Six Maui Resorts Strike Gold in Condè Nast Survey

Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea, Maui. Photo courtesy of Fairmont Hotels & Resorts.

By Wendy Osher

Six Maui resorts earned honors in the 2014 Gold List annual reader’s survey conducted by Condé Nast Traveler magazine.

Maui properties recognized this year include:

• Four Seasons Lāna’i, The Lodge at Kōʻele (95.3% – Platinum Circle);
• Four Seasons Maui at Wailea (94.8% – Platinum Circle);
• Four Seasons Lāna’i at Mānele Bay (94.7% – Platinum Circle);
• Fairmont Kea Lani, Maui (90.4% – Platinum Circle);
• Honua Kai Resort & Spa, Maui (90.2%); and the
• Wailea Beach Villas, Maui (90.0%).

Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, photo by Wendy Osher.

Four of those resorts also earned Platinum Circle recognition which recognizes consistency in excellence for properties which make the Gold List five years in a row.

All of the properties scored over 90% based on criteria that included location, activities, service and guestrooms.

On Maui, The Fairmont Kea Lani in Wailea underwent three years of resort improvements including complete renovation of the Kō restaurant in 2012, and the new 9,000-square-foot Willow Stream Spa, which opens today, Dec. 23.

The Gold List features more than 500 hotels, resorts and cruise lines from around the world, including 13 resort properties in the Hawaiian islands.

Other Hawaiʻi properties that earned Gold List honors were:

• Four Seasons Hualālai at Historic Ka’ūpūlehu, Hawaiʻi Island (95.4% – Platinum Circle);
• Trump International Hotel Waikīkī Beach Walk (93.1%);
• St. Regis Princeville, Kauaʻi (91.6%);
• Halekulani, Waikīkī (91.6% – Platinum Circle);
• Grand Hyatt Kauaʻi Resort and Spa (91.1% – Platinum Circle);
• Fairmont Orchid, Hawaiʻi Island (90.5% – Platinum Circle); and
• Koa Kea Hotel & Resort, Kauaʻi (90.4%).