Volcano Forest Inn (VFI) — Hotel in Hawaii

This is not a traditional B&B. It is a bad Airbnb, complete with chores, fines, and signage everywhere.  It is the most unwelcoming place I've ever stayed, truly taking the host out of hospitality.  The only time I saw him was when he was when he was on his way out for errands, and he required that I pay the "cleaning and service fee" in cash or Venmo. Shady AF for a commercial establisment.  Considering the general lack of cleanliness and service, I have my suspicions.

In fact, if you aren't timely enough with this shady fee buried in the extra details of your booking, he locks you out. That's right. He prints your name in large, bold letters, tapes it to the front door, and deactivates your front door code. So, if you can't figure out how to access the walls of text you get from this place that are somehow unfindable in the Expedia app, you can scan the QR code while you cool your heels on the porch of the place you've already paid hundreds to stay at.  You would think a place that is so concerned about guest security (cameras, fine for leaving the patio door unlocked, COVID so the host is completely absent) would not misuse guests' PII so grossly.

The "breakfast" is a couple of sugary snacks fit only for the metabolism of a twelve year old.  You can cook your own breakfast, but be prepared to wash your own dishes, and by the way, the dishwasher is broken. The common area (where you make your own coffee in the communal drip pot) is monitored by camera. They make sure you know with unfriendly signage.

The bed was an old spring mattresses with an ancient foam topper. If you aren't of the age to eat the snacks, you probably won't sleep well, either. You get one over-stuffed pillow each, and if you are not eating the snacks, then you know why that's a problem.  You get one towel per guest, which never dries between showers, so get used to that wet towel feeling.  The rooms are spacious, yes. So spacious that you need glasses to see the tiny TV in the corner. And good luck reading the subtitles when you are afraid to turn up the volume for fear of being fined.

In summary, stay somewhere else. Seriously.  If you have no other options, do try to read your multiple walls of texts carefully. They are accessible from an email with a link somewhere. They will tell you your door code and that contacting him after 9pm is a $50 fine. There is probably info about the jenky service fee in there somewhere, but I don't get very far into unformatted walls of text on my phone without going cross-eyed.  Be prepared for a long, potholed, gravel driveway.  He will not greet you at that door and help you...

We stayed one night at this BnB. All around our stay was fine. It was located very close to the volcano which was nice. We visited the volcano the first day before we checked in and then made repeat trips at night and the following day. This location was great for that.

The Honeycreeper room in which we stayed was pretty spacious. It had a sliding door and a few windows so the lighting was good. The bed was comfortable and was made up of two double beds pushed together to make a queen.

The breakfast was just OK. As I have seen mentioned in other reviews, it was pretty carb heavy consisting of a piece of toast, 1 single large pancake, a poorly sliced half apple (I had to cut out the middle to remove the core and seeds in my 2 slices) and a sliced orange. I would have appreciated some more variety with eggs, meat or some kind of protein.

One thing that we noticed that was very strange to us was that there was no hand soap, only hand sanitizer in our bathroom. There was also no hand soap in the kitchen common area. I ended up using the sanitizer first then washing my hands with the body wash from the shower. It was weird.

I personally got a weird vibe from the hosts. It felt like they were trying to be friendly as a courtesy but in reality had no interest in associating with their guests. All things considered I am generally fine with that, but something about it felt disingenuous. This was one of our first BNB experiences and I can't say that I was really sold on the concept. It felt like we were just paying for a room in someone's house. At that rate, an AirBNB would probably have been cheaper.

Ultimately, our stay was totally acceptable and we slept pretty well. If I had to do it again, I would pick a different place. I'd probably go with a 3.5 but since I have to pick between 3 and 4, a 3 feels more appropriate. The location is good if you plan on spending a majority of your time at...

John, either the caretaker, part owner or full owner (never quite sure) was very friendly and helpful. We arrived very late and John provided the code to the front door and left our keys in the door to our room. |Upon entering the common area/kitchen, the strong odor of mildew prevailed. Entering the room, we found the same strong mildew odor; a problem for my breathing. The weather at 4,000 feet above sea level is cooler than Hawaii beaches, and we entered a room that was unheated and at between 58-60 degrees. The room had a barely adequate space heater that very slowly increased the temperature, taking almost a full day to get the room to about 68F. The mildew odor was unaffected by the heat. (John needs to acquire a decent sized ozone generator to kill off the mildew smell)||While this is an affordable facility, these were two significant issues. We were required to provide a $60. cleaning fee upon arrival. In the room, cleaning below head level was good. Above that, not so. This included the ceiling fan blades and the bathroom light fixture, where only one of four light bulbs functioned. Two were missing entirely.||As a B&B we were unsure what to expect in the morning. What we enjoyed was a loaf of whole wheat bread on the kitchen counter, strawberry jam, and a small selection of fresh fruit. A toaster was available. A drip coffee maker was present with ground coffee. It was make your own. The kitchen was available to use with your own food. There are not a lot of food options in this area, so if you plan to stay here, pick up your additional grocery items before you leave a larger city. At least the bed was...