“Yahtzee!” your spouse yells — his voice booming from your lanai up through the palm trees and into the blazing blue sky. And though you are sorry to lose this game, he pumps both his fists with such glee you can’t help but laugh affectionately.

“Alright . . .” you concede, “don’t spill your Mai Tai over it.” You lean across the little game table between your two loungers and give him a kiss. Then you ask, “Best two out of three?”

“You’re on,” he says, “. . . but we’re gonna need a fresh batch.” He indicates your near-empty cocktail glass.

“I thought you’d never ask.”

He heads inside to your luxury villa’s gourmet kitchen in search of more limes and rum, walk-dancing to Bob Marley wafting from the bluetooth speaker.

It’s happy hour on your third day at Koloa Landing Resort on Kauai’s sunny South Shore with a beautiful ocean view and you are thoroughly enjoying life in your villa which manages to be both elegant and super comfortable. But you are especially impressed with your massive lanai — an open-air retreat that looks out over the gorgeous tropical coastline and is filled with inviting outdoor furnishings. At 300-square feet there is enough room out here to have lots of creative fun — all in the privacy of your own home-away-from-home.

So far your luxury lanai has provided a place for:

The aforementioned game-time happy hour with its (mostly) friendly competition, throwback board games, cocktails and reggae in the sunshine. Your spouse researched and taught himself how to make an original Mai Tai and has been perfecting it with each new batch. Now if you could just beat him in Yahtzee . . .

Gazing at the view. It may sound frivolous but it is anything but. You find few things more relaxing and centering than sitting side-by-side together on these loungers and simply drinking in the jaw-dropping view of the ocean, letting your thoughts drift and your senses take over as you lapse into vacation meditation. Palms sway in the foreground, fronds rustle in the wind. The surf gently crushes over and over. Puffs of white clouds dot the blue where local zebra doves coo and all feels right with the world. 

Two words: Morning coffee. You love sipping your steaming mugful on your open-air lanai and planning the day’s adventures. When you ran low on beans, you dialed up the resort’s on-site Gourmet Marketplace to restock. While you were at it, you requested some fresh pineapple and that Banana Macadamia Nut Pancake Mix, too — all delivered to your villa.

Yoga session. You’ve been rolling your mat out on the relaxing lanai and striking warrior pose in the glorious outdoors. Your spouse stretches and ices his sore muscles following his fun (if not-super-successful) surf lessons.

Read-Sleep-Read: The best! Until you become a retired empty-nester, the only time you can ever find enough peace for R-S-R is on vacation: Reclining on your private lanai’s chaise lounge, you read a little until you doze off and then wake up to read a little more. Pure indulgence! You enjoy the afternoon sunshine with your book while your spouse lounges with a podcast on his headphones. Add a tall iced mango tea, plenty of sunscreen and a bowl of taro chips? Yes, please.

Al fresco dinner party. You set the dining table on your indoor/outdoor patio with all the nice plates and flatware from your gourmet kitchen and invited the new friends you made at the pool to join you for a sunset dinner. You whipped up some fresh-caught mahi mahi from the nearby Koloa Fish Market, a pot of coconut rice and grilled some white Sugarloaf pineapple. Mmmm . . . (Note: some of the larger villas have even larger lanais equipped with a full barbecue and beverage fridge.)

Book a Vacation to Our Hawaiian Islands Resort Today

Ready to plan a round trip flight to the big islands of Hawaii? Book your stay at Koloa Landing Resort today and start enjoying the lanai life. (And keep practicing those board game skills . . .) Aloha!

Erica Karlin — Koloa Landing Resort