Over the years, my husband and I have been to every other Hawaiian Island and loved it. However, this visit has totally blown all of those other Islands away. We stayed there February 8 to February 13 and had an absolutely wonderful time.

This was the first time that we had ever stayed at the Four Seasons (and I read the reviews prior to coming), the service was amazing. Every single person from the concierge to the waitresses knew your name. They really did know your name because we had people that worked at the hotel that saw us outside of the hotel - like in Lanai City that recognized us there and were friendly with us. The concierge was great (particularly Charmaine and Patty) who booked everything for us - ferry tickets, rental car, jeep rental, etc. They also do a good job welcoming you to the hotel from picking you up at the airport to awaiting your arrival at the door with warm towels to freshen up, a glass of fresh squeezed pineapple juice, and flower leis - the Four Seasons think of everything.

When you get to the room, they are extremely clean. The housekeeping is great. When you arrive, there is fresh pineapple dipped in chocolate in your room. The housekeeping is nonintrusive and they clean your rooms twice a day - once in the morning and again later on at night. This is great especially if you go out to the beach, bike riding, etc. and makes it so there is always clean towels in your room.

The premises at this hotel is the best part. Usually when we take vacations, it takes me a couple of days to unwind to really relax. Within a day of being there, I was completely relaxed. It probably had something to do with the fact that this is the least populated of the islands and there are only 102 rooms in the hotel. The grounds are immaculate and perfectly kept. The hotel also has a lot of wonderful activities like a putting green (even for people that never play golf it was fun), lawn bowling, croquet, bike riding, etc. All great, all worth trying at least once.

Things to do: You must rent a jeep for at least one day. To really get the whole island feel, you need to drive around. During the entire day that we had the jeep, we saw 8 cars total, all day. Also, highly recommend taking the ferry to Maui for the day (and renting a car which you can rent 1/2 day for like $40). Right now, it's whale season and we saw tons of whales - jumping out of the water - sit on the top of the boat for the best views! If you just want to relax, it's great too - the pool is quiet and peaceful. If you want to go to the beach, go to Manele Bay - great beach but there are a lot more people so be warned - it's kind of shocking after being so low-key for most of the week.

If you like to do a lot of things at night, or do a lot of shopping, this is not the island for you. This island is for people that like to relax and just hang out. The only drawback was that like one of the reviews, I did find the food to be a little bit overpriced (however, it was very good food) but again, if that's the only complaint, that's not really saying much.

I've stayed at lots of hotels, all over the world, a lot of them in tropical places and this by and far was the best and most relaxing trip that I have ever had.

My husband and I spent 4 nights at The Lodge at Koele from 2/3-2/7/08. We then moved on to Manele Bay, which I'll review next. We loved our stay at The Lodge. We live in Chicago - actually in the city - so it felt like time truly slowed down and we were reminded what it feels like to relax. We wandered the property and hiked the nearby trails, visited the horses, and soaked in the hot tubs. The service was great, and we felt it to be a step above the service at Manele Bay. The concierge was extremely helpful in arranging last minute plans for us, and the staff in the restaurants were available but not intrusive (a fine line at times). Housekeeping was perfect and very friendly. Service overall was as you would expect at a Four Seasons property. We also really loved our room. It had much more character than a typical hotel room, and the balcony was very large and comfortable with beautiful views of the gardens.

We had breakfast every morning at The Terrace and it was good, although I ordered the smoked salmon one morning, and I was barely given enough salmon for a thin single layer on one slice of the bagle. So, I wouldn't recommend that there, and that's my standard breakfast choice when staying at FS properties. We ate at the bar area the first night and had great pork nachos and mini burgers. We also had a nice meal at The Dining Room. It really wasn't as expensive as I had expected, which was a nice surprise.

It is a bit cooler at The Lodge than down by the beach, as other posters have mentioned. Although in February, we were wearing shorts most of the day and did go for a swim one day as well. We enjoyed walking through Lana'i City. Dis n' Dat is a fun and friendly shop and The Local Gentry had some really great boutique clothing. We also enjoyed lunch at Blue Ginger and Canoes and had very nice dinners at The Inn at Lanai and at Pele's. Everyone we met was so friendly. Oh, and definitely stop in Mike Carrol's gallery. He is often there and just a really great guy to talk to about the island and some of his other travels. Plus his paintings are beautiful.

We tend to not want to repeat trips to the same destination. The world is just too big. However, we both agreed that we will definitely go back to Lana'i. We thoroughly enjoyed everything we did, both resorts, and everyone we met. Go, enjoy!!

My boyfriend and I here went as an early Valentine's day for a few nights.

Overview:
This place is extraordinary and beautiful and truly relaxing.
It does not have the typical resort in Hawaii feel to it at all.
It is not on the beach but rather in a misty mountainous area which is rather gorgeous (not being on the water is not a big deal for us as we live on the water in Kauai). The other four season's on the island is on the beach and they have a shuttle that goes there every 30min... Every room has a Lanai (balcony) and beautiful views. (We stayed in a Garden Deluxe Room)

Activities:
There are many activities to participate in (many that you do not have to sign up for but can just go and do on the property... ie botchey ball, croquet, mini golf, hiking, snorkeling (at Maneli bay), a decent pool and hot tubs, massages, beautiful places to take walks with streams and gazebos and fruit trees, shuffle board, pool tables... (there are many others but this is what we did) There are so many things to explore though that is has an effect on you as though time has slowed down.... it felt like we where there for a couple weeks even though we stayed only 3 nights...

People:
The people there where extremely friendly and kind. The service was great too. The population of the island is 3000 and the town is really cute.

Food:
We ate at both resorts. The Dining Room was amazing! The Host was great and the Food was some of the best I have ever had (and I am originally from NY so that is saying a lot). The Wine selection was average and the ambiance was beautiful.
The Terrace was not that special but it was not bad. Good considering it is a small 3000 person Island. Ilihana was nothing special and overpriced for what it was... but again good if you consider it is a 3000 person island. It was still fun to go to but we plan to stick with the formal Dining Room next time we go,
Tea time in the main room is really really good and fun so I suggest you try it.
We had Breakfast delivered to our Lanai every morning. Breakfast was good and it was really fun to have it delivered to the Lanai.

Other notes:
some people complain about the fact that they charge extra for the shuttle and stuff like that.... to everyone who goes here... it is a four seasons. Actually probably one of the cheapest 4 seasons in the world... Food is indeed pricey but all of the activities we did (except the massage, did not have an extra charge). We did spend a good bit on Food and drinks but one of the places we ate (the Dining Room) is the only 5 star restaurant in the state and was well worth it.
Lana'i is beautiful and everyone who visits Hawaii should make sure and see this wondrous place!

Who is it for?:
I would not suggest this place for Children. I would suggest it to couples of all ages. Most of the couples there where much older than us (we are 24) but any age can have fun...

Peace

My husband and I spent Dec 19-Dec 26, 2007 at The Lodge at Koele. The Lodge is a BEAUTIFUL resort. The grounds are stunning and it was the perfect place to spend Christmas.

Having said that, like most people planning a Hawaiian adventure, I had high expectations for the Four Seasons. My first concern was when I booked our week's adventures with one of the concierges, Flora. Every day during that week my husband and I had planned some type of event. From spa time, to horseback riding to jeep expeditions, to sporting clays, etc. We wanted to take advantage of all that The Lodge had to offer. Flora wasn't very helpful or knowledgable. It made me wonder what all of the fuss over the Four Seasons was. Her attitude was worthy of about one star. Sadly, she was the same person who greeted us upon our check in to The Lodge. Upon check-in, you are greeted with leis and fresh pineapple juice. Flora greeted us with our juice and a gift that our in-laws had sent to us. Sadly, this lady lurked on top of us while we felt compelled to chug our juice and open the gift so that she could move on and quickly get us to our room. Nothing special about the check-in! I felt like she was just going through the motions. No heart. No heartfelt welcome either! HOWEVER, there was a bottle of champage chilling in our room when we got there. That was a nice touch to the chilly reception. Another nice touch by the hotel staff was when they delivered authentic quilted Hawaiian stockings to our room on Christmas Eve. Very nice touch.

Our garden room was the perfect size for me and my husband. It had a nice King size bed with VERY comfortable sheets and I requested a down comforter so that made it extra comfy! Highly recommend the down comforter. Felt like home.

The property inside and out was stunning! It felt like upscale rustic lodge. It was comfy, yet not too flashy. It reminded me of The Grove Park Inn in Asheville, NC.

We enjoyed eating at the Dining Room, The Experience at Koele Clubhouse, The Terrace Room, Ihilani (Manele Bay), Ocean Grill (Manele Bay), Room Service & High Tea and Hot chocolate in the lobby. All of the food was good. The prices were wwwwaaayyy too high. Ridiculously high. Like $18 for popcorn. We did order our share of these ridiculously high items (even the popcorn), but we also bought some food in Lanai City at Richard's Market. My husband and I packed our own lunch and ate out by the pagoda one day. We were right next to the waterfall and it was lovely and romantic.

The BIGGEST complaint we had/have is the HOUSEKEEPING. HORRIBLE. My husband was enjoying his R&R from an overseas deployment. Well, we would usually have the DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door at the times when housekeeping would be there to tidy up. I'm not kidding you, THEY DISTURBED US EVERY SINGLE DAY THAT WE SPENT AT THE LODGE. If it wasn't by knocking on the door, it was by calling us on the phone and asking if we wanted housekeeping to come in!!!!! I was livid. How can people rest and enjoy their holiday when you specifically ask housekeeping not to disturb. In addition, the Four Seasons being the Four Seasons, I would have imagined that on the days that we were schedule to go on our jeep expeditions, horseback riding, sporting clays, and archery, etc., they would try to tidy up the room when they KNEW that we were scheduled to be somewhere else and out of the room. Is it too much to ask that concierge hook up with housekeeping to work this out?

Next, on Christmas Day, The Lodge experienced multiple losses of power. We were getting ready for Christmas dinner when this occurred. We had to finish getting ready in the dark. uuuggghhh! Then, later that night, after we had finished our dinner around 9:00pm, the lights went out and came on sometime during the night. This problem is more than likely due to being on an island rather than a problem with the Four Seasons. Also, one night we rented a movie and all of a sudden halfway through the movie, the movie shut off. We called the front desk and they stated that they've been having problems like that lately. uuugghh! crazy! We were unable to watch the end of the movie. They didn't offer a refund. I had to ask!

Having said all of that, we DID have a great time at The Lodge. However, do not expect perfect service at this Four Seasons. It's not gonna happen. We did go to Manele Bay for 2 days and had a great time. The beach is just beautiful there. The pool area is nice and the wait staff was accomodating. We enjoyed eating at Hulopo'e Court. The lau lau was fantastic. And, they even brought over complimentary champage for me and DH when they learned that he was on leave from his military service.

We enjoyed going to Garden of the Gods and Shipwreck Beach with our jeep rental. We enjoyed touring Lanai on horseback and seeing Molokai and Maui on the trails. We enjoyed our first experience with archery. However, I must warn that I'm right handed and my left forearm and upper arm were black and blue when I was finished with this event. The arm guard just wasn't cutting it for me. Finally, we enjoyed the trails around The Lodge and working out in their exercise room. We swam in the pool once and it was quiet and relaxing. The sounds of nature abound at The Lodge and you feel like you're in the middle of nowhere. It is nice and relaxing. Eventhough there were some bumps during our stay, I would still recommend this resort to others. Lanai is a beautiful island and I felt honored to visit such a beautiful part of the country.