Lanai Vacation Packages
The first thing you need to know about Lanai is that it is a privately owned Island. Lanai Vacation Packages are going to be available for the only two resort hotels that are on the island. Both hotels are Four Season hotels and they are establishments of quality. In 1990 Lanai was sold and it moved from being an agricultural island specializing in growing pineapple to complete tourist paradise.
Koele Lodge was the first to open and the following year the Manele Bay Hotel opened and the rest is history. Koele Lodge is located on a former pineapple plantation and the Lodge itself is built to resemble a European hunting lodge. The lodge has 102 rooms available and the rooms here run about $300 per night. The Manele Bay Hotel has the look of a Mediterranean luxury resort, has 236-rooms, and these rooms average $395 minimum per night.
Shortly after the island switched from pineapple fields to a tourist resort, Bill Gates rented the whole island, both hotels included, for his wedding to Melinda. I wonder what kind of package he was able to get. I went to a site called Travel Advisor. The top-ranking offer for Lanai was with Expedia. I knew that I would not be able to get any reservations until next year because there are so few suites available on the island.
The Expedia calendar will not move forward any further than 12 months so I tried to put in a date for a room in April 2008. Of course there were no rooms available at this time. I am guessing that it would be very difficult to get a room on this island and it seems that these hotels are for those the rich and famous. You may need to call and request assistance from the online service because the online calendar does not move up any farther than a year.
I called Funjet vacations online and I received a rate quote for a room at the Koele Lodge. There is a 2-night minimum for a Garden Deluxe (their most reasonable room) and that cost would be $788.00. I am guessing that the Four Seasons located on Manele Bay, which is the only other hotel on the island, would be about $1,000. It seems that lodging inland is about 25% less that lodging on the ocean.
I have been really impressed with Hawaiian Airlines and decided that I should check with them on a Lanai vacation package. I did not want to use the online process and need to talk to someone there. I discovered that the "contact us" page had no phone number to call. I was disappointed in this.
Most flights into the islands come through Honolulu International Airport and if you have reservations on more than one island you need to arrange inter-island transport. This may or may not be included in your package so inquire. There is also the option of taking the ferry and this is sometimes more fun.
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