Big Island Hotel Choice
 

I have read numerous posts on this site about hotels on the BI as well as looked at BI Revealed and TripAdvisor and I'm still at a loss. Fodorites please help!

My husband and I are in our 30s and celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary. We're looking for the best combination of rooms/pool/beach for snorkeling and are used to staying in 4-5 star hotels. Nightlife is not important, but we would like some good restaurants on site. On our honeymoon we stayed at the Ritz in Kapalua and were very happy there (spent time at beaches off-site). This time I'd like to have a nice beach in addition to the great room. Here are the three I'm considering (from most expensive to least):

Mauna Lani Bay (ocean view)
Fairmont Orchid (garden view)
Hapuna Prince (ocean view)

I knos that Fairmont seems to be winning out on posts here, but on TripAdvisor the Hapuna can do no wrong. And from what I can tell, the MLB is great for the Hawaiian experience.

What are your thoughts?

Hey sjh:

We have the same choices. We are going to opt for Hapuna because of the reviews on TripAdvisor. We are going for the 1br suite and have a concern about one gets a first floor unit, would the vegetation block some of the ocean view. It's hard to tell from the website pictures.

We stay at Mana Lani Bay every year for a week, and we hope to be going there until we drop.

It's a different feel than the Fairmont right next door; the MLB blends as seamlessly as possible with the land and water, with its fishponds, shoreline, walks, petroglyphs, and the like. We find it remarkably lovely and restful. You do walk 10' to the beach, where we've enjoyed snorkeling; they also have outings.

Every evening is music in the atrium with hawaiian performers who have been there for years; it's a wonderful entertainment, complimentary except for any drink you might want from roving waitstaff.

Ocean View rooms are wonderful; ocean front is very close to the water and gorgeous.

The Bay Terrace is great for breakfast; the Canoe House is famous for fusion cuisine, though we go there no more than once a visit--seems overrated.

The Fairmont next door is more like a typical fancy hotel, like the Mauna Kea and those types.

The distinguishing feature of the MLB in my view is that is is designed in a way that is not only in the spirit of Hawaii in its blending in with nature, but it also spreads out the people who are staying there, and it never feels crowded.

We have stayed and really enjoyed the Fairmont. It is a lovely hotel. The MLB next door is also really lovely in a more Hawaiian way as stated. The only thing I think the Fairmont has over the MLB is a lovely freeform pool area. All three hotels have great dining. We loved the restaurant at the Hapuna - but found the hotel a little stark looking. Browns at the Fairmont was wonderful with terrific outside dining at sunset. Canoe house at the MLB was good -but we found it not as good as Browns. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Loved the Mauna Lani and our oceanfront room. The beach was great for me, as it didn't have waves. Also, plenty of loungers at no extra cost, which I gathered when planning our trip might not be the case everywhere.

We stayed at the Fairmont Orchid last year for our anniversary. We booked a gardenview room but lucked out and got upgraded to an Oceanview Club level room. We just loved it! We ate at Brown's Beach House. The food, atmosphere and service were great. We were a little spoiled with the club level room but after we left the Orchid we went to Maui and stayed at the Fairmont Kea Lani and my husband kept saying the Orchid was so much nicer. However, the Kea Lani is always rated as one of the best hotels in Hawaii.

Forget the Fairmont Orchid. We stayed there last year for our 25th Anniversary in August. The hotel employs disgrunteled employees. Besides the bell hops, the staff was pretty nasty. The room was beat up & it was an oceanview(quite a stretch!). I can attest to a great meal at the Brown Beach House. But, we wouldn't go back.

Hapuna Beach Prince is totally fabulous!
However, you might want to consider Four Seasons Hotel also (but room prices are much higher).
Good luck - aloha.

Fairmount Orchid is Fodor's choice but we didn't like the high winds there and found the food just average - we were so happy to be staying at Hapuna B each Prince Hotel with exquisite dining experiences - even at the poolside.

The 4S is fabulous, but its beach isn't as good as other locations.

We spent the 2nd half of our honeymoon at the Fairmont Orchid and loved it. We enjoyed the grounds, especially the beach... didn't notice any disgruntled employees or problems with staff or the grounds. Our visit was in April 2004.

we stayed at the Fairmont and my brother and his family stayed at the Mauna Lani, so we spent plenty of time at both places. i liked the Fairmont better, however the Mauna Lani has the better spa: lava sauna and Watsu massage were wonderful!