Review: Fairmont Kea Lani

Anyone will find hotels and resorts elsewhere disappointing if you've stayed few in Asia.

Great review Tiffany!
That is one of the best made beds, the Housekeepers knows her hospital corners. Did the yellow covers stay on the coffee the entire time or was that just prior to them being in use?
Love seeing more posts from you, so please keep them coming!

Stayed there last year. Way better option for families than the points hype to stay at the overrated Andaz. Highly recommend and you get free parking. Suites are huge with amazing sea views and LeLabo amenities in thr bathroom. BTW, there is a fantastic hidden beach next to the Fairmont that only locals know how to get called Palauea beach. It is simply breathtaking.

Nice review. You covered it all, except Nicks. Did you meet Jason the bartender?
Great guy

The absolute saddest bit of the entire story: "At this point in the trip we could already tell that we’d be spending an unfortunate amount of time in the room (we both had work complications),".

It's harder to enjoy a vacation when the job follows you there.

🙁

Hands down; my favorite resort; if it wasn't 6,000 miles from home, I'd go once a year.
If you're looking to relax, this place is sublime; if you can't chill here..........................................
Only thing missing is Mama's Fish House; a half hour drive, but worth it. Best restaurant in Hawaii!

The wife and I signed up for the fairmont credit card each getting two free nights here last winter. Very relaxing vacation especially when it's free. You also get a room upgrade so we had a partial ocean view and the mountains. Great review of the hotel. You can also get free mountain bikes to ride to the nice park at the end of the road the hotel is on. Very peaceful and pretty bike ride along the ocean.

We have stayed a few times with our son. We liked the sleeper sofa. I thought the beds were very comfortable. Sometimes we mix it up and stay here a few and then Grand Wailea. Of course our son likes the pools at Grand Wailea better! But the Fairmont would be nicer without kids. Their breakfast a la cart is very good. They also have a small café with the best red velvet cake. We have even ordered food to go from the café and enjoyed it back in our room on the lanai. Our favorite rooms are on the side where you have a huge grass area off lanai!

Nick's Fish Market has to be one of best seafood reataurants ever..too bad you didn't try it.

Nice review, I just stayed at the Grand Wailea for Labor Day weekend and was curious about the other options around. We ventured onto the Four Seasons next door and we were absolutely blown away compared to the Grand Wailea. TBH while the suites at the Fairmont are nice, I think the Grand Wailea looks more impressive with nicer pools although it is a HUGE and busy property (not for everyone).

Not sure why people are bashing the Andaz. Just stayed there last month and had a great time - from the check in person to valet and waiters, and the pool and beach staff. I read reviews saying condescending service was an issue but did not find that to be the case at all. I find the Fairmont and Grand Wailea to be way too crowded just b/c of the property size. Andaz I would go back in a heartbeat.

Since there are inevitable comparisons to the Andaz, I've stayed at both >3 times each in the past few years and my thoughts are:

The Andaz is much more slick and hip looking with modern design and the property is much more compact than the sprawling Fairmont (and Four Seasons). The Japanese-inspired long gated entryway and the terraced pools are stunning, especially at night. Also, the cocktails and restaurants again are more "modern" vs. Kea Lani.

But I liked the Fairmont Kea Lani a lot. It's definitely the best value in the area for a suite since it is priced closer to entry-level rooms at the Andaz. The bathrooms in particular are way more spacious than the Andaz's similarly-priced rooms. I also think the service was a tad better at the Fairmont. The Fairmont room decor is "dated nice" but it has no "wow" factor. That being said, some of the slick modern design elements in the Andaz are impractical IMO: flat sinks where sand won't wash down, people dragging heavy in room chairs across loud stone, very low beds, showers that splash water everywhere, heavy light control automation sometimes making it hard to figure out how to turn off one specific light without killing all power, etc. i.e. pretty looking but at some cost.

All things considered, I tend to stay at the Andaz because I prefer the food and drink options on property and it caters to a younger crowd. Morimoto in particular is my favorite restaurant in the strip of hotels in Wailea. It's hard to go wrong in that area in general because Wailea is awesome!

I've stayed at the property a few times now and love it.

My only complaint is that I have always thought the coffee is TERRIBLE - weak and watery (which is a shame for Hawaii). I end up driving to the Marriott for Starbucks or the mall for CB&TL for a stronger kick.

Stayed at this Fairmont in 2012. On the night of my departure, a tsunami warning shut down the airport and all flights were canceled. I spent the night on the phone in the lobby calling United to get my flights changed. When the hotel staff saw me, they offered to give me a room for the night, for free. (I assume they had empty rooms because people who were scheduled to arrive couldn't.) For this gesture, I give them an A+. Was very impressed.

@dh I have to agree on the automated light switch issue but all the other ones did not seem to bother me too much. The breakfast buffet at Ka'ana was probably one of the better spreads I've had besides hotels in Asia.

You mentioned the reasonable rate a few times, but it's not listed anywhere. What do you consider reasonable?

@ patrick -- Yeah, housekeeping was amazing. The photo shows the coffee station "in use," so the covers stayed on.

@ bluecat -- I know, but couldn't be avoided in this case. I actually don't mind working from wherever, and generally find ways to do it where it doesn't impede anyone else's vacation, but husband had critical planning meetings with East Coast colleagues that got pushed back, so there was no way to avoid it.

@ Carl -- Stay tuned! 😉

@ Donald -- All the costs for the trip are in the intro post: https://onemileatatime.com/brief-aloha-trip-report/

I haven't stayed there but during a trip in 2012 we hit the beach there. I love that each beach has some sort of parking and access, even if parking is only a few spots. We drove down from Kapalua to check out Wailea and found a parking spot. The Fairmont grounds were beautiful and the beach was great...and quiet. After seeing that I was really tempted by the Fairmont CCs with the free nights but didn't have firm plans to return anytime soon. But I'd certainly stay there over some of the other hotels in the area.

We love the Fairmont and have stayed there every year for the last three years. Sadly the free room benefits of the Fairmont credit card are gone- the card was just terminated by Chase. The service there is second to none starting at the top with the hotel manager Gary Sutton. The food at Ko is first class and the breakfast buffet is fantastic. We found great happy hour specials at Ko and Nicks. The adults only pool is one of the nicest,most serene pools I have ever been to. Strongly recommend this property.

@Tiffany - I stayed at the Marriott in Wailea a few years ago and the wind in the afternoons was unbelievable. It made being outside uncomfortable. Did you find that to be the case?

We've stayed at the Kea Lani twice since last December. First time was in a three-bedroom oceanfront villa when the accessible two-bedroom villa was not available. Kea Lani engineering built temporary ramps to the patio and inside the villa so that my father's powered wheelchair could access the villa! Hospitality and housekeeping were amazing, from the fully stocked refrigerator and the welcome layout of fresh flowers, fruits and a bottle of Ocean vodka. Once housekeeping realized that we enjoy strong coffee, the Nespresso coffee maker was never without ample pods; they brought a box of 50 pods to the villa and it was never diminished. Two of our chef friends came over from the big island to cook for us and we had an amazing dinner in the villa. Chef Pang at the Ko was kind enough to let our chefs keep their preps in the Ko kitchen. One interesting note was when our chefs discovered that the villa has an induction stove and that their cookware wouldn't work. Not to worry, the villa's kitchen comes stocked with a full complement of Le Creuset cookware but there was only one skillet! The fun started when Chef started to braise the foie gras and set off the villa's smoke alarms...we had to call the front desk and tell them not to roll the fire department and for us to open the doors to the villa to vent the smoke. Boy did the villa smell good!

As others have posted the Ko restaurant and Nick's Fishmarket are fantastic and we highly recommend them! The daily brunch was included in our villa reservations and we enjoyed both the dining fare and the staff's hospitality each morning.

Our second stay was in the two-bedroom accessible ocean view villa and it was just as comfortable and accommodating as the three-bedroom villa. Again housekeeping was immaculate and our stay was perfect.

In both stays we enjoyed the Willow Stream Spa. My father had a daily individual aqua-therapy in the adult pool and both my parents enjoyed a couples massage (as did I) in the Spa. The whirlpool was great as were the hot steam and cold mist rooms to intermix with the dry heat sauna. I experienced a "Vichy" shower massage and my friend had the "WaveMotion" table massage which she said was amazing.

We have stayed at other properties on the island and find that the Kea Lani is our favorite for just relaxing and being pampered.

Love and miss the Kea Lani. Just more peaceful than the surrounding resorts (esp the 4S).

Rooms are great for family of three. On bucket list is to stay in one of the villas. But when room rate is $500/nt and north, probably not going to happen.

Love Fairmont and happy to hear about another property especially one with suites (we have a young child and that is an amazing bonus!). We have stayed in the Fairmont Orchid on the big island (near Kona) and loved it. Nice to see another option that is equally gorgeous! The service at every Fairmont is impeccable and has made our stays from Hawaii, to Mexico, to Kenya a delight.