My wife and I spent one week of our honeymoon at the Four Seasons Hualalai, and it was integral to our Hawaiian experience. It's expensive, uncommonly expensive for us, but for our honeymoon we decided to splurge, and in all our memories are overwhelmingly positive.

Service
From the moment we arrived, the service was disarmingly attentive. When we arrived, our bags were whisked away by a man in a little electric cart, and we were given moist towels and fruit juice with which to freshen up. We were early, and our room was not quite ready, so they gave us a cell phone and suggested we explore. We decided to have lunch at a casual place in the resort, and during coffee the phone rang: our room was ready. A little electric car arrived and, after a more thorough tour of "the property," we arrived at our room. Superb.

And they maintained this level of comfort and graciousness. At nearly every point of contact with the staff, we were greeted by name. The little cars, we learned, were for available to us any time. Just call the concierge, and they'll send a driver to take you anywhere on the grounds you want to go. It's not a very large resort, though, so we opted to walk, except when we had luggage. And did I mention that the drivers wave and greet you with a smile EVERY time they pass by? As a Brooklynite it's almost too much for me to comprehend.

Other niceties: my wife found a bookmark in the TV Guide in our room and discovered that it magically moves to the proper spot each day. And when we booked a snorkeling tour with the concierge, we found a handwritten confirmation note in our room later that day.

Rooms
The resort consists of clusters of two-story bungalows arrayed around various small pools and floral outcroppings. Some face the golf course. We had read that the ground-floor rooms include an outdoor shower, so we chose one of those. The shower is indeed fabulous... there's a regular glass-enclosed indoor shower and a tub, but there's also a door from the indoor shower to an outdoor area surrounded by a lava-rock wall, with a bamboo roof and a small tree. We used this shower almost exclusively - why not? Occasionally a gecko would appear, perched on the broad leaf of the tree in the shower. We found this charming, although some people might freak out.

The room itself was well appointed, with three phones, a king size bed with excellent pillows, a large closet, and all of the expected amenities - fridge, coffee maker, etc.

My only complaint about the rooms is that there can be somewhat of a lack of privacy. Facing out past the lanai to the beach, you are in full view of everyone there, and of those using the small pools in between. There are large shutters which give total privacy when you want it, but of course in Hawaii the idea is to bring the outside inside. Craftier architecture and landscaping would have come closer to accomplishing these opposing goals.

Restaurants and Activities
Some time has passed since our honeymoon, so we don't remember the names of all of the restaurants, but I can say that all in all we were very pleased with the food and the level of service. Breakfast in particular is a pleasure, outdoors on a cool morning with a little mini "TimesFax" newspaper (they don't get national papers there, it seems). Room service is very pleasant but astoundingly expensive (we paid $90 for lunch).

We had planned to book a snorkeling trip with Fair Wind, a well-known outfit, but at the last second we ended up going with the "in house" snorkeling boat shared by the Four Seasons and the neighboring Kona Village Resort. Best decision we made the whole trip. This boat had just 10 passengers (vs. several dozen with Fair Wind) and the friendliest crew you can imagine. Totally relaxing, although we could have used some motion sickness pills.

My wife loved the spa, and it is said to be one of the best in the country. I am a modest sort, and I don't understand why I have to get completely naked to have a neck massage, so I was less into it. Still, the environment is lovely, with quiet thatched huts arrayed around a central building. At night, having a massage in the hut, caressed by a gentle breeze, I almost forgot how unnecessarily naked I was.

There's much to do beyond the resort, of course, and the concierge has their own activity planning guides, with driving directions and helpful info. The resort itself is in the middle of nowhere, really, carved out of a sea of black lava on the Kona coast. So when you want to actually go out and DO something, you've got to drive at least 30 minutes. Get a convertible, find a station that plays that authentic Hawaiian music, and you'll enjoy the drive much more (oh, back at the hotel the concierge lends CDs which you can play in your room, and again, the Hawaiian ones are just fantastic).

Recommended: Yes