Definitely a place you would want to consider when visiting the Hilo side of the Big Island. It's…read morean immense luxury Japanese themed four bedroom / four and a half bath home available for rental on Reeds Island, which is approximately one mile from the historic downtown Hilo. The gorgeous Japanese motif home is surrounded by a thick, lush rainforest, swimmable ponds and waterfalls. Staying at one of Hilo's few ancient hotels or motels or older homes with bed and breakfast options considerably pales in comparison. Of course choose to be lulled to sleep at nights by the thousands chirps from the coqui frogs (and the deep voice of a bull frog or two!) or be prepared and bring along some ear plugs. And don't forget to bring along a can of bug spray repellant. There are tons of mosquitoes outdoors! Take a look at some of the pictures they post on their website. True lush beauty!

Our family's first trip to Hawaii had our group of eight (seven adults and one 22 month old) on the…read more"older" Hilo side of the big island. Looking back on our trip, I am really glad this was the case. Hilo resonated with me personally, having spent much of my formative years in the warmer climes of Africa. The "perfume of green," the subtle sweet aroma of tropical flowers, and the cleanly saline breeze of the ocean are all welcome olfactory recollections. Tucked near the end of a serpentine (and at times single lane) road, one is presented with two gates. Mika Taki is behind the left gate. Fair warning: parking is PRECIOUSLY lean and narrow. (Seriously; pray your neighbor is a better driver than the visiting Canadian Of Counsel that side swiped our parked rental.) Anyway... Back to this awesome vintage Japanese-inspired estate. Basics: 4 bedroom 4 bathroom Sleeps 8 $214 / day $1,393 / week There is a large kitchen good for meal prep (though, if you miss out on the amazing rustic local eateries...you are robbing yourself of a not-to-miss experience). There is comfortable though limited seating to be found in the formal living room, but there is an additional sun room porch good for a lazy mid-day nap. We spent the bulk of our in residence time seated around the large glass dining table. There is also a glorious wrap around covered deck that I strongly recommend in the cooler air of an early dawn's light. The grounds and the exterior of the residence are well worth taking in. The lush green grotto is capped in a Nature's Solarium of varied palm and deciduous species and the steep drop off the back of the house makes for a glorious symphony of birds during the day and loquacious tree frogs at night. Wear your insect repellent religiously unless you do not value your hide. The fairly treacherous descent down the left side of the property does reward you with a bona fide WATERFALL. Vacation well, my friends!

Spectacular in every way…read more Me and my 3 kiddoes stayed 4 nights in the family cottage & wished we could have stayed longer. Like forever. Very clean, beautiful grounds, close to everything. Very smooth check-in, secure parking. Total Hilo vibe. I can not wait to return! Mahalo!!

It was Nice and Quiet clean rooms. Children friendly my kids loved the Beautiful garden and beaches…read morenear by. Also a kitchen to use.At the time only had us it was Awesome coming back real soon Loved it

Not as advertised. Upon arrival we were given a huge list of rules and procedures...I have never…read morein the 15 years I have utilized B&Bs experienced that. The home, while beautiful, is not well taken care of. Our bathroom sink was not draining, the toilet plugged easily, the shower handle was about to fall off, and the shower curtain is missing many hangers. The toiletries and towels were on a tray and then sat on a stool. The tray was clean, but the stool top was disgusting under the tray. It is dirty. Nothing is dusted in the common areas or the room except the obvious things, like our bed and mirror in the bathroom, and there are piles of knickknacks, antiques, & books piled on all of the furniture and under the furniture. This includes on and under the table serving as a buffet/coffee area. The kitchen was closed off and so we never saw if our food was being prepared in a clean space. There were three other guests there at the same time as us and three of us got human hairs in our food. She was unhappy when I used a clean spoon to serve myself. She then served me my spinach by grabbing it with an ungloved hand. She did the same with most of the food. We thought about using the provided snorkel gear but it was filthy and looked a bit moldy. There is no air conditioning which is fine, but the wildlife is loud and we could hear cars periodically. We also heard every word the neighbors were saying...so if you are wanting privacy this is a no go. So if you are wanting something quiet this will not work for you. There were only two towels and two washcloths and we were told she did not have many so we should keep them as long as possible. The grounds had the potential to be beautiful, but they were very overgrown. I expect the little lizards in Hawaii and even think they are cute, but our room had their poop on the walls and shower tile. There were lizards on the wall in the hallway, especially at night. I felt as though were were being watched or I would have taken more photos. I would not choose to stay here again.

I would not recommend this place, but not because of the amenities, but because of the host. The…read morelocation of the b&b was great, however, the host was rude and made things very uncomfortable for us with her attitude. Because everything was sold out, we decided to stay and just make sure we were gone all the time to avoid the host, her breakfast, and the other guests in which she bad mouthed us too. The accommodations were okay, but I would have preferred to stay at a hotel or rent a house so I would not have to deal with a rude hostess. My biggest complaint was that when we overslept for breakfast one morning, which she served at 8:15 (I asked her the night before what time breakfast was and she said - the guests usually choose when to eat, but I serve at 8:15!) she called me and demanded rudely that we come out our rooms to the common area to eat her breakfast 'right now' (her exact words). When I did come out of the room, I overheard her talking negatively about me in the common room to the other guests! This was VERY unprofessional and embarrassing for us, and made for a hostile environment. Nevertheless, I apologized to her immediately for over sleeping and explained that we didn't get in until late the night before, in which she talked over me and was very rude and simply thrust a plate at me and said, 'take this plate!' After this incident I felt very uncomfortable being around her or other the guests, so we made sure to avoid her at all costs, which seemed to work for the rest of our stay. When we checked out, she sent me pictures and accused of us of getting her towels too dirty in which I informed her those weren't our towels. There were a myriad of other things and rules that made this place not amicable, (the food, cleanliness, t.v. too loud and can be heard all night from other rooms, and etc.) however I will just mention the ones above. If you want to chill and have a relaxing time without someone bothering you, accusing you of things, being rude or bad mouthing you to others; if you don't want to answer to someone or walk on egg shells your entire trip, this isn't the place for you. However, if you are perfect and make no mistakes and don't oversleep and eat her breakfast, the host may be pleasant to you. There are hotels and many private rentals right across the street, I would definitely suggest staying there for a more relaxing trip....where you can sleep in and not get in trouble!

Pros: Great view, hot tub, pool…read more Cons: Not what it used to be. I've stayed here at least three times since the early 2000s. Gone are the days of live-in hosts who greet you, prepare great breakfasts on the communal deck where you mingle with the other guests, and provide a sense of welcome. I get that all that can change with new ownership and especially in the wake of Covid, but the place is in need of maintenance. The huge view window in the Bamboo room we rented was filthy. Breakfast was marginal. Very sterile rent/check-in process. We are not picky travelers and prefer to be self-sufficient with meals so we brought a lovely fresh fish to grill and they no longer provide an outdoor BBQ! A disappointing stay in comparison to our past experience here.

Pros: Nice View Cons: Everything else. Terrible breakfast,…read moredirty room, missing smoke detector, no staff on hand. Ignore the old reviews and pictures. They describe a very different place and experience. We were bitterly disappointed. It's called a bed and breakfast. This is technically true. There is a bed, and you get breakfast. If you want to be welcomed by a smiling inn keeper and served a piping hot, freshly cooked breakfast, stay somewhere else. First, there is no welcoming staff (or staff at all other than housekeeping). The property is currently managed by a company that runs multiple places on Big Island. We arrived at noon and got a message to just go to the room (it was unlocked) and grab the key. On the plus side, we did ask to check-in early at noon, and that was accommodated. We had the Bamboo room which is more private than the others. Second, the room was dirty. The coffee maker had not been cleaned. There was a bunch of coffee in the paper filter, with several dime-sized blobs of mold. The pot still had some liquid coffee in it (see picture). There was some green something or other on the nightstand. After a few hours, my wife noticed that her socks had turned black, so we walked around in sandals the rest of the time. The shower is moldy (see picture). Third, calling the breakfast uninspired is high praise. When we arrived, inside the small refrigerator in the room we found a plate of cut fruit, two muffins, some milk, two Yoplait yogurts, and a bowl with two hard boiled eggs. That was to be our breakfast for the next day. We ate the fruit, one muffin and the yogurt. The next day, the pattern repeated: a new plate of fruit appeared in the fridge, but no extra muffins (gotta finish them if you want more!), and the yogurt was replenished. That pattern repeated the third day, so that's the extent of the breakfast. (They also have some standard oatmeal packets and granola bars on the desk that looked picked over). Is the fruit plate a collection of local Hawaiian fruits like papaya or pineapple? Nope - bog-standard bananas, apples, cantaloupe, and strawberries. And since it's cut the previous day, the banana and apple start to turn brown by the morning, even though it's in the fridge with plastic wrap on it (see pictures). Oh, did I mention that our room was missing the smoke detector? It had been pulled out, so there is just a hole in the ceiling with wires hanging out (see pictures). The view is great, I will say that. Bottom line, look elsewhere. You've been warned...

Staff - super friendly and helpful staff throughout the hotel, from the front desk, the parking…read morevalet, bartenders, and housekeeping staff. They have a good team working there. They really make the hotel what it is. Room - we had a standard king room. Great views overlooking Hilo Bay. The room was very clean and comfortable, perhaps the only downside was I couldn't get the air conditioner down far enough because I like my room really cold. The in room coffee was actually pretty good, but you can get better coffee in the morning at the restaurant for free. They give us lots of towels. No complaints about the room.. Food and Drink - we were out and about the whole time so we didn't actually eat any meals at the hotel, but we did have drinks at the lobby bar. The drinks were good and stiff, and the bar had great views of the bay. It's a nice place to unwind after the day.. Parking - we chose self parking, it's cheaper than the valet service. However, the self parking lot is actually across the street from the hotel. It's not a far walk by any means, but the self parking lot itself is basically gravel and can be uneven in spots. At night that parking lot is somewhat poorly lit. If I'm someone who has mobility challenges or balance issues, I would not park there because I think a fall is a possibility. Location - back in the day, Banyan Drive was really a nice hotel district. There are many decent hotels which catered to a lot of local people. Over time many of the hotels there became rundown, and frankly the Grand Naniloa is probably the nicest property in the area. The area around hotel is by no means sketchy, it's quite safe to walk around at night. Ito has an underrated restaurant scene. Lots of good places to eat. Talk to the hotel staff they will tell you where to go. It's about 45 minutes to an hour to drive to the volcano. Closing Thoughts - the hotel is not perfect but it's still pretty good. Some parts of the hotel need some work. The elevators tend to be a little older, I think they could expand their food service options. They really should do something about the self parking lot at some point. Would I stay at there again? Definitely, I stay there because the staff is terrific, and the rooms are clean and comfortable, and if you're visiting Hilo, it's a fine location.

Let me say first and foremost that the maintenance staff here is 5 stars, they're awesome. Big…read moreshoutout to Cody for helping fix my room's AC twice in one stay. He's the man. As far as the hotel, location is great but the hotel is overpriced for its quality. The facilities and infrastructure are incredibly outdated. The AC in the first room I was put in broke so they put me in another room, and the AC in that second room broke too. Of the three nights I was there, the elevator was not functional for two nights which meant I was walking up and down 10 flights of stairs. When the elevators were working, it took anywhere from 5-10 min. Spend your money elsewhere. This hotel is not worth it.

Very comfortable place. We visited Hilo from Kona and didn't want to drive back. So we found this…read moreplace. It didn't have AC but the fans kept us cool. The Mark was very hospitable and got us situated.

Just about everything I said about Wild Ginger Inn, also applies here. In fact, they are so close…read moreas to be within walking distance of each other. The bonus is that the man that runs the show here, John, is incredible! We were doing a backpacking trip at trailhead known for break-ins and John let us store our luggage here while we hiked and camped. When we came back, it was waiting for us in our rooms, I almost never receive service this good anywhere, let alone at a hotel this affordable! John is also one of those rare people you meet in the service industry that isn't just into making quaint small talk for the sake of it. He doesn't robotically recommend things everyone knows about. He really knows every nook and cranny of the island! Everyone else we told about our hiking trips on the island just met us with puzzled looks. John had done those hikes and had useful information to contribute about those hikes. Stuff you couldn't get with just a Google search. I LOVE competent and friendly people that know exactly what they are talking about! So many folks these days just run their mouths in a desperate attempt to make conversation, whether what they are saying is actually useful (or even true). John, if you read this, and ever come to Alaska, look us up, we'd be happy to do the same for you!