Four Seasons Hualalai

I was thrilled to be able to take a vacation given the COVID mess. I realize the property has only recently been reopened. The service was not nearly as good at the many other four seasons properties I have stayed at in the past. The room was an ocean view that with tax and other fees was $2K/night. Way overpriced given the level of service. 1. Room cleaning was bad. Sand on the floor, carpet not vacuumed daily. Coffee and creamer not restocked. 2. Getting into the restaurants at dinner was not easy with long waits. 3. The concierge screwed up the billing for the day trips (Entire excursions were billed to one party in our group). 4. Room service food was delicious. I was happy about this because I had to eat room service several nights because the restaurants were full. 5. Poolside service was hit and miss. I expect more from four seasons. 6. The beach was very rocky and when the high tide came in at night, the walkway on the property would be covered with sand. Only cleaned up intermittently. 7. Resort is being rebuilt. Lots of construction noise. 8. Spa was nice with great massages 9. Gym was open I'm giving them a break for what should be a 1-star review - due to the COVID closure. I can say with confidence that I will NEVER stay at this property again. My expectations for a four seasons property with a room this expensive were not even close to being met. The four seasons should change the name until they get it together. Read less

The hotel is clearly popular as it is crowded but I guess we have a completely different vision of luxury. We stayed just 2 nights in a 2 bedroom 'ocean' view suite and will clearly never return. For that price its about as bad as it guest from a value for money perspective. Yes its clearly not a high rise building but it is however a crowded building and the ocean view is mostly a view on the pool with a little piece of ocean behind this. Forget about privacy and seclusion. This is not a slow life quiet destination. Instead it is crowded everywhere. Restaurants are so loud that with our family of 6 we could not hear ourselves talk. If you love restaurants where its hard to get a booking (which it is), where there are people everywhere in classy attires than you ll love this. If your idea of a holidays is spending time away from a buzzing New York restaurant then you won't love this. Like any crowded place you certainly have the sentiment that something must be great here for everyone to come. The fact that the paying cabanas are located at the edge of the pool in front of the most crowded path with no privacy whatsoever (and yes there a much more discreet options facing the ocean) gave us a hint. These were always occupied or reserved. I guess if you love showing how much money you have and showing your new attires (perhaps with the price tag still on it) you ll love this place. If you like relaxing away from the crowd you' ll hate it. Service is like in any place that doesn't need your business. Its like a popular private school with a long waiting list. You are not happy? well there is a long waiting list and we don't need your business so move on. We had lots of trouble in booking a restaurant for the nights we were staying in and had to eat much lated than we wanted - not to mention long waiting times. Each of our request was met with a 'sorry this is not possible'. The first morning in the crowded breakfast area we waited 50 mins for our food. The next morning I went in 20 mins earlier to give the orders ahead of time and limit the wait but that was totally impossible. The hotel claims to love feedback but it never seemed like they were really interested or followed up in any way. Covid wise the big island feels safe but I was not particularly impressed by the procedures. The tunraround time for instance in cleaning a room is 3 hours. In that time the room windows are kept close. There were alternative rooms (hotel wasn't full) but we were still given a room previously occupied a few hours earlier. Last but not least the kids club is an infamy. We have visited quite a few kids club duding Covid (notably the exceptional ones at Waldorf Maldives and Soneva sushi) and have seen 4-5 every year in the last 15 years. This one is by very very fare the single worst one ever. I cant even think of a close second. We looked to bring our youngest son in the first afternoon. There were 4 children sitting on a table each watching a movie (this is what the kids club calls free time). The next morning we brought him in and whilst they pretend he would be doing arts and crafts they actually put him in front of a video game. As I was driving to rent buggy boards 20 mins away (apparently the FS doesn't like the idea of not having you pay for any activity and hard to pay for BB rental so they don't have any) I got a call about 25 mins later claiming my son wanted to go back in the room. As I was in the car I said Id be there 20 mins later to the exasperation of the kids club team. My son hated his 45 mins there. The staff is probably either hired from former DMV disgruntled employees with no interest whatsoever for children or perhaps from former prison guards. No direspect for these professions but clearly not trained at looking after children. What was frustrating was that the only people that looked friendly were the dedicated team situated near the pools doing paid arts and craft. If you pay 40$. That was another element we did not like. As a client you are just as good as your wallet. Every activity you have to pay for. On the positives, food was good and the they are great at looking after allergies. Clearly the four seasons doesn't need our business (and clearly they don't care) but equally the hotel industry has changed. We have fond memories of great FS stays (Landaa Giravaru being the best) but time has passed and there are so many better alternatives for similar price points (Aman, Rosewood and smaller private hotels like Soneva) and we don't need them either. We are done with FS. So long. Read less

Stayed in a residence within the resort and paid the upcharge to have daily access to Four Seasons. We had a very pleasant stay and were able to enjoy all the restaurants, spa and beach. Unfortunately, we could not sit next to our favorite pool in the Palm Grove area. Home renters are not allowed to sit next to any of the pools, only on the beaches on the covered lounges. Service beachside was not quite as good as we’ve had in the past poolside but perhaps some of the decrease in service had to do with Covid. No spritzing, sunglass or iPad cleaning, some days no snacks and slower service in general. Dinners were lovely at Ulu and Beach Tree and it was great to have nightly entertainment. The spa was nice for services but of course the hot tub, outdoor showers, steam room, sauna were off-limits. My massage was wonderful but my husband’s was not satisfactory for him. He didn’t bother to voice a complaint when he knew all the therapists had not been working much in the past year. The weight room in the gym was disappointing because even though there was a 4 person max, it was not monitored and too many people would crowd in. It did not feel safe on some days so I left. We felt mostly safe from covid but noticed some guests flouted the rules and were never confronted by staff. When at this resort we spend most of our time at the pools so due to the pool seating constraints we will probably stay at the hotel in the future. Read less

This is our second year in a row visiting Hualalai. The resort is absolutely wonderful. Their new renovations are beautiful. The food is delicious. The service is off the charts consistently perfect. They have done a fantastic job of making things feel safe in spite of Covid. I can’t say enough great things about the resort. It truly is wonderful and we can’t wait to go back again next year. Hualalai is our happy place! Read less

As usual they never disappoint. We were surprised they would valet our vehicle. We chose to stay at the Hilton up the road which obviously did not compare. The food/drinks and staff were wonderful as usual. Had we known how run down the Hilton was up the road we wouldn’t have stayed there. Our next trip we definitely will stay at this resort. They have kept the resort looking wonderful and are incredibly accommodating despite covid. Read less