TRAVEL + LEISURE
TRAVELANDLEISURE.COM (^31)
I
LOVE THE IDEA of wellness
travel, with its enticing promise
that I’ll emerge a new—or at least
newish—person. But when I’m
eyeing a resort, I cross it off my
list if the offerings seem too
intense. I don’t do cardio boot
camp. I don’t drink bee-pollen smoothies,
adaptogenic-mushroom coffee, or ashwagandha
shakes. I like my wellness to be gentle. Fun.
Nature-filled. And is it so wrong that I like my
wellness to involve a bread basket?
So I was intrigued to hear that Four Seasons
had opened a wellness-focused property, the
all-inclusive, adults-only Sensei Lanai, a Four
Seasons Resort. It’s the brand’s first venture with
Sensei, a wellness tech company created by the
eminent cancer researcher Dr. David Agus and
billionaire Oracle founder Larry Ellison, who
owns 98 percent of the land on Lanai, a
stoplight-free island eight miles west of Maui.
Nestled in fog-shrouded mountains, the
property is a complete reimagining of the
former Lodge at Koele, a rustic, English-country-
house escape. With no direct beach access, the
hotel never quite found its footing. But Ellison
rightly anticipated that wellness travel would
surge—and that secluded Lanai would be a
WHERE HEDONISM
MEETS HEALTH
On the Hawaiian island of Lanai, a new
partnership between a storied hotel chain and
a tech firm balances rigorous, science-backed
treatments with enough indulgence to sway
even wellness skeptics. BY JANCEE DUNN
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TRAVELERS’ TALES, FROM NEAR AND FAR
Edited by LILA HARRON BATTIS & SARAH BRUNING
TAL0620_E_Lanai.indd 31 FINAL 4/21/20 7:40 PM