Carved from the lava fields of the Kohala Coast, where ancient Hawaiian fishponds meet one of the Big Island's most protected white-sand coves, Mauna Lani Auberge Resorts Collection carries the full weight of a site that was considered sacred long before any hotel existed here. The resort opened originally in 1983 and was substantially reimagined following Auberge's takeover, with interior designer Nicole Hollis leading a renovation that completed around 2020 across the property's 334 rooms and bungalows. Hollis's approach resolves a tension that bedevils most Hawaiian resort design: how to honor place without retreating into tiki pastiche. The answer, visible throughout, is restraint applied with warmth — guest rooms rendered in oatmeal linen, woven rope wall panels, circular botanical artwork in deep green, and mid-century-inflected lounge chairs in natural oak, all oriented toward ocean balconies that frame the Pacific like a held breath. The bungalow accommodations push the material language further, their steeply pitched cathedral ceilings with exposed koa-toned timber rafters and hand-carved floral headboards giving those spaces an atmosphere closer to an artisan's compound than a hotel room. At grade, a rectangular infinity-edge pool set in teak decking steps down toward the beach through layered coconut palms, while the open-sided restaurant — heavy Douglas fir beams, wicker dining chairs, yellow-cushioned banquettes, a bar framed by the treeline — dissolves the boundary between interior and the lava-rock coastline beyond.

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Nestled along the dramatic Kohala Coast and in the piko, or center, of five great mountains, Mauna Lani is a sacred oasis where generations of families and friends have made memories together on soulful lands once cherished by the greatest of Hawaiian royalty. Greet the morning sun as it rises above the mountains' peaks from the seat of an outrigger canoe. Talk story with friends old and new at the Great Lawn as the sounds of ocean waves and laughter mingle. Dine amongst the company of loved ones at CanoeHouse, where locals have savored the island's bounty for decades. As you walk this storied coastline, breathe the rejuvenating salt air and swim in the crystalline waters, you feel the same mana, or spiritual energy, that first captivated legends like King Kamehameha I and Francis H. I'i Brown.