Big Island hotel recommendations

[PoppyJ]

Just booked a flight for 10 days on the big island. Anyone have suggestions for hotels? Or what area to stay in? I'm thinking Kailua-Kona vs. Waikola.

Also, any suggestions for activities, sights, restaurants?

 

[bennifer]

We were on the BI for a week in June and we loved it! We stayed in both Kona and Hilo because we wanted to experience both sides. In Kona, we stayed at the Royal Kona. The room we stayed in was quite dated, but the location was perfect for us, and having an ocean view was worth everything. They are in the process of updating rooms, too. You can walk to tons of places to eat, Kai Eats and Drinks and Huggo's are good, but Huggo's is quite popular, so you probably will have a bit of a wait. There is an ABC store very close by, too. Most importantly, the view for the sunset is amazing here.

Here's a quick overview of what we did:

We love National Parks and National Historic Sites, and our favorite NHS were Pu’ukohola Heiau and Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. We explored those and also stopped at a coffee farm.

We took the southern route to get to Volcanoes NP and we stopped at the Kahuku Unit of VNP and did a small hike into a cinder cone which was really fun, stopped at South Point, which is the sourthernmost point in the US - super windy and no fanfare, but lots of people cliff diving/jumping, and if that's your thing, it could be cool. Punalu'u Bakery and Punalu'u Black Sand Beach are worth stopping at. We didn't get to the Green Sand Beach and I think that would have been awesome.

Volcanoes NP is 100% worth spending at least 1 day here! The lava tube, Crater Rim, steam vents, and the Chain of Craters Road are all beautiful! We stayed one night in Volcano House.

In Hilo we stayed at SCP Hilo Hotel which was very nice. We stopped at the Hilo Farmer's Market for some souvenirs, drove up the Hamukua Coast to see waterfalls, rain forests, Waipio Valley Lookout. The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory is on this side of the island, but we missed it. We did stop at Big Island Candies, tho.

IMHO, if you can swing it, I think you should stay on both sides of the island. Kona is very touristy, while Hilo felt like it was where the locals live.

 

[PoppyJ]

We were on the BI for a week in June and we loved it! We stayed in both Kona and Hilo because we wanted to experience both sides. In Kona, we stayed at the Royal Kona. The room we stayed in was quite dated, but the location was perfect for us, and having an ocean view was worth everything. They are in the process of updating rooms, too. You can walk to tons of places to eat, Kai Eats and Drinks and Huggo's are good, but Huggo's is quite popular, so you probably will have a bit of a wait. There is an ABC store very close by, too. Most importantly, the view for the sunset is amazing here.

Here's a quick overview of what we did:

We love National Parks and National Historic Sites, and our favorite NHS were Pu’ukohola Heiau and Pu’uhonua o Honaunau. We explored those and also stopped at a coffee farm.

We took the southern route to get to Volcanoes NP and we stopped at the Kahuku Unit of VNP and did a small hike into a cinder cone which was really fun, stopped at South Point, which is the sourthernmost point in the US - super windy and no fanfare, but lots of people cliff diving/jumping, and if that's your thing, it could be cool. Punalu'u Bakery and Punalu'u Black Sand Beach are worth stopping at. We didn't get to the Green Sand Beach and I think that would have been awesome.

Volcanoes NP is 100% worth spending at least 1 day here! The lava tube, Crater Rim, steam vents, and the Chain of Craters Road are all beautiful! We stayed one night in Volcano House.

In Hilo we stayed at SCP Hilo Hotel which was very nice. We stopped at the Hilo Farmer's Market for some souvenirs, drove up the Hamukua Coast to see waterfalls, rain forests, Waipio Valley Lookout. The Mauna Loa Macadamia Nut Factory is on this side of the island, but we missed it. We did stop at Big Island Candies, tho.

IMHO, if you can swing it, I think you should stay on both sides of the island. Kona is very touristy, while Hilo felt like it was where the locals live.

This as great, thank you!!

 

[alohamom]

Kona is a little more bohemian and adventerous whereas Waikoloa is resorty.
Both are laid back and are truly within easy driving distance of each other.
Personally I LOVE Waikoloa but I am biased as my husband I got married there.
In Kona, I would suggest Outrigger Kona resort.
In Waikoloa, you could look at Kings Land (which shares the Hilton Waikoloa facilites), various private timeshare townhouses and the Marriott but honestly every place in Waikoloa is pretty good.

One thing I strongly suggest is a rental car because there is so much to see and do on the Big Island but it is very spread out.

 

[PoppyJ]

Kona is a little more bohemian and adventerous whereas Waikoloa is resorty.
Both are laid back and are truly within easy driving distance of each other.
Personally I LOVE Waikoloa but I am biased as my husband I got married there.
In Kona, I would suggest Outrigger Kona resort.
In Waikoloa, you could look at Kings Land (which shares the Hilton Waikoloa facilites), various private timeshare townhouses and the Marriott but honestly every place in Waikoloa is pretty good.

One thing I strongly suggest is a rental car because there is so much to see and do on the Big Island but it is very spread out.

Waikola looks similar to Ko Olina so I feel like I would love it there!

 

[cruisehopeful]

I've stayed in Waikola a couple times. I would compare it to Ko Olina because it's kind of its own area and if you want to do/see anything that isn't touristy/resorty, you'll have to drive a lot. I stayed at Hilton Wailkola Resort and it was fantastic. Lots to do right onsite, although the beach, if you can even call it a beach, is very tiny. The next time, we were in a 2 bedroom timeshare unit at King'sLand and it was also very nice. We had a ground floor unit and our lanai had lots of cats and sometimes mongoose. We liked it. We took the internal transportation to the Hilton Waikola resort one day to use it for day use. Super fun. Since we tend to explore the island, we thought we'd stay in Kona for our next visit because it's closer to stuff, but we haven't made it back.

If you are planning on visiting Hilo and/or Volcano National Park, you might just want to get an AirBnb on that side. We drove to Volcano National Park from Waikola once and it was exhausting. Driving around the island isn't as nice as the other islands just because there's so much lava desert.

 

[gmi3804]

Manufactured resorts like Waikoloa aren't very intrepid destinations. Ko Olina has a captive audience, it's an island. If you're into manufactured, that's fine. But if you'd like to experience more local vibes, Kailua-Kona is more authentic. The Kohala Coast is another option, further up the coast, with more spread-out resorts, and closer to Waimea and access to the other side of the island.

 

[kevtlas]

We got an Airbnb right on the beach the last time there and loved it. Much better than a resort in my opinion.

 

[Karebear]

We were on the big island in August and stayed at a Kolea condo (air bnb) in Waikoloa. We liked this location because it was right next to some gorgeous beaches-Mauna Kea Beach and Hapuna Beach. We could also cut across the island and get to Hilo in about 75 minutes for visiting the Botanical Gardens and the things we wanted to see on that side. Also could cut through Hilo to get to Volcano National Park. We could also drive down to Kona to for restaurants and to see the town. It was a great location in our opinion and we have stayed there twice. Mauna Kea is our favorite beach but you have to get there early for a parking spot. Waikoloa vacation rentals also rent a lot of units in the Kolea complex.