The Big Island Where to Stay archive
This is a nice little show about an eco-friendly Hobbit House vacation rental in Hawaii on the Big Island. It's a wacky place pretty much in the middle of nowhere with curvy windows, forest themes, and other touches to…
For several decades, Duke Kahanamoku Lagoon, the fetid body of water fronting the Hilton Hawaiian Village Resort (or part of it, since that place is HUGE), has long been an unsightly eyesore. Infested with jellyfish, coated with slime and cursed…
Get Al Gore off your case for taking that private jet to Hawaii and stay at the AHU POHAKU HO'OMALUHIA. This is a spa/retreat/vacation home rental on the North Kohala Coast of the Big Island. The main rental house has…
In college, my good friend Max had a VW camper that was perfect for surf trips up and down the California Coast. So I was pleased to hear about a relatively new service operated by GB Adventures that rents out…
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In the May 2007 edition, senior editor Steve Millburg gives a quick taste of a hike I've long wanted to take, circling the rim of Waipio Valley, a lush, massive valley on the Hamakua Coast of the Big Island. I've…
The guide books like to describe Kailua-Kona, the man population center on the sunny western side of the Big Island, quaint, kitschy, cozy, whatever. Locals have another term for it. Depressed and dangerous. I have been back there a number…
Mauna Lani is simply posh city. This resort development on the Big Island is home to some of the state's most expensive vacation homes and two of its more expensive hotels, the Fairmont Orchid and the Mauna Lani Bay Hotel…
In 1901, after numerous pleas from his wife, Mary, Big Island rancher W. H. "Willie" Shipman purchased this graceful, secluded Victorian high above Hilo Bay for the grand sum of $13,000. Hospitality has ruled ever since. During a 1907 tour…
The New York Times runs a feature piece in its Escapes section highlighting a nascent landrush in Puna, where Mainlanders seeking affordable real estate and alternative lifestyle folks seeking a live-and-let-live ethos are clamoring to snarf up lots in the…
During the winter months, sunseekers flock to Hawaii for the beach. A good swimming beach, however, is hardly a pre-requisite for a hotel location. On the Big Island, in particular, where swimming beaches are few and far between, many resorts…
Holy cow! The October quake that hit the Big Island took its first hotel casualty as the Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, due to extensive structural damage to its roof, was shuttered indefinitely This information came to light yesterday after a…
Once known more as a haven for society drop-outs, pakalolo planters, and hippies, the Puna District on the Big Island is becoming something of a Mecca for modernist home design (in part, due to the relative affordability of real estate…
For the most part, Hawaii hotels are booked up for the holidays. Yes, its kinda crazy out there. But should you get the urge for a post Xmas vacation with the little ones, the Kona Village Resort might be one…
Travel & Leisure readers love the 62-acre Hilton Waikoloa Village on the Big Island. They've given the resort top marks among family resorts in Hawaii for several years now. Am sure the canal boats and the mini-tram used to ferry…
Often, being in Hawaii means getting better information. After the quake, I was able to talk to people on the ground that I trusted and get a much better read on damage than MSM. That's part of the reason for…
Someone had to do it. The Mauna Lani Bay Hotel and Bungalows resort just whipped out a "Shaken, Not Stirred" promo deal,with tongue squarely in cheek. The posh resort, which suffered some minor damage from the Big Island quakes on…
This vacation rental is not your average floral-patterned, rattan furnished beach pad. Hale Balleja is located in the Puna District, which is about as far off the tourist track as you can get. It's a great place with nearby…
A few weeks back, as the blog launched, I posted a note about the Fairmont Orchid in the Mauna Lani Resort on the Big Island. The Orchid has been in the forefront of efforts to reduce energy usage and reliance…
This Big Island beauty fronts one of Hawaii's classic resorts, the angular, elegant and Frank Lloyd Wright-esque Mauna Kea Beach Hotel. The sand is quite fine and the surf generally mellow. Due to its strong westerly orientation sunsets are…
A little known fact -- the Parker Ranch on the Big Island is the largest cattle ranch in the country in terms of total acreage. No surprise, then, that the Big Island is ground zero for high-end beef, lamb…
On the linx at the Mauna Lani Bay Resort, you can cruise the greens in a green machine. Aptly dubbed the "Sun Caddy", this nifty little machine comes courtesy of Berkeley-based Powerlight. I don't know if any other Hawaii…
You've all run into those little pamphlets in a hotel bathroom urging you to hang up your towel and use it another day. That's not enough for the Fairmont Orchid (pictured to the left), a luxe resort on the…
Hawaii cruise includes oceanview room, 7 nights accomodations plus dining, and airfare from LAX or SFO. Add another $100 to $400 for airfare from other U.S. airports. A very cheap and fun way to see the islands.…
