Kea Lani vs. Four Seasons
 

Just found out about the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui from my travel agent. Am seriously considering this for my honeymoon now. Anyone who has been there- I would like to know your experience. How does it compare to Four Seasons?<BR>Thank You,<BR>Aaron

Do a text search regarding these choices. The topic has been discussed lots of times = ) Enjoy!

Aaron,<BR><BR>I am sitting right now in my room at the Four Seasons (sad that I'm on the computer), and have just finished an early morning walk from my room to the Kea lani. The 4S may be more expensive slightly, but it is leaps and bounds ahead in class, splendor and opulence. My travel agent tried desperately to make me choose the Kea Lani too, but I'm glad I stuck to the 4S. This is one of the greatest resorts you will ever see -- it's about attitude, friendliness and respect. When we arrived, we were treated like royalty, and we're just a family of regular folks, I thought I owned the place by the way they treated me. Stay here, you will never regret it. I'm heading downstairs now to sit in a cabana and let them spritz me with evian water.

My wife and I went on our honeymoon to KeaLani. I chose Kea Lani over the Four Seasons because of the rooms. I'll take a nice big suite over a nicer room and Spritzing anyday. I picked one of the Kilohana Suites which are end units (nobody can look in) with large ( I mean HUGE) wrap around balconies. The suite itself is about 1000 square feet and has just about everything-it's extremely nice. The Four Seasons is nicer and more opulent but the Kea Lani is no slouch- better than your nicest Hyatts but not quite Four Seasons. Also the Kea Lani has a great deli/bistro (awesome selections) and brick oven pizza place where you can order room service or just take out. This is great because our most romantic meals were spent on the balcony with antipastas, wine, cheese and their great selection of desserts Either way you choose you won't be unhappy. Just another viewpoint.

What is so "opulent" about the Four Seasons? The Grand Wailea is FAR MORE opulent!!

I stayed at the 4 Seasons for my honeymoon. Its paradise. I wouldn't exchange it for the world. The service and staff are well worth the extra dough.<BR><BR>

Rick did not mean "opulent".<BR>The FS Maui is not opulent.<BR>Grand Wailea is opulent (and that is not a good thing in Hawaii IMO. In Hawaii, opulent=Vegas-y and/or cheesy).<BR><BR>FS is understated luxury. It's not like th FS NYC or FS Chicago, where there is plenty of glass and gleam. <BR>The designers of the FS Maui wanted it to fit in more with "Hawaiian attitude". So it's more casual elegance than showy luxury.

My husband and I just returned from our honeymoon. We stayed at the Kea Lani and loved every minute of it. The service is impeccable and the suites are wonderful. As soon as you check in they offer you some cold juice. The bell men are great. They sent us a bottle of champagne for our honeymoon, turned down our beds every night and the maid service was better than I had ever seen at a hotel. We had a Deluxe Ocean View and you can see the ocean from your living room or your bedroom. It was so romantic and beautiful.<BR>We were also deciding between the 4s and the Kea Lani. We chose the Kea Lani due to the rooms and the views. You can't go wrong with the 4s, however, it is a bit older crowd and a bit stuffier. Beautiful hotel, but not as many ocean view rooms. There you get a room at the Kea Lani you get a suite. We met a couple who booked a ocean view room and had only a 45 degree angle of the ocean. They don't have as many ocean view rooms to select from. The pool at the 4s is nice but the kea lani has 1 adult pool and 2 other pools with a swim up bar and a beautiful beach. Both hotels have wonderful restaurants. Our favorite was Nick's at the Kea Lani and a close second was Ferraros at the 4s. <BR>You can't go wrong with either but I do recommend the Kea Lani.<BR>Jen<BR><BR>

Sorry, John, but I definitely DON'T consider the Grand Wailea "Las Vegasy Cheesy" in the slightest!!

People always seem to be happy wherever they stay b/c Hawaii is just beautiful. We stayed at the Kea Lani over the 4 Seasons for our honeymoon and thought we made the right choice. We felt we got a good value with the 5th night free, suite, adult pool, and we even used the slide and the swim-up bar in the main lagoon pools. And my husband played basketball in the lower lagoon pool with some of the kids. The beach was gorgeous and the staff was EXTREMELY helpful without being overbearing. I guess that was it for us - we don't like some places that are known for their "service" b/c we feel like they're on top of us all the time. We wanted our peace and quiet and just have everything at our fingertips.<BR>We visited the 4 Seasons and were glad we hadn't stayed there b/c their pool area was much smaller and much more crowded than ours - and we loved our pool time.<BR>I think they were both beautiful - I just think the Kea Lani was a better value.

If you're into star gazing, you can't beat the Four Seasons. During our 1 week stay, we sat next to Mike Myers (Austin Powers), and he was great with the kids, taking photos and tossing around a few Dr. Evil one liners; the Olsen twins, who acted shy, but they kept on walking through the pool area every 15 minutes -- we have an awesome photo of the two of them posing with my two teenage boys; Oprah, who was pleasant to the fans and talked to my wife for a while, Matt Damon, whom I did not see, and a few NBA stars, David Robinson, Magic Johnson and Kurt Rambis. Also, Wolfgang Puck was there last week to cook at Spago's, and he came out and took photos with the folks he cooked for. I did hear that Michael Jordan stayed next door at the Grand Wialea, but could not confirm. I think the celebs like the 4S because the guests don't stalk them. Unless the stars engage you, they are left alone. Mike Myers actually came up to one of my sons and started talking to him and then walked away before he realized who it was. But you won't see cameras going off at every moment when the stars are by the pool or down on the beach.

I always chuckle at the posts like MMN's.<BR>They appear frequently.<BR>Everyone wants to validate their own decisions by seeing what they want to see.<BR>When you're dating, you try to overlook all the little flaws in a potential spouse.<BR>You don't tend to see your kids' flaws as objectively as others do.<BR><BR>If you choose to stay At Kea Lani or wherever, you certainly don't want to visit someplace else and feel like you missed out. So you only see the things that strengthen your desired perspective.<BR><BR>That's just human nature.<BR>But it doesn't make for the best advice, either.<BR><BR>BTW, I have no conviction about FS or KL. I've stayed at both and admit each has its strengths and weaknesses. I just think it's funny how often &lt;people can't see their own biases&gt;.