Kona-places to stay and transportation rental
 

Has anyone stayed at the Kona Islander inn resort? Any ideas for clean,inexpensive places to stay? We are planning to go to Kona in July 2005. Are there scooters to rent anywhere? or is car rental better? Please reply with any comments on inexpensive travel-flights,transpotation and lodging. We are on a tight budget but still would like quality.:)

I posted about this on a different thread but it might be worthwhile here too: I know people enjoy staying at the resorts, but we've had great success staying at b&b's on the Big Island. They cost much less than the resorts and you get more of a taste of the "real" Hawaii. The ones we've stayed at have been in the mountains - at anything higher than 1000 feet, you don't need AC at night because it gets quite cool. The ones we like best are on coffee farms; they usually have room for only a few guests and you're not forced into a quasi-family-type situation, and they're very pleasant.
In terms of rental cars - the only thing I'd suggest is not to deal with Alamo. They were dishonest with us about the amount of insurance we needed to buy and we had to quarrel with them from beginning to end, which didn't contribute much to the enjoyment of our holiday!

My husband and I stayed at the KII two years ago. It was an okay place to stay. It was very reasonably priced. The grounds were very nice. Not a very quiet place. It was convenient to shopping, eating, and the beach. The beach is not a swimming beach, though about a mile down the street there was a place you could get in the water. Just remember that it is a budget accomodation.

A rental car is a much better idea for transportation on the Big Island. The island is really big and distances are far. I believe there are scooters for rent on Ali'i Dr., in Kailua-Kona, but we have never done that.

Thanks to all, much appreciated. Aloha

We have seen the Kona Islander, but have never stayed there. If you aren't committed there, we highly recommend you look into the Sea Village condo complex. It's a great value, location, beautiful views, and well-kept grounds and condos. We have stayed three times at the Sea Village condominium complex, in a 2 bdrm/2 bath unit (but they have smaller ones, too). It's about a mile south of Kona. Ask for an oceanfront unit on the top floor (for privacy-- as long as you can carry your luggage up the outside stairways). We have had a view there that looks directly out to sea and up the coast, where we could see surfers and dolphins, not to mention the sunsets, from our lanai. It has a nice little swimming pool, also overlooking the ocean, and even has free tennis courts, also barbecue pits in a little garden area in the center. I have always been amazed at how inexpensive it is for how nice it is. One summer, I only paid $500 for a week's stay there! Try Googling Sea Village and you'll find some private owners who rent theirs directly. Or try Donita, at Vacations Unlimited in Florida-- she handles a couple of them, too. I believe all units there are privately owned, so there isn't consistency in decoration. We rented from Vacations Unlimited, and were more than pleased with our unit each time. Good luck. You'll love the Big Island.