Maui’s Fairmont Kea Lani Resort Opens Hale Kukuna Cultural Center
I can often maintain objectivity in my travel-writing work with relative ease, slipping into neutral gear and assessing a hotel (or restaurant or spa) for its merits as well as its challenges. But when I know a place well and have loved it since long before travel writing became a serious endeavor for me, all bets are off. I certainly try to have an open mind in both critical directions, positive and negative. But — full disclosure — Maui’s Fairmont Kea Lani, in Wailea on the island’s South Shore, had me at hello nearly 30 years ago, and its recent transformation is, not surprisingly, spectacular. In particular, the new Hale Kukuna Cultural Center, which is now the focus of the property’s redesigned lobby, has reinvigorated this already harmonious, generous space.