.

While in Lana%26#39;i, I played golf twice, and then spent most of the time just relaxing at the pool or beach. It can sometimes be difficult to get a prime spot at the pool, but there always seemed to be some space available. If not, the guys there will make space for you. They were great, as were Kris and Trey down at the beach.

We like to relax, but wanted some minor action as well. We did the hike to Sweetheart Rock with Joe West. This was great! Joe really knows his stuff and is a jack of all trades at the resort.

Other than that, we made two trips in to Lana%26#39;i City. We got some really nice gifts from Dis N Dat and Gifts with Aloha! We had lunch once at Cafe 565 and once at Pele%26#39;s Other Garden. Of course, we made a stop in the Mike Carroll Gallery. Mike wasn%26#39;t around, but we met his wife who was very nice and helpful. We walked out of there with 8 of his paintings, and can%26#39;t wait to get them framed and up on the walls of my home!!! Thanks for the beautiful work Mike!!

I%26#39;ve gone on long enough here. I%26#39;ll wrap up by simply stating that we loved Lana%26#39;i and the Four Seasons!! A special thanks goes out to Kiona, the concierge at Manele Bay. He was great at helping me plan this trip. Mahalo to you Kiona!!

Should anyone have any questions, please feel free to contact me at anytime. I%26#39;ll do my best to check out the boards often, and hopefully help out others as much as people like Dr. V and NatureCat helped me.

Yeah for Lana%26#39;i!!!!

Trip Report (Jan. 20-25)

Great report Scott! I%26#39;m glad you had a nice trip. I also have never received an upgrade at Manele Bay after 6 stays (3 since FS took over). Even when we were there a year ago for our 25th wedding aniversary we were lucky to get the room grade we paid for in the wing we requested. But we love the island and keep going back there. We will be back in December.

-DrV

Trip Report (Jan. 20-25)

Thanks for the report! I%26#39;m dreaming of Lanai%26#39;i....

Great report! Thanks for sharing your experience, and congratulations on your engagement!

Scott,

Thanks for the great trip report. I say, the longer the better when you are describing a vacation to Lana%26#39;i!

Questions for you...

Did Joe West take some photographs of you %26amp; your fiancee on the hike to Sweetheart Rock?

Did the turtle swim by you near the reef at Hulopo%26#39;e Bay?

Comments...

Good call on sticking with the Starfish room. We LOVED our room on the 2nd floor of Starfish. Best bang for your buck in my opinion. We thought the view was fantastic and had a very private lanai.

Eight paintings from Mike Carroll Gallery - awesome! That will be a nice reminder of your lovely vacation.

Nice of you to compliment the staff at the Four Seasons. We%26#39;ve always found them to be very accomodating and friendly too.

I noticed your comment on the turtle sighting too. That is special. After 6 trips I have yet to see a turtle at Hulopo%26#39;e.

Sorry for the delay! Work is getting me down. Nothing picks me up like thinking of Lana%26#39;i.

Joe did not take any pictures of us, although I%26#39;m sure he would have had we asked. When we took the tour, he said his name was Joe. It didn%26#39;t compute that he was the same guy with the photography all over the island though. At the end of the tour, he gave us his card, and that was when we realized it.

As for the turtle, yeah, I think I just got lucky there. We were out on the reef. We were not real far out either, probably close to in line with the green staircase that leads to the tidal pools. We were just kinda floating on the surface, and all of the sudden, this huge turtle just swims right below us like he was on a Sunday stroll and we were just another couple of fish out and about. It was unreal.

Love the turtle story! Makes me happy to think about. We have only seen the turtles at Lopa Beach. There were lots feeding near the shorebreak the day we were there. It was a highlight of the trip. Thanks for sharing your experience.