Aloha Guest House Bed and Breakfast — Hotel in Hawaii

This local B&B about a 1h drive away from Kona Int'l Airport will forever have a special place in our hearts. We're deeply grateful for our gracious hosts, Lee & Svetlana who prepared us nourishing homemade, farm-to-table breakfasts, shared stories about their happy chickens, recommended us places/activities & went above & beyond during our 1-week honeymoon stay in June 2025. They're a remarkable couple who ran the B&B with love & care, live off the land & grew their own exotic fruits, made homemade jams & served 100% Kona coffee, providing us w/ a memorable quality experience. Svetlana's breakfasts are truly unmatched & the pancakes/waffles/banana breads aren't ordinary — they contain apple bananas, cherries, apricots & other seasonal fruits!

We stayed in the Kohola Room with the panoramic ocean view & private gazebo enshrouded in lush rainforest. We didn't even turn the TV on because watching the natural view was far more interesting. We experienced periods of rain, witnessed mesmerizing sunsets & early sunrises. We heard invasive frogs at night & encountered wild calves, saw geckos, butterflies & various birds including roaming chickens. There's a shared kitchenette for guests to cut food, heat takeouts or ready-made meals from the grocery & boil water for tea/coffee.

Some things to note: :: We saw a roach on the kitchenette floor, which is normal in any hot climate. The overall room & communal spaces were kept clean. :: No stove in the kitchenette. Just a microwave, electric kettle & coffee steeper in terms of appliances. :: The guest rooms have louvered doors to allow airflow but doesn't provide full privacy, so we're mindful of any noise. :: We had communal daily breakfasts w/ the other couple staying in the Horizon Room. If dining w/ strangers isn't your jam, then consider a resort or AirBnB instead. :: The custom shower in the Kohola Room has a narrow entrance & will be too tight for wider body shapes. :: Due to the steep, unpaved Old Tobacco Road that leads to the B&B which we grew to love, we realized those w/ chronic back pain will find the slow & careful 7min drive unpleasant. No street lights to illuminate this road at night. We highly recommend renting a 4WD vehicle since this is off-roading & essential to get around Big Island, but it's all a part of the adventure leading to this hidden paradise!

We will certainly return again to the Aloha Guest House in the future. This isn't a goodbye, but an until we meet again! A hui hou. Mahalo from...

The Aloha Guest House is hands down the most amazing BnB experience we’ve ever had, bar none. My husband and I stayed in the Halawi Room for four nights and did not want to leave. Other reviews have called the five acre grounds paradise and it really is. We loved taking strolls through the beautiful trees (mango, calamansi limes, surinam cherry, lychee, just to name a very small few) and saying hi to the happiest chickens.

Our room came with the most stunning view (there’s nothing quite like waking up to the sun rising above the waters), the BEST shower and access to a spacious and screened lanai, one of our favorite spots for reading and watching the sunset. The room is super clean and luxurious and had really thoughtful touches like waffle cotton robes and slippers.

If this review sounds like praise after praise, it’s because what Lee and Svetlana have done here is what I think people dream about when they stay at BnBs. There is craft and beauty everywhere. Just a few examples are the quadruple water filtering system they’ve set up so that water from every faucet is deliciously drinkable and left my hair SO soft; the vanilla extract in the homemade banana bread that Svetlana makes from manually pollinating each vanilla flower, and the beautiful landscaping so that every view from every window is breathtaking.

A last few things to note, what every review says about the quality of the food here is absolutely true. We found Svetlana’s cooking to ruin us for breakfast anywhere else on the island. They served a variety of fruits from their farm, some of which I had never tasted (jaboticaba, sapote) and others I’d had before, but never realized could taste this good (starfruit and their many kinds of citrus). This fruit is just part of an amazing farm to table experience - beautiful golden yolk eggs and homemade jams and yogurt. Also they have all the amenities available for our daily excursions e.g. beach towels, boogie boards, snorkeling equipment, etc. Lee and Svetlana are also wealths of knowledge, we learned so much about the history of the island, and gardening from them both.

We hope everyone has the opportunity to stay here, it’s truly so unique...

Our 5th stay at the Aloha Guest House. Love this place.

One’s first drive uphill from the Mamalahoa Hwy on the occasionally paved Old Tobacco Road is a great conversation starter and bonding experience for new guests. Four-wheel drive while not strictly necessary is recommended and will in any case serve you well as you explore the less touristy parts of the island. Try to arrive during daylight; after that every pothole will be burned into somatic memory.

As you approach the B&B you drive through Kona coffee fields, orchards, and palm trees. Lee & (master gardener) Svetlana have planted over 50 species of organic fruit trees, adding more each year between our visits. Free-range chickens roam the property while an electrified fence along the perimeter discourages feral cows and pigs. From this bounty Svetlana prepares your daily breakfasts, alternating sweet and savory, eggs with orange-red yolks, fresh-picked buttery avocados, apple bananas, homemade breads, macadamia nut butter, and exotic jams (e.g., liliko’I, Surinam cherry, starfruit, ginger). One morning we were served three different types of guava: Ruby Supreme, White Indonesian, and Philippine Swirl (personal favorite). We joke that we "came for the volcano but stayed for the food."

Lee, your self-deprecating host, works tirelessly and provides personalized advice on where to best hike, snorkel, dine out, whale-watch or simply veg on the beach. The B&B is only 3 miles from Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park; by the end of your stay Lee may have taught you how to pronounce it. Somewhat longer drives to visit active volcano Kilauea, high-speed whale-watching with WHOA, and the summit of Mauna Kea, but none should be missed.

Whatever your daytime adventures try to return in time to watch the spectacular sunsets from the lanai with a glass of wine; at 1500 feet the property has an unencumbered view of the Pacific...