Kirpal Meditation and Ecological Center — Hotel in Hawaii

Overall: I had a positive experience here. I do think that your impression of the place will depend largely on other guests adhering to the culture and relaxation goals of the center. We expected rustic, spare, and isolated--which we got---but we also had a large party of guests in the next cabin who were on the louder side and noisily appalled at the lack of amenities (why they would expect a typical hotel experience, I don't understand).The cabins were small, charming, and electrified. I was fine with any and all critters I encountered (geckos, coqui frogs, pigs, etc). Yes, the coqui frogs are loud at night, but I got used to them quickly after the first night's stay. I brought earplugs just in case, but ended up not using them. Amenities are fine and honestly provided more than I needed on a daily basis, as I was looking to jettison most aspects of on-grid living anyway. Most of what we saw and experienced was exactly as described on the Kirpal website.

Meals, meditation, and yoga: The meals and yoga sessions are a little expensive, and they will add up over time. We attended a yoga session that was almost entirely populated by staff, who were all much younger and more advanced in yoga than we were. Many staffers were friendly, but I did feel out of place in the yoga class and in that context I felt like I was treated with a casual indifference by some of the staffers, some of whom seemed more interested in their own experience than making newcomers feel welcome to participate in their community. That being said, the meals were delicious and the yoga sessions inspired me to take it up once I returned home. The meditation pavilion was beautiful, peaceful, and we visited many times over the course of our stay. If you are in the cabin nearest the meditation pavilion (I think it's called Dragonfly) please be considerate of the people who are quietly meditating nearby.

If you need access to meat, constant hot water, alcohol, a mirror and other personal grooming tools and amenities (makeup, shaving supplies, blow dryer, etc), space to play loud music, to catch up noisily with a group of friends, fresh towels daily, or anything else that you get in a standard hotel, you might want to consider looking elsewhere.Overall, I would recommend this place to any visitor who observes or is looking to transition to a plant-based diet (like me), is interested in the benefits of yoga, seeks to live life more mindfully, and wants to be immersed in a...

Kirpal is everything that other reviewers have described. Is it for you? Maybe. Maybe not. When we arrived, we were greeted by Padma and Lulu (Lovely yoga-vegan ladies), who checked us in. The Yoga Hale 1 is a small sparely furnished private screened-in room with a deck. It is part of the yoga structure where a class was being held. You can use curtains for side "windows", but no one is there to peer in. The big glass door opening to the view of the ocean and forest doesn't need a curtain. No one but wild birds, frogs, and maybe a wild piggie or two are out there. Some creatures do manage to get into the room, including geckos, and I did see fleeting glimpses of some other unidentified creeping things that inhabit the rain forest just outside the door. They were not an issue, but you have to be prepared to not get freaked out about them. The bathrooms are open to the forest on one side. You can sit there and contemplate nature, or shower (brrriefly) in the unheated 85°F water. (I may be wrong about that, but it did not get hot for us.) And there was a posting exhorting the bather to conserve, lest he feel guilty about using too much. A shared kitchen was available, and meals were available at extra cost. One of the residents was preparing a delicious smelling curry when I checked it out. If you bring food, you have to label your stuff, and not eat what's not yours. It is a completely vegerarian or vegan operation, based on the Center's founder's policies, so don't bring meat, fish, milk, eggs, or alcohol. (Exception allowed for the the yard cat to catch mice.) At night, the coqui frogs create what can be described as a wall of sound. Earplugs are provided, but I did not use them. By the morning, their chirping diminished somewhat, and I heard the sound of the rain on the roof and the forest. Your liking or not liking this place depends on expectations. I was fine with the more rustic experience (*), but my wife was very much not ()--hence the 2 stars. The people who live and work there are genuine, but they could improve a visitor's experience with an orientation about the place and how it works. A few additional furnishings, laundry facilities (at least to dry your clothes, because air-drying doesn't happen), some hot water for bathing, and extra communication are needed to set the visitor...

Upon reading other reviews on the Kirpal Meditation and Ecological Center we were kinda on the fence coming here. But we decided that the Hawaiian jungle and simplistic living style was exactly what we were looking for. And boy did it provide!!! Checking in was a little tough as they don't really have a procedure or process for that, but it was figured out quickly and we were informed that a new procedure would be in place soon for a smoother check in. Glad that we could assist with that improvement. 😊 We read that the Coqui frogs were like a hundred fire alarms going off at once, keeping you from having a restful sleep, we loved hearing them sing every night along with the other night animals, I mean, we are in the middle of the Hawaiian jungle after all. Hearing the animals is part of the charm of this beautiful natural place. Don't be alarmed when you wake up to multiple cute little geckos sharing your room, they are just curious as to who is in their home. 😊 They all had their own names when we left. We shared a couple of meals with the staff but chose to spend the majority of our time exploring the island and just being together. We read that the staff could be "cliquey" and "excluding" of guests. I can see how someone would think that if they needed constant attention and a schedule to follow. We saw it as them giving us space to experience this magical place our way. They were there, in the background, asking if we needed anything and even inviting us to a local drum circle. Everyone was helpful and any time we had a question or just wanted to chat. There are tons of volunteers here so you can almost always find someone if you need something, they don't chase you down asking if you need anything. Everyone was friendly and knowledgeable about the fruit trees and history of Hawaii, each staff offered a little something different. We truly enjoyed each person that we met here. ❤️ If I would make any suggestions for Kirpal, it would be to leave a tablet and pencil in each bungalow for guest journaling or to leave a note for staff if they needed towels or a bed change. And a laminated map of the property showing where everything is located along with a schedule of meal times and activities provided. Otherwise, Ahouey Ho!...