|
TheBuzz
Erika Engle
|
FOUR SEASONS HOTELS AND RESORTS
Four Seasons Resort Lanai, the Lodge at Koele, was ranked the 15th-best hotel in the world and the best in Hawaii, according to Travel + Leisure magazine.
|
|
Four Seasons Lanai among the best
The recently renovated
Four Seasons Resort Lanai, the Lodge at Koele, is the 15th-best hotel in the world and the best in Hawaii, according to readers of
Travel + Leisure magazine. It is the latest in a string of accolades for the resort.
There are some upsets in the magazine's annual reader survey, conducted during the first quarter of each year to compile rankings of hotels, islands, cities, cruise lines, airlines tour operators and more.
Were the Honolulu Star-Bulletin a tabloid, we might use a headline including the word "shocker!" in reporting that an interloper has disrupted the perennial duel for No. 1 between Bali and Maui. The Galapagos Islands have leapt to No. 1 from No. 8 last year. Some of us might not even know about the Galapagos, were it not for those Jacques Cousteau TV specials so many years ago.
"Slight shifts in scores can mean big shifts in rankings," said Elizabeth Marsh, a magazine publicist.
Travelers who vote are adding hotels and other choices to their itineraries "that they haven't experienced or voted on in the past," she said.
That means a listee could pop up out of nowhere into a lofty top ranking or fall off the list completely.
Because Hawaii is a destination and region unto itself, it gets its own lists in some of T+L's categories.
The Top 5 Hawaiian Islands are Maui, Kauai, Hawaii, Lanai and Oahu.
We also get our own Top 25 hotels list, but T+L readers have ranked the top six on that list as among the best 100 in the world.
In addition to the Lodge at Koele, the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea is No. 26, the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai is tied for No. 27 with a Canadian resort; Halekulani is at No. 44; No. 68 is the Hotel Hana-Maui & Honua Spa; and the Fairmont Kea Lani on Maui is No. 85, in a tie with another Canadian resort.
The Hotel Hana-Maui was not on last year's Top 100 or Top 25 Hawaii Hotels lists.
Though it has been closed since the October 2006 earthquake, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel came in at No. 15 on the Hawaii-only ranking.
The global list of the Top 20 Hotel Spas include two in Hawaii -- the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa on Maui at No. 11 and at No. 16, the Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea.
Hawaiian Airlines is No. 5 among the Top 10 domestic airlines, though it dipped from No. 3 last year.
T+L's 2008 World's Best winners will be honored at an awards luncheon and a gala evening event in New York City on July 24.
Top Hotels in Hawaii
Top 10 hotels according to Travel + Leisure's World's Best list. The number in parenthesis is the resort's 2007 ranking.
| 2008 |
|
|
WORLD |
| RANK |
NAME |
SCORE |
RANKING |
|
| 1. (4) |
Four Seasons Resort Lanai,
The Lodge at Koele |
91.88 |
15 |
| 2. (3) |
Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea |
90.64 |
26 |
| 3. (1) |
Four Seasons Resort Hualalai,
Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii |
90.63 |
27 |
| 4. (2) |
Halekulani, Honolulu |
89.45 |
44 (tie) |
| 5. (*) |
Hotel Hana-Maui & Honua Spa,
Hana, Hawaii |
88.40 |
68 |
| 6. (6) |
Fairmont Kea Lani, Wailea, Maui |
87.72 |
85 (tie) |
| 7. (5) |
Four Seasons Resort Lanai
at Manele Bay |
86.85 |
NR |
| 8. (7) |
Mauna Lani Bay Resort, Hawaii |
85.54 |
NR |
| 9. (10) |
Grand Hyatt Kauai Resort & Spa |
84.60 |
NR |
| 10. (15) |
Fairmont Orchid, Hawaii |
83.86 |
NR |
* The property was not ranked on last year's list.
NR No world ranking.
Top 10 islands overall
| 2008 RANK |
2007 RANK |
NAME |
|
SCORE |
|
| 1 |
8 |
Galapagos Islands |
87.64 |
| 2 |
1 |
Bali |
86.32 |
| 3 |
2 |
Maui |
86.09 |
| 4 |
3 |
Kauai |
85.87 |
| 5 |
* |
Tasmania |
85.00 |
| 6 |
* |
Easter Island, Chile |
84.78 |
| 7 |
9 |
Hawaii |
84.66 |
| 8 |
* |
Santorini, Greece |
84.52 |
| 9 |
10 |
Great Barrier Reef Islands |
84.42 |
| 10 |
* |
Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia |
83.82 |
While not among the Top 10, Lanai was named the fourth-best of five Hawaiian islands with 81.98 points and Oahu scored fifth with 81.62 points. The two islands swapped places from last year's ranking.
Hawaiian Airlines was ranked No. 5 among the Top 10 Domestic Airlines, down from No. 3 last year.
Source: Travel + Leisure magazine's 2008 World's Best reader survey (www.travelandleisure.com/worldsbest)
|
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com
