Hāmākua Guesthouse — Hotel in Hawaii

Hamakua Guesthouse absolutely broke my heart on this trip. ||It was my second time to the Big Island and my second time staying at the guest house. I previously came here in March of 2020, weeks before the COVID lockdown started, and memories and photos of my short stay at the Hamakua Guesthouse were a true bright spot for me to reflect on during lockdown. I absolutely loved my visit in 2020 which is why I went out of my way to book a few days here again. The coqui frogs and the rain, the birds, being able to shower and witness a sunrise, sleeping in a hammock--being someone who lives and works in the heart of the East Coast this was balm for my soul.||I loved how minimalistic it was, how it has recycling, composting and is powered by solar and uses rain water. I love when I can minimize my impact on the natural resources of a place I am visiting.||I had 2 nights book for this second trip, and I had no real plans except to enjoy some reading time in the hammock, and hopefully use my gear from Snorkel Bob's one more time before I had to return it and explore neighboring Hilo again. ||I arrived after sunset and parked my car--the parking situation had changed since my last visit. There were now these short, grey, rectangular planters on spindly metal legs being used as a sort of parking marker.||When I walked into my cabana, using my phone as flashlight I pulled the string of the lightbulb in the middle of the the cabana--and nothing happened. I fiddled with it and ended up calling the property manager. He sent an intern down to help me, with them being solar powered, he said, they could be a little picky with how you turn them on.||I unpacked my car and grabbed the dinner I had picked up on my way, with the intention of eating it at the outdoor picnic tables that are behind the main house. I walked, flashlight and veggie wrap in one hand a can of flavored water and a can of beer in the other. There were a series of a few shallow steps to get to where the tables were. I'm scared of heights, so I'm usually really cautious on all steps. The steps however, weren't lit, and in my turning to look at the table and the people sitting at them I missed the bottom step and fell to the ground. My wrap flew into the bush in front of me, my drinks also went to the ground, both knees, my left hand and my right shoulder ended up being torn up--the knees especially. ||There were a few people sitting at the picnic table already--I heard them say 'is she alright?' but they never got up or did anything beyond that. I gathered myself, and my wrap and the two drink cans and went to clean myself up.||I retreated back to my camping cabana down the hill and learned that night exactly how important knee comfort is when getting in and out of a hammock. Luckily I had bandages and Neosporin with me and I was able to keep from bleeding all over the hammock. I ate my abused veggie wrap and sipped on the beer--I couldn't open the other can because it was so damaged in the fall, the beer was barely openable.||I did my best to get comfortable, which was awkward and turned off the light to fall asleep. I was just starting to doze when the light bulb in the middle of the tent turned itself back on. Awkwardly I hoisted myself out of the hammock, knees now stiffer and even more sore, and tugged at the string to turn the light off again. I then did the reverse process of trying to get myself into the hammock without my knees being touched by the folds of its fabric--this is shockingly hard, and went back about my business of trying to fall asleep.||Well, this same process repeated itself through the night. The light suddenly turning itself on, me having to maneuver myself and my shredded knees out of and back into the hammock--and then it was sunrise. I was exhausted, hurting and moving slowly. I didn't get my sunrise shower, and only really started to get up the energy to do something once it was getting close to lunch time. ||I got up and went to the main house, showered and walked into the main area where I saw tank tops for sale--I thought I would message the house manager later that day about wanting to get one--because I was still in love with the guesthouse at this point. I also wanted to talk to him about the lightbulb. ||So I go about getting ready to leave, hop into my rental and maneuver it out of the spot. as I am inching it backwards and forwards. The parking is now you parallel park, but its essentially along what is a long one way driveway, and there is one wider spot that is paved up near the house that you can use to turn around in to leave. As I am doing this a young lady comes out and offers to help me park--and I say, thanks but I'm actually leaving and she walks away after that.||I drive off and am shopping around Hilo, and deciding what to do with my day, where to eat etc when I get a call from the house manager.||"Do you drive a white rental?"|"yes," mind you most rentals are white on the Big Island currently. |"Well, you hit and broke one of our planters and you will need to pay for it."|"What? I'm sorry, Im not saying I didn't but, I'm not aware of hitting anything. I didn't hear or feeling anything"|"One of our staff saw you."|"Okay, Again, I'm sorry but I didn't feel or see anything. I wasn't even parked near that planter, there was another car parked ahead of me."|"That was our owner's truck and it wasn't him. You can pay cash or we can charge it to the card we have on file for you stay."|"How much is it?"||At this point I was assuming it was something they had bought locally. Because supporting the local economy is something that would be inline with the ideals a place like this supposedly has.||No.||It was a Costco planter, they had had to have shipped especially over.||239.22 plus 30 for someone to put it together.||That is how much it cost.||I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found first one made by a local artist for much cheaper--no. I found one that looked exactly the same to me, he said it wasn't.||I was exhausted by this point, I hadn't eaten. Hilo is a tiny town, so everything was closing. As a relevant side note, there was nothing on the car to indicate anything happened.||What absolutely crushed me was that this person who witnessed me apparently murdering this planter, didn't come out and say anything to me when it happened. Instead I am in this presumed guilt limbo. And that this place that I believed really was living some earth saving ideal was insistent on not supporting a local craftsman but instead increasing its carbon footprint by 100% just to get another flimsy Costco planter that is in no way worth nearly $300. There was no care for me having injured myself pretty significantly. My knees are still scared months later.||I found another place to stay my final night, because I felt so wholly unwelcome, went back to the cabana and packed my bags. One spark of magic was still there in that one of the property cats insisted on keeping me company in addition to one of the little green lizards. The cat walked with me to and from my car as I packed everything.||I messaged the house manager I was not staying the night but that the light was still broken and turning itself on, to charge my card because I'm not just walking around with wads of...

Hamakua Guesthouse absolutely broke my heart on this trip. ||It was my second time to the Big Island and my second time staying at the guest house. I previously came here in March of 2020, weeks before the COVID lockdown started, and memories and photos of my short stay at the Hamakua Guesthouse were a true bright spot for me to reflect on during lockdown. I absolutely loved my visit in 2020 which is why I went out of my way to book a few days here again. The coqui frogs and the rain, the birds, being able to shower and witness a sunrise, sleeping in a hammock--being someone who lives and works in the heart of the East Coast this was balm for my soul.||I loved how minimalistic it was, how it has recycling, composting and is powered by solar and uses rain water. I love when I can minimize my impact on the natural resources of a place I am visiting.||I had 2 nights book for this second trip, and I had no real plans except to enjoy some reading time in the hammock, and hopefully use my gear from Snorkel Bob's one more time before I had to return it and explore neighboring Hilo again. ||I arrived after sunset and parked my car--the parking situation had changed since my last visit. There were now these short, grey, rectangular planters on spindly metal legs being used as a sort of parking marker.||When I walked into my cabana, using my phone as flashlight I pulled the string of the lightbulb in the middle of the the cabana--and nothing happened. I fiddled with it and ended up calling the property manager. He sent an intern down to help me, with them being solar powered, he said, they could be a little picky with how you turn them on.||I unpacked my car and grabbed the dinner I had picked up on my way, with the intention of eating it at the outdoor picnic tables that are behind the main house. I walked, flashlight and veggie wrap in one hand a can of flavored water and a can of beer in the other. There were a series of a few shallow steps to get to where the tables were. I'm scared of heights, so I'm usually really cautious on all steps. The steps however, weren't lit, and in my turning to look at the table and the people sitting at them I missed the bottom step and fell to the ground. My wrap flew into the bush in front of me, my drinks also went to the ground, both knees, my left hand and my right shoulder ended up being torn up--the knees especially. ||There were a few people sitting at the picnic table already--I heard them say 'is she alright?' but they never got up or did anything beyond that. I gathered myself, and my wrap and the two drink cans and went to clean myself up.||I retreated back to my camping cabana down the hill and learned that night exactly how important knee comfort is when getting in and out of a hammock. Luckily I had bandages and Neosporin with me and I was able to keep from bleeding all over the hammock. I ate my abused veggie wrap and sipped on the beer--I couldn't open the other can because it was so damaged in the fall, the beer was barely openable.||I did my best to get comfortable, which was awkward and turned off the light to fall asleep. I was just starting to doze when the light bulb in the middle of the tent turned itself back on. Awkwardly I hoisted myself out of the hammock, knees now stiffer and even more sore, and tugged at the string to turn the light off again. I then did the reverse process of trying to get myself into the hammock without my knees being touched by the folds of its fabric--this is shockingly hard, and went back about my business of trying to fall asleep.||Well, this same process repeated itself through the night. The light suddenly turning itself on, me having to maneuver myself and my shredded knees out of and back into the hammock--and then it was sunrise. I was exhausted, hurting and moving slowly. I didn't get my sunrise shower, and only really started to get up the energy to do something once it was getting close to lunch time. ||I got up and went to the main house, showered and walked into the main area where I saw tank tops for sale--I thought I would message the house manager later that day about wanting to get one--because I was still in love with the guesthouse at this point. I also wanted to talk to him about the lightbulb. ||So I go about getting ready to leave, hop into my rental and maneuver it out of the spot. as I am inching it backwards and forwards. The parking is now you parallel park, but its essentially along what is a long one way driveway, and there is one wider spot that is paved up near the house that you can use to turn around in to leave. As I am doing this a young lady comes out and offers to help me park--and I say, thanks but I'm actually leaving and she walks away after that.||I drive off and am shopping around Hilo, and deciding what to do with my day, where to eat etc when I get a call from the house manager.||"Do you drive a white rental?"|"yes," mind you most rentals are white on the Big Island currently. |"Well, you hit and broke one of our planters and you will need to pay for it."|"What? I'm sorry, Im not saying I didn't but, I'm not aware of hitting anything. I didn't hear or feeling anything"|"One of our staff saw you."|"Okay, Again, I'm sorry but I didn't feel or see anything. I wasn't even parked near that planter, there was another car parked ahead of me."|"That was our owner's truck and it wasn't him. You can pay cash or we can charge it to the card we have on file for you stay."|"How much is it?"||At this point I was assuming it was something they had bought locally. Because supporting the local economy is something that would be inline with the ideals a place like this supposedly has.||No.||It was a Costco planter, they had had to have shipped especially over.||239.22 plus 30 for someone to put it together.||That is how much it cost.||I looked on Facebook Marketplace and found first one made by a local artist for much cheaper--no. I found one that looked exactly the same to me, he said it wasn't.||I was exhausted by this point, I hadn't eaten. Hilo is a tiny town, so everything was closing. As a relevant side note, there was nothing on the car to indicate anything happened.||What absolutely crushed me was that this person who witnessed me apparently murdering this planter, didn't come out and say anything to me when it happened. Instead I am in this presumed guilt limbo. And that this place that I believed really was living some earth saving ideal was insistent on not supporting a local craftsman but instead increasing its carbon footprint by 100% just to get another flimsy Costco planter that is in no way worth nearly $300. There was no care for me having injured myself pretty significantly. My knees are still scared months later.||I found another place to stay my final night, because I felt so wholly unwelcome, went back to the cabana and packed my bags. One spark of magic was still there in that one of the property cats insisted on keeping me company in addition to one of the little green lizards. The cat walked with me to and from my car as I packed everything.||I messaged the house manager I was not staying the night but that the light was still broken and turning itself on, to charge my card because I'm not just walking around with wads of...

Stayed in "cabana" #1 through hipcamp.com, which was next to the main house. Unfortunately, it was not the jungle glamping experience we were hoping for. The house area where there are shared bathrooms and a shared kitchen felt like the My Hawaii hostel where we spent a night in busy, noisy Kona, minus any staff presence or enough shared space. This is really a hostel with private rooms in a house, private "cabanas," and shared "cabanas" on what has the appearance of a small golf course. The "cabanas" are closely lined up along a concrete driveway on a trimmed grass lawn. If they had been separated by tropical vegetation, then this would have had that magical secluded jungle feel.

Another detractor from the experience was the loud generator, which--fortunately--turned off before we went to sleep. Distant surf was occasionally audible, as were the neighbor's barking dogs and loud cars on Hawaii route 19. Noise and headlights from late check-ins driving up to the house and slamming car doors was also bothersome. There weren't noises loud enough to make it through my earplugs after 2200, though.

I have been putting quotes on cabana, because they were not "screened in" (as listed) like a lanai. They were elevated gazebos with mesh shower curtains that had significant gaps at the top that allowed insects in. Some mosquitos and moths are OK, but I was stung on the neck by a small wasp, whose tiny hive I located on a 2x4 spring the ceiling just outside the screen door of the gazebo.

There is only one small outdoor picnick table in the kitchen area, which was taken by some guests playing a board game. Some seemed to be staying in the main house--which had ample common space available to them--but they felt like sitting outside, so we ate our dinner on the steps on the walkway to our gazebo. This wasn't so bad, considering there was a strong incense smoke smell coming from the house. This is strong enough that it was a bit uncomfortable to be within 25-40 feet downwind of the house

Blankets and hammocks were scented with laundry products, though not disgustingly fragrant. Fortunately, towels were unscented.

Morning sunrise over the Ocean was pretty. The shower/bathroom that felt like it was over the kitchen the night before, had the feel of an outdoor shower with an ocean view in the morning light. The walk to the waterfall swimming (spectacular) area was quick, though the gate instructions in our email were not correct. Coffee and an egg sandwich with locals at Mr. Ed's right after they opened and Akaka Falls completed the wonderful morning.

More outdoor seating, screened cabanas, and a more tropical feel would make this a 5...