Four Seasons Lanai at Manele Bay
Several major resorts on the Hawaiian Island of Lanai are unavailable to overnight guests. While the island can still be visited for day trips, there are virtually no overnight accommodations for visitors until at least the end of the year as island resorts are undergoing a makeover.
Four Seasons Resort Lânaʻi at Manele Bay will temporarily close June 1st to finish the transformation of the resort, with an anticipated opening of the property in Q4, 2015. During this time, additional pool experiences will be built and the property will complete final improvements to public areas. A number of enhancements have already been unveiled, including new restaurants, redesigned guestrooms and suites, high-end retail stores, a renovated spa, native Hawaiian landscaping, the addition of a luxury transfer fleet and an exclusive airport lounge in Honolulu, paving the way for the resort to offer the highest standards of hospitality, highly personalized service and innovative enhancements to guests.
While Four Seasons may be temporarily closed, Manele Golf Course and VIEWS restuarant will continue to welcome guests to the 18-hole Jack Nicklaus Signature golf course. For details on golf offerings and hours, please click here.
Ellison, the fifth wealthiest person in the world, purchased 98 percent of Lanai in 2012 for $300 million.
Local residents on the island are seemingly grateful for the new owner and his new vision for the island. His plans include bigger airport runways, a state-of-the-art desalination plant and organic wineries, a film studio and a bowling alley. But some of his original plans have been either delayed or put on hold, including more plans for developing renewable energy and sustainable agriculture on the island.
Lānaʻi is the sixth-largest of the Hawaiian Islands and (formerly) the smallest publicly accessible inhabited island in the chain. It is also known as Pineapple Island because of its past as an island-wide pineapple plantation – an industry which mostly collapsed in the mid-1990’s. There is one school, Lanai High and Elementary School, serving the entire island from kindergarten through 12th grade.