The island of Lāna’i, Hawaii’s smallest inhabited island that you can visit as a tourist, is known for its beautiful rugged landscape, pineapple growing legacy, white sand beaches, and luxurious resorts. Set within the island of Lāna’i’s 90,000 acres of paradise, Sensei’s flagship location, Sensei Lāna’i, A Four Seasons Resort, offers 96 spacious accommodations, a yoga pavilion, gym, movement studios, island adventure activities, art experiences, and more. 

Rather than one central spa, the property offers individual 1,000-square-feet spa hales (Hawaiian for “home”), providing private sanctuaries to unwind and enjoy couples' treatments. We connected with Sensei Lanai Retreat Director Catherine Phillip to learn how to get the most out of a visit to Sensei Lāna’i, A Four Seasons Resort.

What to expect: Set within 90,000 acres in the secluded Hawaiian island’s spiritual uplands of Ko’ele, each guest’s stay at Sensei Lāna’i, A Four Seasons Resort, and its sister property in California, is led by Sensei Guides and practitioners who hold advanced degrees in their respective fields including exercise physiology, nutrition, mindset training, and more.

Our programming is highly customized to help align guest’s actions with their intentions, while interconnecting our three pathways: move, nourish and rest. Highlights include private wellness consultations, small indoor and outdoor classes, relaxing treatments in individual 1000-square-feet spa hales, island adventures and innovative dining guided by the Sensei nutritional philosophy. Sensei offers wellness programming for every level, including the beginner Discover Sensei Package that offers a taste of Sensei’s unique wellness offerings; the Guided Sensei Experience, with curated personalized itineraries and a variety of one-on-one wellness sessions; or the Optimal Wellbeing Program (OWP), an innovative and life-changing wellness program that is highly tailored to each individual through health technology, data-capturing and analysis. Sensei now offers two expansions of the original OWP with dedicated golf and tennis programs. 

Curated Experiences: Sensei Lāna’i, A Four Seasons Resort, offers countless guests experiences ranging from private wellbeing consultations with a Sensei Guide to spa services including massage, facials, and bodywork.

A spacious salon offers natural hair and nail services. We also offer a rotating collection of intimate group classes focused on yoga, meditation, hiking, fitness, and more. Island activities include golf and tennis, sailing, and more. 

Accommodations: Sensei Lāna’i brings Four Seasons’ best-in-class service to each of its 96 spacious accommodations. Each room is designed to bring the outdoors in with natural light, private balconies, and an abundance of space to unwind. 

Cuisine: All dining at Sensei Lanai, a Four Seasons Resort is through Sensei by Nobu, an exclusive collaboration between Sensei co-founder Dr. David Agus and Chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The ever-changing dining menu is crafted with fresh ingredients and incorporates Sensei’s nutritional (Nourish) philosophy, as well as traditional classic dishes by Nobu.

With a spacious dining room and outdoor tables overlooking the pond, the restaurant highlights sustainable ingredients from our sister brand on Lana’i, Sensei Farms. A favorite menu item here is the gazpacho. Not only is it delicious, but it uses locally grown tomatoes from the farms.

Insider’s Tip: Don’t miss the new Garden Walk 1:1 and Forest Bathing 1:1 experiences, offering an immersive nature experience that is an extremely important aspect to overall well being. With such a stunning natural landscape surrounding the property, guests can take in the beautiful scenery of Lana’i.

Forest Bathing 1:1 is a private experience where guests are guided through silent walking, focused attention and mindful breathing within the warm embrace of nature and the lush Kōʻele gardens. The Garden Walk 1:1 is a light, half-mile stroll around the gardens to welcome the day, connect with nature, or discover more about the landscape and world-class art. Guests will learn from our on-site Botanist about the collection of exotic plant life, the history of Kōʻele and the diverse modern sculptures, which envelop the beautiful retreat grounds and are worthy of a museum display. 

Why you’ll love the spa: One of our most celebrated differentiators is our standalone spa hales. 

Here, Sensei combines the wisdom of ancient healing traditions with modern technology and science to provide amenities and treatments customized by highly trained practitioners for each guest. Set against the sounds of nature, the hale is an essential part of the Sensei journey, a sacred resting place where each guest will learn how to listen to their body and start to restore personal balance in the most luxurious way possible.

Key features: Rather than a central spa, guests at Sensei Lana’i enjoy their own private 1,000-square-foot spa hale (the Hawaiian word for house or home) with Japanese Ofuru tub, infrared sauna, steam room, outdoor rain shower and onsen style soaking pools. Guests can choose from an extensive menu of massages, bodywork and facials to enjoy within each hale. 

Spa snacks: Following our Featured Spa Experiences, we offer herbal tea, filtered water, assorted fresh tropical fruits, and edamame

Most unique treatment: One of our spa practitioners, Liran, leads Aquatic Bodywork, which is a specialty treatment that often leaves guests with an emotional response due to the calming nature of the experience. While floating effortlessly in the warm waters of a private outdoor hale pool, Liran guides guests through a series of intuitive stretches combining elements of massage, joint mobilization, and shiatsu. Aquatic Reflexology is also a very unique treatment. It is a restful form of aquatic bodywork supported by a trained practitioner. While floating effortlessly in the warm waters of your outdoor private hale pool, elements of reflexology, joint mobilization and stretching are applied to allow your body to relax in ways unfamiliar to you on land. In this safe, therapeutic space, you may find you are able to let go and drift into a deeper state both physically and mentally. 

Insider’s Favorite:  One of our newest spa offerings - Sarga Bodywalking, which is a barefooted myofascial release massage - has been a recent favorite of mine. During this unique treatment, a therapist will apply deep, gliding foot pressure with the aid of silk straps to help maintain stability and balance for broad, consistent strokes along the body. The slow, sustained pressure stimulates a stretch response in the fascia and improves circulation leaving the guest with more ease and in a deeper state of relaxation.

Featured Brands: Both Sensei properties use Seed To Skin, a natural skincare line from Tuscany, Italy.

For more information, visit sensei.com and @sensei. 

Sensei Lāna’i, A Four Seasons Resort
1 Keomoku Highway
Lanai City, HI 96763
808.758.5033