Colony I at Sea Mountain — Hotel in Hawaii

The condo we stayed at was very beautiful, spacious and well maintained. With two bedrooms each having Queen beds and a Queen sized murphy in the living room their was ample space for our family of 5. Do expect to bring in your own groceries for your duration as their are zero restaurants or any stores left in and around the beach itself; save a small grocery store 10 min East or convenience store & restaurants about 13 min in the opposite direction with full size groceries about 25 min in Ocean View. Great pool area, grounds are very well kept as well, good parking, decent facilities, but no real service to speak of (their are landscapers but no attendants, bar/bartenders, housekeepers on property, front desk etc that we noticed).

Now for the one star deducted, although the condos were a beautiful property as mentioned, the surrounding area or rather what is left of what appears to be a former resort is very run down, overgrown or downright hazardous. The entire district doesnt seem too geared toward tourism (which honestly good for them) and thus the shuttered club house, golf course, pro shop, tennis and large restaurant complex on the pond at the East of the property clearly reflect. Its a shame these other uses couldnt remain open but I suspect without a larger hotel presence on property the other uses didnt make financial sense. The black sand beach on the other hand is an absolute GEM, so gorgeous and a rather larger stretch of sand with TURTLES giant coconut trees and tons of fun little tide pools, plus a cute little stand selling souveniers at the East end of the beach near that large pond with the...

The unit is very nice and the kitchen is well equipped. There is a wide selection of stations on the two TVs . The landscaping is beautiful, too and the location near the Punaluu Black Sand Beach is nice.|The Visitor Center in Volcano National Park is a 29 mile drive away.||There is bar soap provided (and dish detergent and tissues) but compared to the other two places on the island we've stayed at where shampoo, body wash, conditioner and body cream are given, they seem to be a bit parsimonious here. The other places (which actually cost less) also provided in the room many beach chairs, a beach umbrella, a cooler, freezer packs, etc.for free. Here you can rent two chairs and an umbrella for $15 a day or $20 with a cooler added.|The environmentalist in me approves of charging extra ($10/day) for the air conditioning since most people then won't use it (but one of the other places did have it for free- we mostly just had it running on fan). Here there are ceiling fans and one floor fan and the ventilation is good so I don't think most people would need it.|Another unusual thing is that they want you to put your tip in an envelope that you give to reception to be distributed by them. But the only one doing something that would usually be tipped is the chambermaid so I left the tip for her in the room.|Check-in time is extremely limited. It starts at 4:00 PM and the office closes at 5:00. Seems like it should at least be until 6:00.|If you accidentally get locked out of your unit, it costs $100 to get back in. If you can't get your safe open- it's $200. There are also fines for various other things that they consider...

The unit is very nice and the kitchen is well equipped. There is a wide selection of stations on the two TVs . The landscaping is beautiful, too and the location near the Punaluu Black Sand Beach is nice. The Visitor Center in Volcano National Park is a 29 mile drive away.

There is bar soap provided (and dish detergent and tissues) but compared to the other two places on the island we've stayed at where shampoo, body wash, conditioner and body cream are given, they seem to be a bit parsimonious here. The other places (which actually cost less) also provided in the room many beach chairs, a beach umbrella, a cooler, freezer packs, etc.for free. Here you can rent two chairs and an umbrella for $15 a day or $20 with a cooler added. The environmentalist in me approves of charging extra ($10/day) for the air conditioning since most people then won't use it (but one of the other places did have it for free- we mostly just had it running on fan). Here there are ceiling fans and one floor fan and the ventilation is good so I don't think most people would need it. Another unusual thing is that they want you to put your tip in an envelope that you give to reception to be distributed by them. But the only one doing something that would usually be tipped is the chambermaid so I left the tip for her in the room. Check-in time is extremely limited. It starts at 4:00 PM and the office closes at 5:00. Seems like it should at least be until 6:00. If you accidentally get locked out of your unit, it costs $100 to get back in. If you can't get your safe open- it's $200. There are also fines for various other things that they consider...