Mauna Kea Resort
The original 1965 Laurence Rockefeller resort. Kauna‘oa and Hapuna beaches, the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and The Westin Hapuna.
Mauna Kea Resort is where this coast began. Laurance Rockefeller opened the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel on Kauna‘oa Bay in 1965, on land bought from Parker Ranch, and at the time it was the most expensive hotel ever built. It was also a serious piece of architecture: the American Institute of Architects gave it an Honor Award in 1967, citing its restrained detailing and fine spatial sequences, and in 2007 placed it among America’s 150 favorite buildings. The resort holds two of the best beaches in the state, Kauna‘oa and Hapuna, and in 1995 the Westin Hapuna opened at the north end of Hapuna’s long stretch of sand. Championship golf, established residential neighborhoods and a certain understatement define it; this is the oldest money on the coast and it does not raise its voice. Owning here means walking access to two beaches that visitors plan entire trips around.
Mauna Lani Resort
Two championship courses, the historic fishponds and the Kalahuipua‘a trail. Mauna Lani Auberge, The Fairmont Orchid, and a private beach club.
Mauna Lani occupies the middle of the Kohala Coast and is built around something far older than any of it: the Kalahuipua‘a fishponds, engineered by Hawaiians centuries ago and still holding water and fish today. A shoreline trail runs through the ponds and past ancient shelter caves and petroglyph fields, so a short walk from the hotels puts you into archaeology. The resort holds the five-diamond Mauna Lani Auberge along with The Fairmont Orchid, two championship golf courses, and a wide range of condominiums and private residences. For owners the amenity that comes up most is the gated private Beach Club, which many consider the single best perk of Mauna Lani ownership. The landscaping language here is black lava against bright green rather than manicured lawn, which gives the resort a stronger sense of place than a generic tropical build. It reads more residential than Waikoloa and less formal than Mauna Kea.
Waikoloa Beach Resort
Anaeho‘omalu Bay, two golf courses, Kings’ Shops and Queens’ MarketPlace. Nine gated neighborhoods and the deepest condominium inventory on the coast.
Waikoloa Beach Resort is the busiest and most self-contained of the three, anchored on Anaeho‘omalu Bay, which everyone calls A-Bay. The bay was a gathering place for centuries, with fishponds behind the beach and a well-known petroglyph field along the trails, and it still functions that way: this is where the coast comes to eat, shop and watch the sun go down. It takes in nine gated neighborhoods, two golf courses, the Kings’ Shops and Queens’ MarketPlace, a theater, the Marriott and the Hilton Waikoloa Village, and beachfront dining at the Lava Lava Beach Club. That density is also why it carries the deepest condominium inventory on the coast, which makes it the usual entry point for buyers who want the Kohala Coast without a single-family budget. Walking and biking trails connect most of it, so a car becomes optional once you are inside. If Mauna Kea is quiet and Mauna Lani is calm, Waikoloa is where things are actually happening.