Sensei Lanai, A Four Seasons Resort

I can not say enough about the facilities beauty, the yoga instructor Daniel Richardson was exceptional, everyone addressed us by our names, them most gorgeous and service oriented place we've ever stayed and that includes St. Bart which I thought was top notch. This exceeded all our expectations. We'll be going back every 4 months for R&R and we live in Oahu which has nothing like the Sensei.

ok..come on. this magical destination will blow your mind. it's physically gorgeous, landscaped with exotic bromeliads, palms, ferns and a couple of banyan trees that appear to be right out of an Avatar movie. This is our second, albeit certainly not our last, visit in a couple of years. We happened to stay in our favorite room, in front of the mother tree, where the raucous myna birds thrive in the morning and at dusk. There are activities galore, a well equipped gym, great five mile hike to the top of the ridge behind the hotel, beautiful hales where staff cosset you with massages, and an entire staff that will impress you with their smiles and seemingly telepathic ability to recall your name. The food is fresh and appetizing (great fries), the dining "hall" is beautifully lit, and the bar staff (shout out to Ada and Helen) will engage you as they scare up any concoction you desire. Every detail, finish, color, and texture is seemingly out of my aesthetic playbook, in whites and creams. World class art is everywhere on property and its a great place to hit "pause", especially if you take advantage of the shuttle to town and down to the beach (where you can also indulge in the services at the Four Seasons there). We loved meeting the birds beach side, where Bruno, the bird man, has been lovingly caring for them for years. We didn't try horseback riding or a jeep rental or the challenge course, but maybe next time. Go.

The SUPERB retreat hotel you could ever visit. Amazing. I can’t describe how amazing and relaxing was my stay at this hotel. I will definitely visit it again. From the way you get to the island, the way they received me, the room, food, THE ONSENS, the yoga, sun bathing… EVRYTHING!!!!!!!

The grounds and spa areas were stunningly beautiful! However, my spa services were just ok. I had 3 massages while we stayed there and only one was great. One was probably the worst massage I have ever had so you can imagine how disappointed I was considering it was the most expensive massage I’ve ever had. And if you want a ride to the beach, it cost $200 there and another $200 to get back! The air conditioning never worked in our room so sleeping was difficult. The food at Nobu was incredibly delicious! Overall, it was a neat place to see, but I’d never want to come back.

Beautiful 4 Seasons in a wonderful spot, but triple check your activities and spa appointment schedule in advance. Our activities were missing and/or on wrong days. It doesn’t help that they hand you multiple agendas from different systems that never seem to match. No mgmt seemed to ever be on the premises. Nice stay but a few adjustments and a present GM would make a 3 star experience a 4 star one.

Incredible place. Grounds with the art and onsens are unbelievably nice. Restaurants are very good - wish there were a few more items on the menu but 140 and Sensei at the beach have full menus. BTW - beach is awesome, make sure you spend one day there - not crowded, sandy bottom, excellent. Only real complaint about Sensei was the gym - it was a very nice gym but none of the Peloton bikes worked properly. There were 4 - one had a bad touchscreen, 2 had no measurement of cadence or FTP and one was incredibly mis calculated. Weird because I've never had probs with Pelotons elsewhere and 4S is usually just perfect.

Went with girlfriends for a long-needed getaway and celebration. Enough has been said about the gloriousness of this resort in other reviews so I'll focus this on what I wish I'd known before going: Pre-book all 'included' classes and experiences. Despite multiple conversations with more than one Sensei pre-arrival specialist, we were never informed that Sensei's many 'included' activities had to be booked in advance. We had the spa appointments, private sessions and guide sessions included in our packages pre-booked, but not the additional activities like yoga, meditation, and other classes. We assumed those were drop in. So after a difficult time getting to the island we arrived late at night, checked in, were given one of our itineraries (not all of us got the right ones) and went to bed. Early the next morning we excitedly went to aerial yoga class, our first experience at the resort. The instructor informed us that we were not registered (we had no idea we had to register), but it wasn't a problem because there were enough spots left for all of us! Yay! We got started in the class but five minutes in, two gentlemen showed up and insisted that because they had just booked the class they should be accommodated. So we were told we two of us had to leave! It was embarrassing and awkward, which was a shame at our very first class. So learn from our misfortune, take a look at ALL the activities you're interested (listed on the site), and ask your pre-arrival specialist to book them for you. If you change your mind or want to book after you arrive you have to do it in person at the Sensei desk. This can be time consuming and it would benefit everyone all if there were some way to sign up and cancel without having to do so in person. The systems used by Sensei specialists seem cumbersome, in need of upgrades and difficult to shift experiences around, especially for multiple people at once. You may need to wait and have a bit of patience, so book in advance if you can. You might not get to Lana'i when you plan to! We arrived in Lana'i 32 hours later than we'd planned because of bad weather on the island. All flights were cancelled the day were were scheduled and ferries were cancelled for almost two days. We were flying Mokolele from Maui, which was unfortunate, because we couldn't rebook on their earliest next flight. The only way we could have arrived sooner (and only maybe a half day sooner) would be to arrange a private helicopter which was very pricey. If possible, take the Lana'i Air flights from Oahu and know things may not go as planned. The location of the airport in Lana'i seems to be prone to fog and flight disruptions. If you have a tight schedule and experience a travel disruption, all activities and appointments will have to change, as other travellers will have to be accommodated and staff may not have made it back to the island. So don't get TOO attached to your schedule. Fortunately the Four Seasons was extremely understanding and

Catching up on some reviews - this is from our March 2023 stay at Four Seasons Lanai Sensei. This was our first time at this property and would certainly return. It is exceptionally unique. Billed as a ‘wellness’ resort, we viewed it as a calmness retreat. Unlike other higher end Hawaiian resorts, this property is NOT on the water - its tucked in the middle of the Island (although guests have access to the Four Seasons beachside resort). There a a multitude of one-on-one ‘experiences’ to be had (many included) - and while I was skeptical, I found many enjoyable. (My wife had a better success ratio.). In addition to ‘calming’ activities, they offered trap shooting and horseback riding - and other activities. So you can blow away some clays after meditation! The grounds are lush and unique. Despite it’s size, we rarely saw other guests. Even the pool felt like it was reserved just for us. We had a mid-level room and it was spectacular. Comfortably elegant. Very Four Seasons. While the hotel offered transportation, we opted to rent a car from the local rent-a-car (a Tesla 3) which was very reasonable and used to explore the main drag (all two blocks), other parts of the Island and used to shuttle ourselves back and forth to the beach side resort for meals or when we wanted a ocean view. If you are looking for the traditional ‘sit on the beach’ Hawaii experience, this is not your place. But this is a spectacular experience.

Best resort experience from start to finish. Beautiful grounds, great services, amazing location, absolutely worth the expense. I’m going back and could not recommend it enough. This isn’t a typical Hawaiian beach resort, so make sure your trip goals align with what the hotel offers in terms of wellness, health, fitness, and spa services, quiet beautiful grounds for peaceful walking meditation for example. Adults only. However if you do want to mix in some beach vibes you can take the hourly shuttle down to the four seasons beach resort and use the facilities there as well…so you don’t need to compromise!