The Fairmont Orchid Luxury Resort
A Top Pick for Best Hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii
Jun 17, 2008
A luxury vacation on Hawaii's Big Island is tops at the Fairmont Orchid. Romantic yet child-friendly, the resort is a great fit for family travel and honeymoon getaways.
The Big Island of Hawaii has so much to offer in terms of both adventure and luxury travel, that many people return here for vacations again and again. The best luxury vacations are perfectly found at several upscale resorts along the Kohala Coast (just north of Kona, on the west-northwest side of the island). The Fairmont Orchid is by far one of this section's favorite luxury resorts on the Big Island.
The Best of the Fairmont Orchid on the island of Hawaii
- With 540 rooms and suites, two 18-hole golf courses on resort grounds, a 10-court Tennis Pavillion and more, this is a large luxury resort. However, the layout of the Fairmont Orchid is sprawling rather than vertical, so that there is no imposing "monolith" type of footprint - hence no giant shadow on the beach at 3PM, as seen with other oceanfront hotels. The 32 acres of resort property are impeccably maintained.
- The Fairmont Orchid's "Spa Without Walls" provides for a restful, healing spa visit, both indoors and out. The outdoor jacuzzi is hidden behind some flowering trees, and open 24 hours a day. Ten outdoor huts overlooking waterfalls feature both singles and couples with private, outdoor spaces for massages and other spa treatments. Two of these huts have windows in the floors, with the huts cantilevered over koi ponds. Natural, traditional and local ingredients are integrated into body treatments; no wonder that the Spa Without Walls has been named one of the Top 10 Best Hotel Spas in Hawaii by Travel & Leisure.
- The four resort restaurants and three bars are fun, with many menu options being made from sustainably harvested local fish and produce. The Orchid Court is a popular favorite for buffet breakfasts; there are always the standard bacon-and-eggs fare, but a lot of other buffet choices are rotated ever day. Norio's Japanese Restaurant and Sushi Bar is appropriately authentic (it would have to be, considering that many of the Fairmont Orchid resort guests are from Japan), and Brown's Beach House provides burgers and seafood with a casual Hawaii influence. Children under 5 eat free!
- The staff is genuinely friendly and helpful. This can mean a lot to a weary traveler.
- The oceanfront property has a lot of the black lava rock iconic to the island, but the Fairmont Orchid has a lagoon with soft white sand - imported from Oahu - and very small waves. This makes for a perfectly family-friendly beach, and it's fun to snorkel right off the lagoon. Green sea turtles laze around in the sun here, and while hotel guests take pictures, they mostly leave the big critters alone. Surf lessons, canoes, beach volleyball and snorkeling are popular beach activities for the whole family.
- Guided cultural hikes are available. One such guide, Umi, was particularly knowledgeable about the history of the island, showing how the Fairmont Orchid carefully built around ancient petroglyphs of Hawaii's early Polynesian settlers. Lava tubes, which were the first homes on the Big Island of Hawaii, are also respectfully maintained on this luxury resort.
- The Gathering of Kings is not a luau, and has very little of the fire-twirling corniness thereof. This is instead a major production, with authentic dances from each of the Polynesian islands - Hawaii, Tahiti, etc - and the music won a grammy. The dancers are charismatic, and really seem to be having a great time.
The not-so-great of the Fairmont Orchid on the island of Hawaii
- Those restaurants are great, but massively expensive. Yes, this is a luxury resort, and in as such the price point is about what one might expect. However, it can be aggravating. The Fairmont Orchid supplies free shuttle service to a nearby shopping area, where a grocery store has cheaper basic supplies for the fridge in the hotel room. The shopping area also has a Starbucks and several high-end chain stores.
- The in-room internet access is not free. This is a pretty big gripe at many luxury resorts - if midrange hotels can have free Wifi in the room, why not the high-end resorts? Join the Presidents Club - it's free - and then the internet will be free in the hotel room.
- There are other charges that may make a guest feel nickel-and-dimed, such as parking and the cost of renting a snorkel mask. There used to be a resort fee that covered many of these charges, but guests weren't happy about the resort fee, so the Fairmont Orchid did away with the resort fee and charges for many tasks and items individually instead.
The Fairmont Orchid on the Big Island is one of Luxury Travel's top picks of the best luxury resorts on Hawaii. The best far outweighs the not-so-great aspects, and it provides for a terrific vacation for family travel, romantic getaways, and group vacations alike. The Fairmont Orchid is highly recommended.
The copyright of the article The Fairmont Orchid Luxury Resort in Luxury Hotels is owned by Jennifer W. Miner. Permission to republish The Fairmont Orchid Luxury Resort in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
