I ended up on Hawaiian after recently being faced with a dilema – fly on an Airbus A340 direct to Tahiti and pray we didn’t hit any bad weather, or fly safe and worry free on a Boening 767 with connecting service to Tahiti.  After the recent news about the A330/A340 from the FAA and the European Union concerning even more problems with the pitot tubes (and even more incidents of the computers going down because of it – click here to read about it) well… enough was enough.  I’d rather be on a plane that knows what altitude and speed it’s flying and have to connect, so I decided on the connecting flight on a Boening 767 which meant a connecting flight through Honolulu on the way to Tahiti adding about 2 hours more flight time, and approximately 2 on ground in Honolulu.  In addition to feeling much more secure with my choice of aircraft there were several added benefits to this flight:

1. I would get miles with Virgin Atlantic (Hawaiian is also a member of several other FF programs too).  Air Tahiti Nui doesn’t participate any anyone elses FF program
2. For an extra $200 I could fly first.  More comfort – and bonus miles with Virgin

I’ll definately be flying Hawaiian Airlines again, as long as they continue flying Boeing aircaft. They have great service and very competative pricing.  In addition to flying to Tahiti,  they also fly via Honolulu to Sydney, Manilla, and Samoa from several Major US markets including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland.  For the complete list of services and destinations – check out hawaiianairlines.com.

2. Lanai is such a small island it has 2 hotels and 1 B & B, and both hotels are Four Seasons.

3. The beach at the hotel is a marine preserve and the Four Season’s provides it’s guests with snorkel gear.

4. The Four Seasons Manele Bay is a deal – under $300 per night.  Basically 5 stars for the price of a 4 star on Maui.

5. Lanai is a DESERT island – no daily rain like you get on every other Hawaiian island.

So, I booked a week.  The Manele Bay AND Lanai both exceeded my expectations.  After flying into Honolulu and catching a short communter flight over to Lanai I was picked up at the airport by the hotel.  The island is so small that as part of your “resort fee” you get roundtrip airport  transportation (or to and from the ferry if you come from Maui), shuttle bus service between the two Four Seasons properties and Lanai City (the word “City” is a real stretch.  There’s one main street.), internet access, and beach toys.  When you arrive at the hotel you are immediately shown to your room and your check in is done there.  Which worked for me – it was late, it had been a long day and I was tired.  Exploring would have to wait until tomorrow.  The room was incredible – well appointed, beautiful, and comfortable.
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The next day I started exploring the property – it’s beautiful.  One of the most amazing features of the hotel is the main lobby area inbetween the two main restaurants.  It has an amazing terrace that over looks the pool and the ocean.  The view is simply stunning.  Equally enticing are the painted walls and wonderful object d’art that fill the room.  All the scenes on the wall are of a Chinese Wedding Celebration.  It really is beautiful.

The pool is inviting – 24 hours a day – and at no time did it seem crowded.  Talking to some of the staff it’s normally that way, EXCEPT during school holiday breaks.  Then it can get crowded and there can be a lot of kids running around.  The restaurant by the pool serves lunch daily, and dinner on certain nights of the week.  The food is fantastic (and priced as you would expect at a 4 or 5 star property).

From the pool area there is a path that leads down to the beach which fronts Hulupoe Bay – a marine preserve.  The path is an easy walk and takes about 5 minutes or so.  During the week the beach is pretty deserted, on the weekends the locals show up and stay pretty much over by the tide pools at the far end of the beach where there are picnic tables.  Some of the locals even come over from Maui and camp for the weekend.  There’s plenty of beach for everyone and it’s never even close to crowded.  The Four Seasons has a beach shack that provides snorkeling gear, loungers and umbrellas, towels, water, etc… for their guests – for FREE.

Normally Hulupoe Bay is very tranquil and has great snorkelling. There’s also a large pod of dolphins that live in the area and are frequently seen in the bay, and have even been known to check out people snorkelling.  However, during my stay the water was rougher than normal because of a rare hurricane passing 100 miles south of the island.  The surfers loved it, but by my 5th day at the resort the water was too rough to snorkel.

Most of the time I stayed at the hotel, but I did trek into town a couple of evenings.  There’s a great little shop called “Dis ‘n Dat” that’s well worth checking out, and the pizza place that’s almost right next to it is wonderful.  There are several little restaurants in town – and there’s only one main street, and they’re all lined up on it.  Oh, while you’re in Lanai City look for the cats, they all have the most brilliant green eyes. Another remarkable thing about the town are all the Norfolk Pine Trees.

Lanai at one time was the largest pineapple plantation in the world and it had one major problem:  the island didn’t get enough rain.  So, on the advice of scientists, Dole planted hundreds of Norfolk Pine Trees on the interior of the island hoping to help the clouds drop their rain there instead of on Maui.  It worked a little bit…  However in the 80’s Dole sold the Island to David Murdoch and now the island is tourist and golf destination, not a pineapple plantation, but the trees are still there.

If you’d like to check out the Four Seasons Manele Bay – click here