Big Island Revealed – Resort Reviews

Here are some of the Big Island Resorts that we have reviewed. Each review is unbiased and based on our personal visits. Our team regularly visits these resorts and reviews them for your benefit. You can also find Big Island resorts in our app for free! There you can filter them the way you want to find your perfect place to stay.

Featured Resorts

Volcano House

This hotel is located on the rim of Kilauea Caldera inside Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park. Reopened in 2013 after a three-year closure. Before that it was the longest “continually running” hotel in the state. Volcano House opened across the street in 1846 (which...

Kilauea Lodge

Opened in 1937 as a YMCA youth camp, this quaint lodge was converted in 1986 by Albert and Lorna Jeyte. (He was a makeup artist on Magnum P.I.) The whole thing was very well done and lovingly maintained, but it switched hands in 2018 for $4 million (we assume this...

Wai‘ula‘ula at Mauna Kea

These two-story condo buildings in a gated complex were completed in 2006 and house four units each (and a couple of duplexes not in the rental pool). The units are very spacious and richly furnished. Wolf ranges, Subzero fridges, granite countertops, double drawer...

Villas at Mauna Kea

Completed in 1982, these 21 single-story individually gated condo duplexes look like stand-alone homes but are attached by one common wall. Drive up and you’ll feel like you‘ve entered a 1950s-style home complete with garage and flat roof. It’s not the facade that...

Holiday Inn Express & Suites

A three-story resort sitting right in Kona town. This is a familiar brand, and the one here is no different except they used a slightly more Hawaiian color palette in their modern room design. A couple of room features we really liked were the soft and firm pillow...

Manago Hotel

Not-too-close, not-too-far from the more touristy Kona, this hotel was built in 1917 by a Japanese mail-order bride and her husband (with an initial investment of $100) as a restaurant with futons for their customers to sleep on (the rate was $1 a night back then)....

Kolea

It’s hard to imagine being unhappy here. These are some of the most impressively appointed condos we’ve seen, and it’s the only gated complex in Waikoloa that’s next to a beach. Rooms are richly furnished with high-end appliances in the gourmet kitchens, African...

Mauna Kea Beach Hotel

This was the first resort to grace the Kohala lava desert area, and a large part of their business is repeat customers. Built by Laurance S. Rockefeller in 1965, it set the standard for all that came afterward. The Mauna Kea has traditionally been one of the most...

Grand Naniloa Hotel

The Grand Naniloa underwent renovation in 2016, but we have a feeling that the $30 million changes are just the beginning for this snazzy resort, and we look forward to their future with… curiosity. The hotel is clean, spacious and modern (though many things have...

Kona Seaspray

This condo consists of two separate (and pretty different) buildings, the larger one and the smaller one. They had sold some units in the Reef building as condos. With their glorious location almost across the street from Kahalu‘u Beach Park, this is a good place...