We will spend five nights on the big island in January, 2008. We plan to fly into Hilo and out of Kona. What location (and hotel) would be a good place to stay for sightseeing on the first two nights and what other location would be good on the last three nights? We are looking for rooms good for sightseeing in the $200 a night range.

We stayed in two spots - the first, Kilauea Lodge, was great for going to the Volcano; the second was the Hapuna Beach Prince - really beautiful beach location - gave us the best of both worlds.

I would do Kilauea Lodge right at VNP for a night or two, then move to the Kona-Kohala area for the remainder. (I wouldn't stay in/near Hilo ... too much rain!)

We're also planning 5 days on B.I. and flying into Hilo & out of Kona in March 2008.

We're going to do 1 night in Volcano. I was thinking Volcano House but will have to check out the Kileaua Lodge again. Anybody have anything to say about the difference between those two places?

The other 4 nights we plan on staying at a condo on the Kohola coast, probably Waikoloa or Mauna lani resort areas but they're in $300+/night as as the hotel rooms in that area. I'm thinking you'll probably have better luck in your price range closer to Kona. Still close enough drive up to the beaches of Kohala coast.

Thanks for these ideas--they have been a big help. If you know about Maui, I have posted a similar question about that island.

sancam - I would definitely choose Kilauea Lodge over Volcano House. We stayed at K.L. and loved it. We only went into Volcano House to grab a poncho from the gift shop. There was a line out the door a mile long from a tour bus waiting for the lunch buffet (and it smelled terrible). The place looked dingy and plain, although te view of the crater was nice. K.L was fantastic. Cozy, unique rooms, the restaurant has an excellent reputation, and staff could not have been more friendly. I wish we could have stayed longer.

happytrails - We stayed at the Sheraton Keauhou in Kona and it was an excellent location for exploring many of the sights in S Kona like Captain Cook, etc. The drive from many of the resorts in Kohala can be a little far, esp. with traffic so I wouldn't stay too far north of Kona if that is where you plan on spending most of your time.

I'd definitely go with Kilauea Lodge; we stayed in one of their little private cottages - it even had a fireplace since it gets cool in the evenings. Make dinner reservations for the restaurant ahead of time - they serve it by a big, cozy stone fireplace. Good breakfasts in the morning too - we loved their hot chocolate.

We are leaving on December 28th and staying through January 7. We got a great condo deal on VRBO.com with 2 bedrooms and 2 baths right on Alii Drive. The total is less than $100.00 per night. It is not ocean front, but it is ocean view with its own patio and covered parking with everything we need. This is our second trip and we liked being centrally located in Kailua-Kona. We drove for the day to the volcano so I can't comment on lodging there.

If you want to stay in Hilo -- the Castle Hilo Hawaiian hotel was very nice. We stayed there three nights (2 and 1) for our flight in/out of Hilo.

If you are interested in an helicopter tour of the volcano - most depart out of Hilo airport. Volcano National Park is not be missed --- you will want a full day or night in the park. We stayed 2 nights at the Volcano House -- the rooms were adequate - not fancy and no in room TV. It's location is great and the long lines are for the day bus tours which will stop in when you are most likely not there. We used one of our days to go to the Green Sand Beach and I highly recommend that if you can work it in (we came back that day to the Volcano House).

We also stayed at the Hapuna Prince -- which was a great place to stay for a nice pool and sandy beach access. We are also golfers so that played into our decision as well. One night we drove down to Kona Village for their Friday night luau. It's frequently featured on the travel channel.