Kohala Village Inn — Hotel in Hawaii

I was looking for a place to stay in Hawi, HI. The selection was quite low as this was not a main attraction like Maui and other places. Kohala Village appeared to have favorable reviews. Wow, I was misled by what must have been less than honest reviews or possibly their expectations were not as high as mine. The photos on Google or other sites may have been when it was in newer condition or a different building. But the one I was placed in was less than satisfactory. Maybe in the day it was good but presently, at least with the room I was in, less than 1 star.||Upon entering in the evening there was no human present at the front desk. This place is always open and has no security. There was a sign posted saying there was limited hours of someone being there. I seem to recall it was 9am – 4pm or around there. I was on my own. In checking my emails my room number and code to unlock to room door were found.||My first reaction was to get me out of here. Very old, in need of repair, room smelled bad as if it had been closed up and vacant for a period of time. The room did not appear to be nice and clean. The room was extremely small. A springy mattress, very small night stand, no box of tissue, no microwave other than a small single unit in the entry of the building, no table, desk or shelf to place anything on, no customary phone although I didn’t need it anyway. A/C was not working (turns out the battery was corroded) and the TV turned on with Spanish wording on screen. I switched to English but no broadcast. The overhead fan had to be turned off due to a noisy motor. Moving to the bathroom the small shower had dark spots on the sides. Maybe these were gecko turds or just plain filth. There was some accumulated stuff as well in the pan. The toilet had been replaced as seen by the stains on the floor. It also would rock and not be steady when sitting. There was a note above to toilet paper that mentioned the pipes were delicate from being plantation housing and to flush accordingly. The bathroom has no fan for showering or #2. Water pipes to the small free standing sink were bare, sticking out of the floor. There is a window that does not lock, it lets whoever is outside in the parking lot an interesting view.||Wood flooring was throughout, from entry of the building, hallway and room itself. What few people that stayed there were made known by their voices and footsteps down the hallway. I say few people because in the morning other than my rental car and another family rental car, there was only one other car.||If you are in need of room service for simple things like toilet paper you need to prepare in advance. Otherwise, you will be in a bad situation.||One morning as I went to seek assistance a homeless man was seen sleeping on a chair. A worker came in and must have said something, so he got up. He had urinated himself, the chair and left a puddle on the floor. I mentioned to the front desk lady when I happened to see her later that day about what happened. She mentioned she would let the manager know. Two days later the stained chair remained.||There is no food available, as most hotels would have a continental breakfast. Then again I was mistaken when I thought this was hotel. There was a place around the corner where you could order a burrito or may have been called the Breakfast Melt at the Kohala Coffee Mill. It was out of my comfort zone with eggs, cilantro and other ingredients, but it was fantastic!||There is a building adjacent the room where I stayed. Apparently, it is rented out for activities. Until 10:30pm there was a live and a loud band playing, despite a room sign that says after 10:00pm is quiet time. With no service on site most of the time you are on your own.||I knew it was time to get up when roosters outside the window announced it was morning. I didn’t mind that much or the baby gecko the ran across the floor. After all this is Hawaii.||Sorry to leave this review. My stay there was not relaxing but...

A pretty mediocre hotel, but not too bad if you're on a budget.

When we arrived, all the windows of our room were open, despite being in the middle of a rainstorm. This also includes the windows to the bathroom/shower, which were facing the central courtyard, which definitely seems like a questionable choice. As a result, the whole room was cold, and near the windows was wet.

The room itself was pretty tiny, with barely enough room for the two beds and refrigerator (the refrigerator actually blocked the bathroom door from fully opening). There were literally no hooks in the entire room, so hanging our wet clothes and bathing suits/towels was a bit of a challenge. Although there was a tiny closet that we could jam our suitcases into, there weren't any hangers, and definitely no place with drawers to put clothes into.

There is some kind of bar/restaurant in the building, but it's closed on Sunday, as is every other dining option within a short drive after 8 PM. The staff pretty much evacuates the building at 7PM, so if you're showing up after that, you might have problems. Make sure you get the wifi password before they disappear, since otherwise you're pretty SOL.

Now for the things that were actually kind of problematic: The room's smoke detector had been pulled out of the ceiling, leaving some dangling wires. The windows, once closed, rattle cacophonously whenever the wind blows. I jammed some of the towels into the gaps and that kept them quieter. The refrigerator is sitting out in the open and makes a lot more noise than any mini fridge I've encountered (think a cross between a large drone and a small AC). The walls are thin enough and the floor hollow enough that you can hear everyone in the rooms nearby, and most people walking down the halls. There is a TV, but it doesn't have any channel listings or guide provided, so it took us a good 30 minutes to find the channel we were looking for. The place seems to have kind of a weird smell. Couldn't put my finger on what exactly it was, but definitely an unpleasant odor IMO. There's only really one sitting area in the building, so it's not like you can depend on being able to sit somewhere other than the rooms (which, to be clear, don't have any seating in them, and don't really have room for any seating).

This place probably isn't as bad as I'm making it sound, and if it's a lot cheaper than your other options, it's pretty reasonable, but it definitely seems like helping people get an idea of what this place is like would...

If you like the hustle and bustle of high volume tourist destination, then stay in Kona. If you want to get away, relax and enjoy island life, then go to Kohala! I have very simple needs when it comes to a hotel room... Clean Sheets, Clean Towels, and Clean Room. I'm not interested in 10 star swimming pools and state of the art gyms. Hawi is definitely a SMALL town and the Kohala Village Inn right smack in the middle of it. The restaurant was closed for renovations but within a 10 minute walk, you have some excellent sushi, fine art galleries, some of the best Mexican food I've had in Hawaii, and a coffee shop so comfy that you would have no problem sitting there all day with a good book.

Be forewarned, the town starts shutting down by 5:00 pm and is pretty much closed by 9:00 [10:00 on weekends], so you want to utilize that mini fridge and load up on the late night cocktails and snacks. Oh, and don't forget, the Inn has a living room area with hot water and a mircowave with free WiFi to boot.

The Kohala Village Inn is definitely on my list of place to re-visit. I was there for business so my next trip will be to just relax and enjoy the small town...