Big Island - Places to stay
 

We will be traveling to the Big Island in March of 2000. Looking for places to stay, not top of the line and not at the bottom either. Any info would be appreciated. Has anyone been to the Royal Kona Resort?

i've stayed at the waikola when it was managed by hyatt and then hilton, for a total of 4 times. sometimes you can get a good deal when you call the hotel direct. it's not the cheapest place around, but it is spectacular. after you check in, you can choose from a tram, boat or walk to your room. the main pool is about an acre and there are other smaller pools around the property. they have a swim with the dolphins program. last year, we saw one give birth. there are several restaurants and bars on the site as well as shopping and lots of wild life (parrots, flamingos, turtles, etc.) i love it.

We spent 10 days on Big Island march of this year. Do you prefer a big resort or small inn or BnB? For big resort, Kona Village gets my vote (quite expensive) We loved Holualoa Inn, about 10 min from kailua-kona with a great view (rates 135-200/night) I would also recommend staying on different parts of the Island to appreciate its beauty.

I agree with the above posting. The Hilton Waikoloa Village is a great place and we got their bounce back rate which included breakfast buffet. I think we tried both the toll free number and directly to be sure we got the best rate. I found it to be quite reasonable and for all the places we have stayed in Hawaii, this is the one my teens talk about most. Feel free to email me directly for more info if needed. Annemarie

The Hilton Waikoloa Village is pure fantasy! My wife and I planned to stay there for only 3 nights of our 10 night honeymoon, but ended up ditching the Westin Maui after only two nights to return to Waikoloa! The Big Island is absolutely amazing. I cannot recommend that you spend as much time here as you can. Maui, to me, was as busy and hectic as the rat race we were hoping to escape, not to mention extremely rainy, too. <BR> <BR>Feel free to e-mail me with any questions! <BR> <BR>SCOTT <BR>

My wife and I were in Kona in January. We took a Pleasant Hawaiian package and stayed at the Kona Surf. The grounds of the hotel were beautifully maintained, and we got a discount on golf at the Kona Country Club, so it was great for us. The rooms were fine, nothing great. No hair dryers or anything fancy. View was good though. I wouldn't hesitate staying there again. Since it was a package deal we got a decent price. We went to the Royal Kona for the "welcome breakfast" from Pleasant Hawaiian. The Royal Kona had a nice building and a run down building. My guess is the packaged tourists got the run down wing. As for the "welcome breakfast", if you go with Pleasant Hawaiian, don't waste your time. You can get better deals off the flyers at the airport. <BR>The Big Island is pretty big. If I were to go back again, I would spend a couple nights at different areas of the island. We wanted to see everything and ended up putting a lot of miles on our rental car. I would spend a few nights in Kona (where Kona Surf is), a few nights up by the Waikoloa, and a night or two in Hilo as a base to see the volcano and the East side of the island.

If you decide to see Volcano National Park, stay at the Kilauea Lodge. They have a web page, search by name. <BR> <BR>Aloha. <BR>

Here are two very unusual places to stay. <BR> <BR>1. Holualoa Inn <BR>This serene jewel is set on a quiet mountainside high above Kailua Bay in the artist's village of Holouloa. Surrounded by twenty acres of pasturelands, the Holualoa Inns is part of the Twigg-Smith Estate, which also encompasses a working coffe farm and cattle ranch. It has a pool. Phone: 1-800-392-1812 <BR> <BR>2. Hale Malia <BR>This architectural gem on the beach is another wonderful bed and breakfast just two miles out of Kalua-Kona. It is dramatically close to the crashing waves. It has a narrow beach by the lava rock shore. Phone 1-800-262-9912 <BR> <BR>The first has 4 rooms with baths and the second two rooms with baths. Rates are in the $100 to $175 range. <BR> <BR>I can give you more info if you are interested in B&B type of accommodations.

We stayed at top notch resorts on the other islands, but wanted something very different for the Big Island. We rented out an entire house (two bedrooms, living room, fireplace, huge kitchen, deck) at My Island B & B just minutes from Volcano Nat'l Park. Their email is [email protected]. The owner is a retired photojournalist and author. Break breakfasts in a garden setting. We highly recommend it.

My wife & I stayed on the Big Island the 2nd week of May. Stay away from the Royal Kona. It has not bee updated in 20 years. We showed up at the Royal Kona, got into our room and my wife was in tears. We left. We fouund a resort a few miles down the road that was newly updated, clean and saved our Hawaii trip. The saving resort was the Aston Keauhou Beach Resort. It costs the same as the Royal Kona however the the Keauhou Beach Resort is what you think about when you think about Hawaii. I cant say enough good things about it. We bought an Entertainment Book for Hawaii before we got there. With the entertainment book, we were able to get a great room, Ocean View, for $88/night! <BR> <BR>Other FYI - The Chart House was our favorite restaurant.