Volcano Hale

I spent three nights in the Volcano Hale in May, for some hiking and general touristing in the Natl. Park.. I was extremely happy in Volcano Hale! It is a large house, built 1912 and very well kept. There are 5 guest rooms, three full bathrooms, a kitchen with stove, microwave, fridge/freezer and some pots/pants/plates/cups etc. and a very large common area. All is shared (not the rooms of course) and all is very nice and clean. Nicely decorated, too (the piano is only decorative which may be for the better :)). I was in room 311, at the top floor and the view through the windows into the rainforest is spectacular This is all no-contact and it worked well. Instructions were sent in time and easy to follow. Some tips: 1) I came from the Kona coast and was surprised how cool, no, cold it was in the rainforest! I was quite cold the first night. I emailed the owners (management?) the next morning and they told me where to find another blanket, and also how to use the heater in the room. I had seen it but did not want to use it without explicit permission. After that, the next two nights were great. 2) Food: The bad news: Avoid the Kilauea General Store! I paid $10.- for a loaf (16oz) of standard sliced bread, and another $10.- for a small piece (8oz) of Kraft cheese. Either of them would have been $1.50 in a regular supermarket which of course does not exist up there. I noticed that the store does not have any price tags on their merchandise. Now you know why! The good news: Just go Thai all the way! There are 3 Thai places in Volcano Village. One is a sit-down restaurant (Thai Thai) where I got dinner the first night. Excellent food (I lived many years in So Cal and believe that I know a little about Thai restaurants) and a fair price: less than $30.- for a portion that would be enough for two, or in my case for dinner and breakfast the next morning. The other two are food trucks. I went to Tuk Tuk Thai food truck, at the end of Old Volcano Drive, and it was so good I went back the next day (my last). Excellent quality again, very friendly, and about half the price. Didn't have a chance to try the other food truck. I will for sure go back to Volcano Hale the next time I'll be in the area!

Exactly what I expected! True Volcano Village living. Super friendly process of booking and arriving. Large room and clean bathroom, kitchen and entire house! 🏡. Couldn’t ask for anything more. Thanks Volcano Hale! Would definitely recommend!

Near the national park entrance, not near anything else. Plan on doing a lot of driving if you stay here. The conecide would probably be best for most people. The house is small, the bathrooms are shared, very basic.

Volcano Hale is excellent at what it says it is, and I therefore give it 5 stars. It is not an Inn or an Hotel! It is, though, a fun, comfortable, eclectically decorated self-catering place. So you check yourself in to a spacious vintage house, cook your own food, share bathrooms, and (most importantly) you clean up after yourself. The bedrooms are quite nice. You will also meet lovely new people at the breakfast table, or when you return each evening from a thrilling day of peering into volcanoes. Highly recommended as fun, different, interesting, comfortable, and good value.

we liked this place so much that we booked additional time here. great a**osphere and a unique place to stay. will be using them again in the future.

It smelled like mold as soon as I opened the door. Not cleaned well with dirt or mold and cobwebs on the windows. Mold growing on the paneling upstairs, ripped and stained carpet. The hallway light switch was upstairs and the automatic light did not work. The bedding was clean, but the room needed to be updated a little. I did not feel comfortable staying there by myself and actually left.

Property mostly unattended except for housekeeping and maintenance, I liked that. Very clean and maintained. We stayed a week and felt like a cozy little home and not at all like a noisy crowded resort. Uses water collected from rain stored in a tank so bring bottled water to drink or cook. It's on elevated land and even in summer the temps were cool and comfortable. Very close to volcano national Park and not to far to get to Hilo either. I'd recommend staying here and had the best price on the island.

Positives- location - this property is very close to Volcanos national park. The property is very isolated, make sure you have supplies before arriving. There was never any contact with the hosts, they ask you to write your CC info on a piece of paper and leave it in your room. No verification of guests is done, you simply pick up an envelope freely available at the front door and your off. I could have been anyone and grabbed the keys. There were only 3 out of 5 rooms occupied when i was there, so bathrooms were not an issue, there were plenty of towels available. A coach or sofa in the common areas would have made them more usable. All in all, a reasonable place to stay close to the park, just make sure to purchase any supplies before arriving. The local town/village of Volcano is not very well stocked. If you were disabled, this would be a difficult choice, it is an old house with staircases, so be aware of that.