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Four Seasons has four hotels in Hawaii: Four Seasons Hualalai (on Big Island), Four Seasons Lanai, Four Seasons Maui at Wailea, and the Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina, which is the newest of the four. They are all gorgeous, and they are all pretty expensive. They all feature in our picks of the best Four Seasons hotels in the world.
Four Seasons is a particularly outstanding hotel brand, and Four Seasons hotels are usually the best option in any resort area. My reviews of the Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii can be found below. It is hard to choose between them, but I have outlined which is the best option for a number of categories.
There are no Four Seasons loyalty rewards, but if you book via our luxury travel concierge you will get two free breakfasts per room per night, hotel credit, prioritized room upgrade (subject to availability), and more. These benefits are offered on all Four Seasons rates, including discounted deals.
Best Beach?
Your top pick has to be the Four Seasons Lanai. The beach here is private and awesome, huge with rock pools at one end. I can’t think of a more beautiful beach in the world.
Best For Golf?
Pick Lanai or Big Island. The Four Seasons Hualalai on Big Island was renovated in 2009 and is known for its Jack Nicklaus signature golf course. Both have incredible golf courses and are probably the best picks, although there isn’t really a bad choice for golf.
Best Pool?
I would pick the Four Seasons Hualalai on Big Island. It has beautiful pools and one full of fish that you can swim in. If you like wildlife, you should also pick this Four Seasons as turtles nest on its beaches.
Best For watching?
Maui tends to be the busiest as it is in the center of Wailea Resort, so is naturally great for people watching. Lanai tends to be the quietest as it is on our own private island.
Easiest To Get To?
For convenience, Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina is 30 minutes from Honolulu airport and is ideal for a two-center, with all the shopping and amenities of Honolulu a short drive away.
1. Four Seasons Hualalai
Set on the North Kona Coast of Hawaii Island, Four Seasons Resort Hualālai boasts a dramatic mix of white-sand beaches, dazzling oceanfront, and black-lava landscapes. Enjoy championship golf, island-fresh dining, and a genuine aloha spirit during your stay.
Housed in intimate two-story bungalows, Four Seasons Resort Hualalai’s 243 expansive guest rooms and suites exude a nostalgic sense of Hawaii’s golden age. All rooms offer modern Hawaii décor and paddle ceiling fans (along with air conditioning), and each has a lanai or terrace.
The Ocean Golf View rooms are undoubtedly the best deal, as you get to enjoy all the benefits of the resort at the lowest possible price. All rooms were recently renovated. These are on the Ocean Golf View Crescent on both the lower and upper levels. As you would expect, these rooms look out onto the golf course, which is a pretty nice view. We prefer the downstairs rooms, which have private outdoor lava rock showers. I love the outdoor showers and the terrace as opposed to a lanai, so you can walk right out onto the grass. I would therefore always pick the downstairs rooms as the best choice.
It is worth mentioning that even the cheapest room at the Four Seasons Hualalai is a great room. You will have a similarly great holiday, whichever room you choose. If you book via our concierge, we can bump you up a room level for free (subject to availability on check-in), as well as offer our other free benefits!
Whatever deal or discount you book, the Four Seasons Hualalai is brilliant for several reasons. The hotel itself is perched on dramatic blackened lava from the Volcano. The entire low-rise complex is dotted with palm trees and has a long, private beach. The mix of warm sand, deep blue Pacific waters, lush green tropical foliage, and flowers means that the setting can only be described as breathtaking.
The design of this low-rise hotel means that it never feels full, even though this glorious hotel often enjoys 100% occupancy (it’s that good!). The two-story buildings are spread out, so you never feel like the hotel is particularly busy. The Four Seasons Hualalai also has a wonderful garden that stretches down to the beach, and its pools are an absolute highlight.
My favorite thing at the resort is King’s Pond. Four Seasons brings the ocean into the resort for you with this pool: a quarry-like pond with a sandy bottom carved free form out of the black lava and teeming with fish. It is right next to the beach and is one of the most unique resort features I have seen. It’s filled with seawater and is home to thousands of fish, including a couple of spotted eagle rays.
You can swim in this pool for as long as you like with complimentary snorkel gear. Swim with real fish and rays, a truly magical experience, and all with the convenience of being just a short walk from your room. It’s a “must-do” for your bucket list. After your swim, or between swims, laze on a pool chair and have a drink or a bite to eat.
There are five other swimming pools, some with sloping and sand bottoms, some with hot tubs/ You can look forward to complimentary frozen grapes poolside, which is a lovely touch.
There is also a large gym with a lap pool, and of course, there is an amazing beach. From November to May, you are likely to spot whales and dolphins just offshore, and local turtles also meander about on the beach. I could go on, but suffice to say, this is one of the best Four Seasons hotels in the world, without a doubt.
2. Four Seasons Lanai
Possibly offering the most picture-perfect beach in the world is the Four Seasons Lanai, Hawaii, a true escape on a billionaire’s private island. Larry Ellison’s, to be exact. The Four Seasons on Lanai features in our best Four Seasons in America. You will not find more beautiful or more remote, empty beaches anywhere in the world.
Overlooking beautiful Hulopo’e Bay, Lana’i by Four Seasons offers an innovative vision of a Hawaiian resort, a perfect base to explore your own 90,000-acre island. Experience modern luxury at its most sophisticated, discover a remarkable variety of dining and drinks venues, and explore an astonishing range of landscapes with activities to match.
Upon arrival, you’ll find elegant yet innovative guestrooms and a variety of restaurants, including NOBU LANAI, a spa and wellness program, high-end retail stores, and a gorgeously landscaped pool oasis. Activities range from horseback riding, off-roading tours, sporting clays, and archery to snorkel and sailing adventures, as well as tennis, championship golf, and more.
Don’t expect a great deal of nightlife here. There is a particularly beautiful alfresco bar on a large Lanai with sweeping views, connected to the Nobu restaurant, which serves a light menu and drinks through to 10:30 pm. After this, you can always wander barefoot down to the beach, where you will almost undoubtedly be alone, and you can enjoy a paddle under a Milky Way of stars.
3. Four Seasons Maui
In third place is Four Seasons Maui. I’m biased as I got married (Mauid) and honeymooned here! This hotel feels more vibrant but less exclusive than those mentioned above, but this is all taken into account in the slightly cheaper room rate.
It sits in the center of the most exclusive resort on Maui, Wailea. Over and above the usual sitting by the pool and eating and drinking in the bars, you can walk for miles along a beachside promenade that stretches from one end of this stunning resort to the other. you can shop in a cute mall a short walk away, and you can enjoy the facilities of the other beachfront resorts along this patch of marvelous beach and coastline. You will also find the Andaz, the Fairmont, a Marriott, and Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, steps away.
4. Four Seasons Oahu
Four Seasons Oahu is the most recent addition to Four Seasons’ Hawaiian portfolio and sits some distance from the main resort of Waikiki on Oahu. This resort is the most high-rise of the four Hawaiian Four Seasons hotels but still offers a beautiful resort with all the facilities you would expect from a five star Four Seasons resort.
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