How This Hawaiian Island Is Attracting a New Wellness-Obsessed Jet-Set
With only 330 hotel rooms and more deer than people, this Hawaiian isle has always prided itself on being the anti-Oahu. In fact, Lanai is synonymous with quiet, escape-the-crowds R&R. Now, it’s starting to look a lot more like Maui.
Tech billionaire Larry Ellison, who owns most of the island and its two Four Seasons properties, reportedly spent over $75 million to redevelop the former 3-star Lodge at Koele. In 2019, the charming hotel popular with deer hunters reopened as the Four Seasons Sensei Lanai, a world-class wellness resort, complete with 24 acres of lush tropical gardens and programs designed to help guests optimize their health.
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But there have been more recent advances, too: Two new Nobu restaurants opened last year and a slate of innovative wellness experiences are now ready to book. But the biggest shift are the people themselves. All of that big-city razzle dazzle is drawing a different set of travelers.
“I have heard guests refer to us as what Honolulu was 50 years ago . . . a more authentic Hawaiian community,” said David Emig, the general manager at Sensei Lanai. But regarding the evolution of the isle he adds: “Now, there are more ways to experience Lanai.”
A re-focus on wellness seekers is central to the island’s rebrand. Guests checking into Sensei meet with a guide to assess their body’s needs and develop a plan of action for their stay. That could include recommendations for specific fitness classes, meditation, and bodywork, or a nutrition plan to help guests meet their goals. Those not seeking this level of wellness rigor focus on targeted relaxation, like the spa’s thermal body mapping that helps practitioners tailor massages, such as Hawaii’s traditional Lomi Lomi, to each body’s needs. These treatments are held in Sensei’s 10 Japanese-style teak hales with infrared saunas, oversized tubs, and private plunge pools, including two designed to accommodate floating aquatic body treatments.
Sensei operates just 20 minutes away from Ellison’s beach resort, Four Seasons Resort Lanai, but its customer is more representative of the island’s new direction. Sensei is adults-only and only its guests can schedule spa treatments at the resort or attend its more robust schedule of classes. It’s also about half the price of the more family-oriented beach resort—averaging $1,000 per room night.
Both resorts now feature Nobu restaurants with the restaurant’s signature miso cod and sushi omakase as well as greens from Sensei’s hydroponic farm. The beach resort also hosts a Malibu Farm restaurant overlooking the beach and lagoon pools that delivers to the tables, as well as lounge chairs on the sand.
But not all of the changes are for the White Lotus set. One of the island’s two golf courses was recently transformed into a new family-friendly Adventure Park with zip-lining and an aerial ropes course. There are also still stables and trail rides, archery, clay shooting, snorkeling, guided hikes, fishing, sunset sails, and e-bikes. And golfers have a Jack Nicklaus–designed golf course with ocean views at each hole.
The beach resort also has new offerings for guests, including an observatory where guests can take advantage of Lanai’s dark sky to gaze up at the moon and stars and learn more about ancestral wayfinding. An outdoor amphitheater was also completed last year, for concerts, traditional entertainment, and other events.
However, even with these changes, Lanai still isn’t Saint-Tropez in the summer (or Maui, for that matter). There’s no nightlife to speak of, other than the resort bar and happy hour at the Lanai City Bar & Grill (located at the one other hotel on the island). Shopping on the island is virtually nonexistent. For now, that’s keeping the loudest element of the jet set at bay.
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