"There’s Hawaii, and there’s Lanai. Driving through Lanai City—still more plantation outpost than town—on the way from the airport to the hotel, there are none of the usual signifiers: no ABC Stores or shave ice stands (there aren’t even traffic lights). In addition to palms, there are willowy Cook pines planted a century ago. In 2012, billionaire Larry Ellison purchased 98 percent of Lanai, including this hotel, which he closed in 2015 for a major overhaul. Rooms were freshened up with teak and zebrawood; key cards morphed into waterproof wristbands, handy for late-night dips in the new pool. Nobu and Malibu Farm were clever additions—sashimi and salads are brilliant after sun and sea. But what really makes this hotel stand out is that there’s no feeling of being on- or off-property. Every part of Lanai, from sunbathe-naked-empty Polihua Beach to the interior’s Garden of the Gods, with otherworldly red-rock formations, feels all yours." - Caitlin Morton
