Which hotel is best, Four Seasons Maui or Oahu at Ko Olina? While both hotels are some of the best Four Seasons in Hawaii, we think Four Seasons Maui feels more exclusive than Four Seasons Oahu. It offers a gorgeous beach shared by the Grand Wailea and Wailea Beach Resort luxury hotels. It is set in the sunniest and most exclusive resort area in Hawaii. The building is fairly low-rise, and the gardens that front the hotel are as pretty as a wedding cake.
Four Seasons Oahu is easy to reach and less than a 30-minute drive from Honolulu Airport. It offers great dining and is usually less expensive than the other Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii.
Book your stay at either hotel via our luxury travel concierge for extra benefits and perks at both of these hotels, including free breakfast, resort credit, and a prioritized room upgrade.
What Is The Best Four Seasons Hotel In Hawaii?
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.
1. Location
Four Seasons Maui is one of the most resort-based Four Seasons hotels on the Hawaiian Islands. It is set within the exclusive resort area of Wailea. The hotel is just down the coast from Fairmont Kea Lani, Grand Wailea, a Waldorf Astoria Resort, and the Wailea Beach Hotel by Marriott.
The Andaz is a little further away but also located in Wailea. You can walk between most of these hotels along an oceanfront boardwalk. We have compared Four Seasons Maui and Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort separately as these hotels are next door to each other and clients often have trouble choosing between these resorts.
The location is probably the biggest differentiator between Four Seasons Maui Vs. Oahu. On the one hand, you have Four Seasons Maui, which is brilliantly located if you want to walk to the Wailea Shopping Center, eat and drink at a different resort or stroll up and down the coastline and have a nose around different hotels. You can easily pop over to the Grand Wailea for a bite to eat or even try the restaurants at the Wailea Beach Resort by Marriott, which is a little further down the same beach as the Four Seasons Maui.
Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina sits prominently on the shoreline of the less exclusive resort community of Ko Olina, which houses multiple resorts, including Disney’s Aulani Resort, some residences, a golf club, all set around four artificial lagoons, which offer protected swimming, and loads of beach. It sits right next door to an uninteresting Marriott and is fairly high-rise in design with maybe 13 floors. The resort offers guests a secluded oasis away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki but is still in a busy resort area.
Four Seasons Oahu’s oceanfront location provides stunning views of the Pacific Ocean and easy access to the island’s natural wonders, including picturesque lagoons perfect for swimming and snorkeling. Guests can also explore nearby attractions such as historic Pearl Harbor, scenic hiking trails, and championship golf courses, so its location is good for sightseeing.
Four Seasons Maui Vs. Grand Wailea: Which Is Best?
Which is the best hotel in Maui? Four Seasons Maui Vs. Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort? The good news is that we have stayed at both of these hotels, and I have outlined the pros and cons of each hotel below. If you don't have time to read this article in detail, the Four Seasons Maui is the best hotel, far better than the Grand Wailea, A Waldorf Astoria Resort, in our opinion. It is more glamorous and more beautifully decorated. It even smells better due to the deliciously scented extravagant flower arrangements dotted all over the hotel.
2. Style & Character
Both Four Seasons Maui and Oahu are some of the best Four Seasons in Hawaii. In Maui, from the outside, the U-shaped, low-rise building that makes up the Four Seasons is quite similar to the other large-scale Hawaiian resorts. However, the interior is refined and luxurious, with an open-air design where halls lead to the open side of the building. From here, you can enjoy ocean breezes and panoramic vistas.
When we arrived, we were greeted by name with leis (how do they do that!). The open-air marble foyer is just stunning and adorned with sweet-smelling flowers. You can smell the luxury when given a tour around this beautiful resort, where the cream hues and intricate marble pillars form a backdrop to the magnificent ocean views.
The large lobby has a glorious open design that brings the tropical outdoors in. Communal areas are also always immaculate, and the staff are always welcoming and often address you by name. Four Seasons Maui also houses hundreds of incredible art pieces by Hawaii-influenced artists throughout the property. As an aside, Four Seasons Maui is featured in many movies and series. It was the setting for HBOs “White Lotus”
The Four Seasons Maui has a wonderful garden stretching to the beach. The entire resort is beautiful. The hotel is built in a U shape around numerous pools and fountains, framed by beautiful Wailea Bay. It reminds me of a giant creamy wedding cake with a frothy fountain filled with white icing. You certainly can’t fault the look of the grounds and will find an array of loungers and pristine white cabanas to choose from for your days lazing.
Four Seasons Oahu is a high-rise hotel with around 13 floors. It has 371 rooms and was originally an independent hotel from the mid-1980s that was rebranded as a JW Marriott Ko Olina before being reopened as a Four Seasons in 2016 after a huge renovation.
Because of its age, some of the design features, such as the atrium lobby with open-air sides, feel from the 1980s although the Four Seasons refurbishment, which included adding an adults-only pool, has been a fabulous improvement.
Review: Four Seasons Maui
We have reviewed the best Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii, which includes the stunning Four Seasons Maui in the most exclusive resort on Maui, Wailea. Four Seasons Maui is the most resort-based Four Seasons hotel on the Hawaiian Islands, in the exclusive resort area of Wailea. I reviewed the best way to get deals and special offers at Four Seasons Maui. The key is to book your next Four Seasons stay via our luxury travel concierge, as we can give you free loyalty-style benefits, room upgrades, and perks while matching the rates on the Four Seasons Maui website.
3. Beach & Pools
The pool complexes at Four Seasons Maui are stunning. While some pools cater to families and kids, an exquisite infinity pool with a bar exclusively for adults offers a serene atmosphere. Guests can enjoy lounging on beach chairs around the pools or on the beach itself, with refreshing spritzers readily available.
The ambiance is relaxed yet luxurious, with some guests sporting elegant accessories like Rolex watches. Three distinct pool areas are available, with the central fountain pool featuring a picturesque fountain and cabanas, being a favorite among families.
The waterfall pool is not far from the fountain pool and resembles Maui’s natural ponds. It is perfect for families with younger children and has a short slide. Both pool areas offer poolside dining and drinks.
The fountain and waterfall pools can be crowded during school holidays, so there is a third pool area, the serenity pool, for adults only. This pool is located one level above the other two pools at the resort’s southernmost edge. It has two hot tubes and four bubble loungers on its side, and this infinity pool offers panoramic ocean and beach views and plays underwater music.
You can pay for one of six private luxury cabanas (around $500 USD per day) for a complete splurge. While this might not be the best deal on the island and is certainly not a way to save money, these cabanas offer a great place to relax if your budget will stretch that far.
This resort is also right on a beautiful beach in Wailea, which is also kitted out with luxury padded loungers and Four Seasons service. This is probably the best place to lounge under an umbrella, and paddling along the shoreline on this beach is a dream.
The Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina has four pools. The Ohana Pool is a circular but uninteresting family pool that is near the beach, pool bar, and a couple of restaurants. Adjacent and right next to the beach is a smallish kids pool with a stepped entry and hot tubs and there is a spa lap pool. The most attractive pool is the adults-only pool, which was recently built and is infinity in design. This is a really beautiful pool area with views across the lawns, which are punctuated with palm trees, and out to the ocean in the distance.
Because all the pools at the Oahu resort, with the exception of the adults-only infinity pool, feel dated, the pools at the Maui Four Seasons win. If you are travelling with a young family, you won’t get to use the adults-only infinity pool so your pool optons aren’t that exciting and there are no fun slides etc.
Ko Olina has four artificial lagoons, and the Four Seasons’ beach area is a stunning patch of sand on the edge of one of these lagoons. Because of the lagoon design, the waters stay calm and are ideal for swimming. Families with young children will likely feel that this beach is safer for their children than Wailea Beach, which is relatively calm but can be wavey at times.
Much like in Maui, there’s a beachfront boardwalk that runs across the coast at Ko Olina and is lovely for an evening stroll.
Review: Four Seasons Oahu At Ko Olina
Four Seasons Resort Oahu at Ko Olina is a brilliant luxury hotel on Oahu and arguably your best choice on Oahu’s leeward coast. It joins four other Four Seasons hotels which make up the best Four Seasons in Hawaii. We love the magical Islands of Hawaii, but the resorts there are largely limited to "middle-of-the-road" chain hotels. Certainly, you will not find overwater villas with plunge pools. So it is important to pick the right luxury resort. You are spoiled for choice when it comes to the magnificent Four Seasons Hotel chain, which is ever-expanding across these Islands.
4. Rooms
All the Four Seasons Maui rooms here are similarly good size (600 ft²) and have the signature Four Seasons bathroom and a large balcony. The view is the deal-breaker here. The cheapest rooms are the rooms with Mountain views. These rooms are the same size and quality as the Garden View rooms. Mountain view rooms are outside the U, overlooking the car park and mountains behind.
The Garden view rooms in Maui sit towards the back of the inside of the U with very distant sea views. It’s worth mentioning that even the cheapest room at the Four Seasons Maui is a great room. You are facing the wrong way so you won’t hear the crashing waves as you fall asleep, but I’m sure 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) and other free benefits!. My main tip is to ask for a high floor for better views.
Rooms at Four Seasons Oahu are also large, with a minimum of 640 ft². The rooms feel modern and beachy with a wooden floored entry way and then rattan-style tan carpet. The bathrooms are large, and the rooms come with a large balcony that houses a sofa, two seats, and a table.
The rooms are really nice, and the views from the higher-floor ocean-view rooms are tremendous. They look out over the Koh Olina resort-y beach. One thing to mention at this hotel is that you are aware your room is located in an architecturally older and more dated hotel design. There is no floor-to-ceiling window in the bathroom (there isn’t one in Maui either, although we do love the outdoor showers at Four Seasons Hualalai). The high rooms have fabulous views, but they are high up in the sky.
Ultimately, all hotels in Hawaii tend to have a slightly dated feel, and the Four Seasons hotels remain your best bet if you are looking for a gorgeous and luxurious retreat. When comparing the Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii, we love the ground-floor rooms at the low-rise Four Seasons Hualalai best, as they have terraces that lead out onto lawns or down the beach, connecting you to the glorious warm Hawaiian earth. I am a big fan of barefoot luxury and like the feel of the ground under my bare feet.
Digressing a little, but if you are looking for barefoot beach luxury, we also love the Four Seasons Los Cabos. If you pick one of their beachfront plunge pool rooms, the beach is only a couple of steps from your bed, and you can walk barefoot down to the shoreline for an early morning dip, much like you can at a Maldives resort.
10 Best Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts In The World
The best Four Seasons hotels & resorts in the world include Grand-Hotel du Cap-Ferrat, Four Seasons Lanai and Four Seasons Resort Hualalai in Hawaii, Four Seasons Surf Club on Miami Beach, Four Seasons Costa Rica, Four Seasons Los Cabos At Costa Palmas, Four Seasons Palm Beach, and Four Seasons Hampshire. To be honest, we wanted to include several other properties in this article, but we would have to stray into the realms of the top 20 or 30 or even top 100 properties to include all our favorite Four Seasons hotels. There are just so many great ones!
5. The Club Floor
One particularly attractive feature of the Four Seasons Maui is that the property allows guests who book into a Club room or Club suite to enjoy complimentary access to the hotel’s exclusive Club Floor Lounge. Four Seasons Oahu doesn’t have a club lounge. This is probably the best club lounge in Hawaii.
The ‘hotel within the hotel,’ Club Floor in Maui, has its own concierge team dedicated to the 26 rooms and suites on the top level. Here, guests enjoy complimentary all-day refreshments, a full-service bar, and other appealing extras. Once you have entered the Club Lounge, everything is free, which may actually bring down the cost of your vacation.
Club floors often offer the best possible deal because, although the initial price is higher, you do not need to pay resort rates for food and drinks, which can save you hundreds of dollars daily.
There is no club lounge or floor at Four Seasons Oahu.
Best Hotel Executive Club Lounge In Hawaii
Which hotels in Hawaii offer the best executive club level lounges? We review lounges across Oahu, including Waikiki, Maui, Kaanapali, Kapalua, Wailea, Kauai, Poipu, and Hanalei, and the Big Island's picturesque Kona-Kohala coast. I have compiled a list below containing the best club lounges available across the best luxury hotels in Hawaii. I list the ones I consider to be the best at the top. I review each of these hotel club lounges in detail so you know what you will get if you book a room with club lounge access.
6. Food & Drink
The best restaurant at Four Seasons Maui is Master Chef Wolfgang Puck’s Hawaiian outpost (a Forbes Four-Star and AAA Four-Diamond restaurant). You can sit down to a fusion of Hawaiian and California cuisine paired with panoramic ocean views. I recommend booking this restaurant before your stay. Our concierge team can connect you to the concierge at Four Seasons Maui to do this, as it can be fully booked.
We also particularly like Ferraro’s Bar E Ristorante, which is alfresco, and right on the waterfront. This is Wailea’s only oceanfront restaurant, and you can dine under the stars, perfect for special occasions. Savor contemporary Italian dishes featuring fresh Maui ingredients and artisan pizzas from the wood-burning oven.
There are also more bars and eateries, including the poolside restaurant, to keep you topped up wherever you are in the resort.
Four Seasons Resort Oahu has numerous restaurants all with an open-air setting with at least one side open to the elements. Some have seating in the grounds between the greenery and boulders.
Mina’s Fish House is a particularly lovely restaurant at the resort as it is set right on the beach. And Noe, the Italian restaurant is set in the gardens surrounded by tropical plants and waterfalls which is also rather nice.
That said, Four Seasons Oahu lacks the high-end dining offered by Wolfgang Puck, so if you are looking for food excellence, Four Seasons Maui wins.
7. Golf
Golf enthusiasts visiting Four Seasons Maui and Four Seasons Oahu are treated to world-class golfing experiences amidst stunning Hawaiian landscapes. Four Seasons Maui boasts the Wailea Golf Club, featuring three championship courses renowned for their picturesque ocean views and challenging layouts, catering to players of all skill levels.
Four Seasons Oahu at Ko Olina offers guests access to the nearby Ko Olina Golf Club, a championship golf course designed by renowned architect Ted Robinson. Situated along the stunning western coast of Oahu, Hawaii, the golf course features lush tropical landscaping, panoramic views of the Pacific Ocean, and challenging fairways and greens. Golfers can enjoy 18 holes of play, with strategically placed bunkers, water hazards, and undulating terrain adding to the excitement and challenge of the game.
The Wailea Golf Club gets fabulous reviews whereas the Ko Olina Golf Club reportedly has pitted greens and less well maintained greens. With this in mind, if golf is a big part of your holiday, pick Four Seasons Maui.
8. Price
The best time to visit Maui and Oahu is during the off-season in Hawaii when the rates are cheaper, and the islands are less crowded. Ideally, travel is spring (April to June) and fall (September to November, excluding Thanksgiving).
Winter in Hawaii can be slightly cloudier and wetter from December to March, but it is a popular time to travel simply because the rest of the Northern Hemisphere is so miserable and cold. If you stay in Wailea on Maui, you have the most chance of sunshine as Wailea is on the sunniest coastline.
Pricing is reduced at all the hotels in the lower season. November and early December often offer the cheapest time of year to visit. I reviewed the best way to get deals and special offers at Four Seasons Maui. The key is to book your next Four Seasons stay via our concierge, as we can give you free loyalty-style benefits, room upgrades, and perks while matching the rates on the Four Seasons Maui website.
When comparing pricing, Four Seasons Oahu is usually the cheapest Four Seasons hotel in Hawaii and is cheaper than the Maui Four Seasons.
9. Resort Fee
Unlike some nickel-and-diming resorts across these islands, Four Seasons hotels in Hawaii do not charge a resort fee.
10. Conclusion
Four Seasons Maui offers a vibrant atmosphere with ample water sports, dining, and entertainment opportunities. Four Seasons Oahu has the advantage of a calmer beach and a glorious adults-only pool, but the other pools, restaurants, golf, and the high-rise nature of the Oahu hotel means that we prefer the Four Seasons in Maui. That said, both resorts are fabulous, and we are nit-picking to find fault with either. If you can afford to stay at either of these Four Seasons for your holidays, you will have a wonderful time.
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