Big changes are coming to little Lanai. Yes, the Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay is likely to close midyear to finish renovations. And, yes, the Four Seasons Resort Lanai, The Lodge at Koele won’t be taking bookings most of this year because it will be housing construction workers.
But Lanai wants travelers to know it’s not completely shuttered; in fact, it has new activities, programs and facilities to prove it.
Two-wheeled fun
Jeremiah and Emily Littlepage, owners of Lanai Cycles, welcome visitors on a three-hour biking adventure that starts at the top of Keomuku Highway, about 2,000 feet above sea level, and coasts down the east side of the island, revealing spectacular views of Maui and Molokai along the way.
After a van ride to a scenic point overlooking Lanai City, participants cruise along pine tree-lined roads into town where they can shop, eat lunch and visit the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center. Then it’s time to cycle past fields where pineapples once grew before finishing the ride at Kaumalapau Harbor.
Ask about multiday discounts and private half- and full-day tours.
It’s showtime!
Dedicated on Jan. 31, 1926, Lanai Theater was part of James Dole’s vision to create a close-knit community where he had established Hawaiian Pineapple Co. (HAPCo), which produced more than 75 percent of the world’s supply of the golden fruit from 1923 to 1992. Silent movies with English subtitles were initially shown, with HAPCo employee Kuraji Ikeoka sometimes playing accompanying violin music.
A mid-1930s remodeling project added dormers, gables, hipped rooflines and an arched entryway to the building. In 1993, it was divided into two theaters, and it remained Lanai’s primary venue for movies and live performances until its closure around 2000.
Renovations of the Lanai City landmark, now known as Hale Keaka (Hawaiian for "theater"), were completed late last year. Each theater is ADA compliant with 93 seats, a state-of-the-art sound system and a digital projector that can run 3-D movies.
In the works are plans for the Lanai Documentary Film Festival, tentatively set to debut in 2016. This annual event will screen short and feature-length documentaries focused on three themes: people, animals and the environment.
Glimpses of the past
In the early to mid-1800s, a thousand people were tending some 100 taro patches in Maunalei Valley on the east side of Lanai. By the turn of the last century, most of those patches were gone; goats and sheep had stripped the area of vegetation, resulting in landslides that filled the fields and reduced the water supply needed to cultivate them.
Pulama Lanai, the company formed to "develop, advance and nurture (the island’s) sustainable future," has partnered with the Lanai Culture & Heritage Center, Native Hawaiian families on Lanai and others with a strong background in ecology, geology, anthropology, resource management and Hawaiian culture and history to bring Maunalei back to the vibrant, productive community it once was.
By summer 2016, taro, breadfruit, sweet potatoes and other crops will be growing at the Maunalei Valley Living History Center. Stands of maile, mamaki, palapalai and other native plants will be flourishing nearby, and a restored fishpond will be filled with moi and mullet that visitors can harvest for their dinner. The pump house and caretaker’s residence that HAPCo built in 1924 will be transformed into a gathering place where visitors can learn about Hawaiian values, language and traditional practices such as poi pounding, tapa making and lei making.
Saving the forest
Named after the Hawaiian god of creation and light, 590-acre Kanepuu (Kane’s hill) Preserve was established in 1991 when The Nature Conservancy of Hawaii obtained a conservation easement to protect and restore this last major remnant of dryland forest on Lanai. The primary threats to the native vegetation there have been wildfire, cattle, axis deer, mouflon sheep and invasive plants.
Between sunrise and sunset daily, visitors can walk a short self-guided loop trail bordered by plants important to the Hawaiians for medicine, adornments, religious ceremonies and other uses in ancient times. Signs identify each plant along the path, including the nau (Gardenia brighamii), one of four endangered species making their last stand in this dry windswept area. Views from the trail encompass West Maui, eastern and northern Molokai, and, on a clear day, Mount Kaala in Oahu’s Waianae Mountain Range.
The Kanepuu-Keahiakawelo region is one of 11 significant sites in the new Lanai History and Trails GPS app, which can be downloaded free of charge by February. The app will provide directions to the sites as well as their history, geology and other pertinent information.
Luxury redefined
The Four Seasons Resort Lanai at Manele Bay is raising the standards for luxury as it undergoes a multimillion-dollar renovation. Rooms in the West Wing have been beautifully redesigned with custom furnishings and wall coverings, and the rich tones and textures of wood, stone, leather and other natural materials.
Tech-savvy guests will appreciate the RFID (radio-frequency identification) wristband that unlocks their room’s door; the 75-inch platinum bezel LED television; the bathroom’s in-mirror TV; and wall panel controls that adjust lighting, temperature and window shades to their liking. Identical East Wing renovations will start in a few weeks.
Striking Polynesian, Micronesian and Hawaiian art pieces are everywhere; in the lower lobby, some date back to the 19th century. New at Nobu Lanai are an open-air lounge, sushi bar and teppanyaki stations, and aptly named Views, the Manele Golf Course’s new clubhouse restaurant, is notable for its ocean vistas (binoculars are provided for whale watching this time of year).
All 11 treatment rooms at the Spa at Manele Bay have been refurbished, and guests are enjoying an enhanced menu offering new treatments such as the Makakii Kalo/Taro Honey Mask and meditation, private life coaching and other wellness services.
Thanks to the Rescue Bird Program implemented in partnership with the Peninsula Humane Society (www. peninsulahumanesociety. org), the resort is home to a blue-fronted Amazon parrot, an umbrella cockatoo and a greater sulphur-crested cockatoo. Tuesday through Saturday, aviarist Bruno Amby visits the pool, beach and children’s club with a feathered friend on his arm. Conversations begin with the birds and lead to stories about Hawaiian history and culture and a lesson on how to weave a bird from coconut leaves. Amby sums up his job in two words: sharing aloha.
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
