Four Seasons Resort Hualalai

"A luxury resort known for its snorkeling opportunities, golf course, and spacious accommodations including private home-style villas." - Patricia Doherty Patricia Doherty Patricia Doherty is a writer who specializes in covering destinations, resorts, and cruises for Travel + Leisure and other publications. Travel + Leisure Editorial Guidelines

"There are few resorts as suited to different types of travelers as this celebrated hotel on the Kona coast of the Big Island. Composed of low-slung Hawaiian-style buildings set into a series of crescents, each area has its own vibe and distinct clientele, from lively family-friendly sections to serene pockets ideal for honeymooners. Regardless of where you stay, however, you’ll be treated to postcard-perfect views of the Pacific Ocean, the property’s verdant golf course, and the sense that this place somehow exists in a permanent state of tranquility. New for this year—and not to miss—is chef Tyler Florence’s Miller & Lux steakhouse. From $1,200. —Juliet Izon" - CNT Editors

"Offers the Moonlight Massage Spa Experience starting at 7 p.m., with private spa access, lomi lomi massages, Champagne, and moon bathing." - Travel + Leisure Editors

"The 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature championship course here features lush, green fairways contrasting with black lava and ending with stunning oceanfront holes. There's a nine-acre practice area that includes a driving range, chipping and short game area, two sand bunkers, and a putting green." - Travel + Leisure Editors

"Why book? There is no shortage of lovely luxury properties throughout the Hawaiian Islands, but the vast majority are squeezed into ultra-touristed pockets like Maui’s Wailea or Oahu’s Waikiki. One thing that sets this property apart (among many other things), is its location on a quiet and expansive swath of coastline on the western side of the Big Island. Elevated and elegant and totally authentic, it’s hard to top for the type of beach getaway that nails the relaxation to activity ratio. And just off of a multi-year, multimillion-dollar renovation that saw a refresh of every guest room, the expansion of its family-friendly villa offerings, a sleek new pool, and several updates to its world-class golf course, the property is feeling better than ever. Set the scene Touching down at the one-luggage-carousel airport in surprisingly arid Kona surrounded by ancient lava fields and low-lying scrub, it’s easy to think your pilot has wildly overshot and you’ve somehow landed in Namibia. But 15 minutes later, when your driver pulls off Queen Ka’ahumanu Highway onto the resort’s private lane and the landscape shifts to tropical, lush with palms, canary-yellow hibiscus and musk ferns, and the moment you inhale the plumeria-infused cold towel and bow your head to receive the simple kukui nut or flower lei, you know exactly where you are. Creating this distinct sense of place, without employing gimmicky tropes (all too easy to do in a place like Hawaii, where a little puka shell goes a long way), is what makes Hualālai stand out on an island of upscale resorts. The buildings (most are two-stories; no high-rise towers here) are modeled on traditional Polynesian architecture that maximizes indoor-outdoor living, like the soaring lobby that opens onto teak lanais overlooking the resort’s secluded beach, miles from busy Kona to the south and the resort village of Waikoloa to the north. The backstory Four Seasons properties can sometimes skew a bit “anywhere” in feel, but that is not the case here. The Four Seasons Hualālai feels exactly right for Hawaii, in terms of architecture, design, and vibe. The original architects, Hill Glazier Architects (now a part of HKS), designed the property’s rooms and communal spaces to reference low-scale post-and-beam traditional Hawaiian structures—wide overhangs, exposed eaves, fluid interior and exterior spaces, and lots of teak, koa, and bamboo. The resort is built on the site of an ancient Hawaiian fishing village and during development, an historic Hawaiian trail and several anchialine pools were found. The saltwater pools were preserved and the property has brought them back to their natural state, which requires delicately balancing the flora and fauna and salinity levels. Since opening in 1996, Haulalai has continuously been the pinnacle of island luxury, but after 25 years, it was definitely time for a comprehensive zhuzhing. In October 2021, the resort, under the keen eye of San Francisco-based design firm BAMO, concluded a more than $100 million dollar refresh and the result is a property that feels more or less the same in all the right ways, just sharper. The rooms The decor is chicly understated with classic, subtle Hawaiiana touches, like textured grass wall treatments, tropical patterns in neutral tones, and beautiful vintage woodblock prints (there’s also a fantastic collection of art and artifacts in the lobby that shouldn’t be missed). Every accommodation type—guest room, suite, or villa—is spacious with a private outdoor area; either a lanai or a balcony. The bathrooms (as with most Four Season properties) are absolute stunners; all of the ground-level rooms have outdoor showers made from lava stone and planted with birds of paradise and other tropical flowers. I didn’t take a single shower indoors. The newly expanded two-story villas are game changers for the property and offer next-level luxury for families or groups of friends traveling together. I stayed in the 2,700-square-foot Ho`onanea Villa (it can be configured as a two- or three-bedroom villa). It has an enormous kitchen-living room space with floor-to-ceiling glass doors that open onto a huge lanai with an outdoor table, fire pit, and plunge pool. There’s also an external staircase that leads to a sundeck/outdoor living room perfect for whale watching or watching the sun dip into the Pacific. The villa is steps from the beach and is really in the heart of the resort—it still felt very private, but I loved being close to the different pools and restaurants. This and the other two villas are truly unreal. Food and drink There are several on-site restaurants, including the casual open-air Beach Tree, the beachfront Ulu Ocean Grill with an adjacent sushi lounge, and the Hualalai Grille, which has sort of a steakhouse/golf clubhouse vibe. The Ulu Ocean Grill was my favorite with high-level sushi and big salads of locally grown vegetables—the kind of tasty but light food you want to eat in tropical weather. There’s also the very sweet Hualalai Trading Company, which looks like a traditional plantation trading post and serves locally roasted coffee, muffins, and breakfast burritos (great if you just want to grab something quick and not do the whole sit down breakfast thing), as well as snacky items and juices throughout the day. The spa The spa is fabulous, with tropical-zen indoor and outdoor treatment rooms and an emphasis on incorporating local ingredients like aloe, passion fruit, and coffee into different services. While not technically part of the spa, it’s important to mention that this resort is a fitness lover’s dream and courts a clientele of amateur and professional athletes (in addition to those who just want to lounge poolside). The hotel is kitted out with all of the expected cutting edge machines and offers almost every type of yoga as well as pilates, but what really makes it stand out is its tennis club (8 courts), four-lane lap pool, world-class 18-hole golf course (when I was there, the resort was hosting the PGA’s first 2022 tournament), and beachfront aquatic center where you can learn how to open water swim or paddle a traditional canoe, take out a stand up paddleboard, or join a snorkeling adventure. The neighborhood/area You're coming to this resort in large part because of its private setting on a pristine stretch of coastline. It’s a short drive from the Kona airport, but there is really nothing much in terms of other hotels or off-site restaurants in the immediate vicinity. That said, the long-shuttered Kona Resort, which is just up the beach from Hualalai, was recently purchased and slated to open as a Rosewood property sometime in 2023. There is a residential component to Hualalai. This isn’t always the case in every resort with residences—but here the residents add a nice energy and community feel to the resort experience, and it’s not uncommon to chat with people who own homes at the tennis club or over a cocktail at one of the bars. The service Totally seamless. Even though Hawaii’s laid-back aloha spirit is alive and well, the service is still Four Seasons-high. It’s worth noting that villas and specialty suites have access to a dedicated concierge team. For families The resort is an excellent choice for families, especially those with pre-teens and teens who are old enough to really take advantage of all of the resort has to offer, including golf and tennis and all of the excursions and activities offered through the aquatic center. Family afternoon tennis and a traditional canoe trip where we stopped several times at various reefs to snorkel were highlights. There’s a dedicated family pool, an adults-only pool (great for parents whose kids are old enough to be off on their own), a quiet pool, and the new, sleek infinity pool at King’s Pond; the pond is another draw for kids who are learning to snorkel. There’s also a protected sandy beach for swimming. Additionally, the resort offers Kids For All Seasons—the Four Seasons complimentary kids’ club. Eco effort As mentioned, the resort takes its aquiline ponds seriously and has an on-site team of marine naturalists to maintain them. They’re committed to preserving and restoring as much as the original habitat as they can, which has also included creating little islands in the golf course pond that act as marine bird sanctuaries, helping pass a commercial fishing ban in front of the resort to give the overfished waters a chance to recover, and stocking its large King’s Pond with local tropical “rescue” fish that pet stores couldn’t sell because of cosmetic imperfections (guests can snorkel in this pond at certain times throughout the day). As part of the recent renovation, the resort added the Kumu Kai Marine Center where guests can learn about local sea life and conservation efforts. Also, and importantly, the resort just launched an on-site water bottling and filtration system, meaning they can get rid of single-use plastic bottles; this is huge for any property, but especially for one located on an island in the middle of the Pacific. The resort’s eco commitment is pretty special—they’re really walking the walk. Accessibility There are accessible guest rooms, and all of those rooms contain a range of features: roll-in showers and tubs with guardrails, as well as a number of hearing features like TDD phones, visual smoke detectors, and a door knock alert that translates vibrations from a knock into a flashing light. More generally, the property allows service animals and there are accessible routes from the entrance to accessible rooms. Anything left to mention? The resort has excellent boutiques carrying clothes that feel resorty but that you’ll actually wear back in real life, like Ulla Johnson dresses and James Perse T-shirts. There aren’t a ton of places to visit nearby (within walking distance or a quick drive away), but there is so much to do on the property in terms of activities, places to swim and lounge, and dining and shopping options that you really don’t feel remiss about staying put. It makes perfect sense that guests come back year after year." - Rebecca Misner