Honolulu International Airport (HNL): Approximate driving time is 30 minutes and distance is 13 miles.

Driving directions from Honolulu International Airport: Take the H1 Freeway east for 13 miles and exit at 26B (Waialae Ave). Turn right onto Hunakai St. Continue to Kahala Ave, then take a left. This street ends at the Kahala Mandarin Oriental.

With a direct view of the Pacific Ocean, Cabanas Seaside Grill offers intimate dinners and social gatherings. Guests dine under nine specially constructed cabanas that seat two up to a maximum of seven persons apiece. Individual preferences are noted by having guests choose whether to enjoy the sunset view while dining or draw the drapes to ensure maximum privacy. White linen tablecloths and hand-blown glass tableware add the final elegant touches to this dreamy setting.

The Plumeria Beach Café - Renowned for its Kahala Burger, this casual beachside cafe features bountiful buffets and off-the-menu choices for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with live Hawaiian music at sunset.

Tokyo-Tokyo - Inside or outside by a garden, this arrestingly stylish Japanese restaurant serves lunch and dinner either robata style or in tatami rooms.

The Veranda - Embodying the graciousness of plantation-era Hawaii and offering panoramic ocean views, a curry lunch buffet, afternoon tea, cocktails, and live-music dancing in the evenings, The Veranda supplies tradition and romance by day, sunset, or moonlight.

Honu Bar & Terrace - Located next to the turtle ponds, Honu (Hawaiian for "turtle") serves lunch, evening appetizers, dinner, and tropical drinks.

Amenity highlights: For a modest fee, guests (kids, too) can swim and interact with the resort’s most loved residents, the Atlantic bottlenose dolphins. Emphasizing education, Dolphin Quest scientist/trainers run the program in the 26,000-square-foot salt-water lagoon.

The resort’s elaborate pool complex includes a large ocean-view pool lined with blue Italian-glass tiles, a big spa, and a children's wading pool—all surrounded by a sundeck furnished with thickly padded lounge chairs and fronted by a sunning lawn graced by coconut trees.

Responding to celebrity requests, the resort built five 550-square-foot spa suites (one for couples) where guests (for a fee) receive various massages and body treatments in an utterly tranquil, private setting, beginning with a foot-bathing ritual.

Insider tip: The Kahala Burger, available at the open-air Plumeria Beach Café, brings guests back to the resort year after year.

Every imaginable facility and service is available for a relaxed, luxurious vacation: a fitness center offering personal training, aquatic exercise, and yoga, complete with separate men's and women's quarters with saunas, steam rooms, and spas; a Keiki Club for children ages 5–12, offering half- and full-day sessions of Hawaiian culture and activities; an arcade of exclusive shops and boutiques; complimentary health service from the resort's nurse; complimentary shuttles to nearby shopping; and complimentary activities such as lauhala weaving and Hawaiian quilting.