Place to stay in Volcano (Hilo, Kilauea: rentals, mattress, credit card)

[FallenIntoGreatness]

I remember someone suggested a good place to spend the night in Volcano and searching for "Volcano" in the Hawaii forum gives me more responses than I care to wade through.....I know I'll post a thread.

My fiance is flying in on the 19th and we're probably going to find a judge while he's here. So it will be a "honeymoon" of sorts; mostly we want to explore the park and east side of the island but the vog has rendered my windshield unfit for driving after dark - a place to sleep is needed.

Oh and I still don't have a DOE contract; inexpensive would be nice. We have not seen each other in 3 months so hostel is out.

Mahalo!

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by FallenIntoGreatness

I remember someone suggested a good place to spend the night in Volcano and searching for "Volcano" in the Hawaii forum gives me more responses than I care to wade through...

There are something like 50 B&Bs in the Volcano area, ranging from the beautiful and romantic Kilauea Lodge ($170-240)... Kilauea Lodge

...to places with a couple of guest rooms in a large house (maybe $80 - 100?). At the inexpensive end things change frequently, they come and go, some are only only open part-time, etc. So I suggest an internet search for "Volcano Hawaii B&B" and then follow-up on whatever looks interesting to you.

At present the nearest hotels are in Hilo, about 45 minutes away. If you have Hawai'i driver's license you can get a kamaaina rate of about $75 at Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay. That's probably the least expensive option in the area.

Good luck!

[terracore]

Originally Posted by OpenD

There are something like 50 B&Bs in the Volcano area, ranging from the beautiful and romantic Kilauea Lodge ($170-240)... Kilauea Lodge

...to places with a couple of guest rooms in a large house (maybe $80 - 100?). At the inexpensive end things change frequently, they come and go, some are only only open part-time, etc. So I suggest an internet search for "Volcano Hawaii B&B" and then follow-up on whatever looks interesting to you.

At present the nearest hotels are in Hilo, about 45 minutes away. If you have Hawai'i driver's license you can get a kamaaina rate of about $75 at Uncle Billy's Hilo Bay. That's probably the least expensive option in the area.

Good luck!

We stayed two nights at a cute newer cabin in Volcano. It was $260 for the two nights. It had full kitchen, great surroundings, lots of privacy, etc. I found it on VRBO.com. The properties there have been fairly well vetted and have prices all over the place so you should be able to find one that fits. Just remember to look at "total price" after taxes and cleaning fees. I think ours was $99/night so an additional $30 per night in taxes and fees.

There is a guy offering a week in Volcano (or Kona, has two properties) on Craigslist for $600 and it comes with use of his pickup truck. Stay away from it. It sounded to good to be true and it was. He double booked it and we wound up on the losing end of the double booking (if the rentals really exist). After he took our deposit he said he was really sorry but didn't have enough to refund it right away and needed more time. Forget that, we reversed the charges via the credit card company. I normally steer clear of Craigslist rentals but knowing it was a credit card involved I knew I would be protected. And I was.

That being said, we did find our month-to-month rental on Craigslist but of course that involved a face-to-face meeting and checking the place out first. It's a 1 bedroom cottage on a beautiful coffee, fruit, and flower farm for $650/month. You didnt' say how long you needed the rental. You can also negotiate longer-term rates through vrbo.com properties, if they have the availability.

[FallenIntoGreatness]

Oh, I live here so I wasn't going to need a ride or stay longer than a weekend. I did check VRBO and it didn't seem cost effective with the taxes and fees, many have a 3/4 night minimum or charge extra for short stays. There are a lot of B&Bs in the area and I just remembered it had been discussed here before. I will look into the ones suggested so far. I guess I was hoping to narrow down the search based on the experience of others.

I'm really interested in the Volcano area and the southern parts of the Big Island. We thought spending a few days there would give us a better idea if we want to live there. I can't spend much time exploring when I have to be back in Kona by dark.

Kona has pros and cons - it IS convenient to be in town but it's hot and covered in tourists. It seems too populated and I don't get a feeling of community here. Until I moved here I had never been to a Costco, well there are lots of things here I didn't have access to in MS. In the end, I will have to live where I'm able to get a teaching position but I can always hope for a small town/community placement. Thanks for the input so far, city-data has been very useful.

[OpenD]

Here, maybe this will help. Volcano Hale (pronounced hah lay, means house in Hawaiian). Not fancy, but kind of sweet, and about as inexpensive as you'll find... they have specials now for $69 a night... with tax maybe $80?... and very easy to find, because it's straight up Wright Road from the highway (some of the B&Bs in the area require navigation skills to find).

Volcano Hawaii Hotel :: Chalet Kilauea Collection


BTW, what's up with your windshield? It probably just needs deep cleaning. Since sunset comes so early in the tropics, it's a major disadvantage not to be able to drive at night. For one thing, you MUST see the volcano after dark, when the lava glow is amazing, against the backdrop of a black sky and brilliant stars.

[FallenIntoGreatness]

My car is 15 years old and has always been in Hawaii so the vog accumulated. I'm the 3rd or 4th owner and the chick before me never changed the oil, washed it, nada the 8 months she owned it. I have tried acetone, vinegar, lemon juice, windex, bleach, bathroom cleaners and ran it through a car wash. Lights make a prizm effect in the glass so it is very hard to see at night. It has been suggested to try barkeeper's friend and a scrub sponge, picked them up today. If anyone knows how to fix it short of a new windshield or resurfacing- please let me know.

[Nalu]

I've never heard of vog damaging a windshield, and we live pretty close to the source, however my friends who lived near the ocean got salt accumulation on their windows that was unreal. The stuff was thick! I think they used CLR..sp? Some kind of cleaner that takes off the calcium sediment deposits.

[OpenD]

Yeah, Bartender's Friend is a good non-scratching cleaner for glass, with a mild abrasive action. With some elbow grease you should be able to get any crud off that is sitting on the glass. I've used it to remove baked on tree sap and bird droppings and salt deposits.

I suspect, however, that what you're seeing is not vog residue, or even vog damage, but pitting from windborn sand. It's common in beach communities. And there's no practical way to eliminate that other than replacing the windshield. There are a couple of products available at auto parts stores that can be applied to give you a margin of improvement, albeit temporary (maybe 4 - 6 weeks between applications.)

Good luck with it

[Shorty1952]

Check out Kate's Volcano Cottage. My husband and I stayed there for one night in April. It's a charming, snug little cabin tucked into the forest, but still very close to Volcano Village. It has a complete kitchen and was sparkly clean. California queen bed with a heated mattress pad. I think it would be perfect for a honeymoon weekend. On second thought, maybe you won't need the heated mattress pad. The owner is lovely and very knowledgeable about the park. She gave us a bit of a discount for paying cash, so you may want to look into that.

[FallenIntoGreatness]

Originally Posted by Shorty1952

Check out Kate's Volcano Cottage. My husband and I stayed there for one night in April. It's a charming, snug little cabin tucked into the forest, but still very close to Volcano Village. It has a complete kitchen and was sparkly clean. California queen bed with a heated mattress pad. I think it would be perfect for a honeymoon weekend. On second thought, maybe you won't need the heated mattress pad. The owner is lovely and very knowledgeable about the park. She gave us a bit of a discount for paying cash, so you may want to look into that.

Thanks for the tip on paying cash, I've been admiring her Nohea unit. I may give her a call and discuss rates later in the week. I've got to see when judges are available and get my work schedule first. It's been so hot in Kona today spending a few days somewhere cool enough to need heated mattress pads sounds nice and the hot tub sounds awesome.