Big Island - What area to stay in?

[wineenthusiast]

Still planning our October trip and I'm 90% sure we are going to go with The Big Island over Maui.  What part of the island should we stay in?  It looks like flying into Kona is our best choice from ORD.  Also does anyone have any hotel recommendations?  I think we'd prefer a smaller boutique hotel on the beach, if this exists.  On Kauai we will be staying in condos on a cliff, overlooking the water (definitely not beach front).  In Honolulu I think we are going with the Marriott Resort close to the Gold Coast area, though this isnt set in stone.  

[Deleted]

We stayed in Waikoloa but I would not recommend the Hilton. It's anything but small or boutique. The size is absurd. As are the birds that screech at all hours of the day and night. I liked the area, though, because it put us close to stuff. 

[Susie]

We're staying in a condo in Kona, across Ali'i Dr. from a small beach.

[mdgirl]

I don't know of any true boutique hotels on the water. If you want something that's not a big resort you're best bet will probably be VRBO. There are random places like the Lava Lava Beach Club cottages, too. There are also B&Bs, especially closer to VNP and south of Kona. The bigger, fancy resorts are north of Kona on the Kohala Coast. We've stayed at the Fairmont Orchid twice and enjoyed it. I think it was pretty full both times but never felt too crowded.

[v]

The Big Island is awesome.

The Four Seasons is not a small boutique by any means (I don't know any waterfront property on the BI that is), but with how it is laid out, it feels much smaller than it is. You're never in an area where a lot of guests are congregating in one place. And it is a ridiculously fabulous hotel.

[marytini]

We stayed in Kona, which I liked. Even though it is big, the Island is very drivable and we were almost everywhere (never made it north of Hilo). There's that whole resort area in Waikoloa, which we visited, shopped and had lunch, but it just didn't appeal to me. It just felt, well, resorty. I honestly don't even know if it's a real town or just resorts for tourists. We liked mixing with locals in Kona, at least as much as one can. I don't even recall the hotel we stayed in, it was a friend's timeshare.

[Whitecaps]

Definitely stay on the Kona side. How long will you be on the island? If you'll be there a while, you may want to consider a night near Volcanoes Nationall Park as well. It's huge with lots of awesome things to see, and you cut out a few hours of exploring if you have to make the drive from Kona.

[wineenthusiast]

Jan 9, 2015 20:18:37 GMT -5 Whitecaps said:

Definitely stay on the Kona side. How long will you be on the island? If you'll be there a while, you may want to consider a night near Volcanoes Nationall Park as well. It's huge with lots of awesome things to see, and you cut out a few hours of exploring if you have to make the drive from Kona.

I think we will be on Big Island from a Wed to Sat or Sun, but I am leaning toward Sunday since we won't arrive until Wed late afternoon and it sounds like a whole day will be dedicated to driving to VNP if we want to see that.  We can check into the time share on Kauai Saturday (but don't have to) and will have it until the following Sat.  

I don't think I'll want to move on the island because we will be moving around a lot as it is.  Plus we are coming from Chicago so it is a full day lost to travel to and from HI.  Our tentative schedule is:
Wed-Sun - Big Island 
Sun-Sat - Kauai (stop-over in HNL to get from KOA to LIH)
Sat-Mon - Oahu (will arrive into HNL mid-late am)

[wineenthusiast]

mdgirl - Lava Lava looks amazing, I am definitely keeping that in mind. I am trying to decide if I'd rather walk right onto the beach or if I want to stay somewhere with a pool. Since our accommodations on the other islands will have pools, I'm not sure its necessary here.

v - The Four Seasons would be a dream come true, holy sh!t it looks awesome... but $900/night is out of my budget.  I am going to check their site frequently for any kind of sale but I have a feeling I won't have much luck!  I think I'm willing to spend in the range of $500/night for something really awesome but would much rather be closer to $300, which I have found a few nice looking B&B, Mauna Lani and Fairmont Orchid for.  

It does seem that everything I'm finding is in the Waikoloa area, as opposed to being in Kona and from many reviews I've read, the area itself isn't very appealing in comparison to Kona.

[Whitecaps]

Jan 10, 2015 0:41:04 GMT -5 wineenthusiast said:

Lava Lava looks amazing, I am definitely keeping that in mind. I am trying to decide if I'd rather walk right onto the beach or if I want to stay somewhere with a pool. Since our accommodations on the other islands will have pools, I'm not sure its necessary here.

Keep in mind, the Big Island doesn't have the miles of sandy beaches like other islands. Much of the coast is rocky. I didn't stay at a resort when I was there, but in my experience, you have to drive to get to the good beaches. 

[magdala]

We honeymooned at the Fairmont Orchid and loved it. It has its own beach and is north of Kona. We also rented a car and drove all over...so fantastic. We went up to the observatory one evening and should have gotten a larger engine (We got a compact) because the every light in the car came on as we got to the top of the volcano.

[joenali]

Jan 8, 2015 13:37:10 GMT -5 Susie said:

We're staying in a condo in Kona, across Ali'i Dr. from a small beach.

Kona Bali'Kai by any chance?

[Susie]

Jan 11, 2015 2:12:16 GMT -5 joenali said:

Jan 8, 2015 13:37:10 GMT -5 Susie said:

We're staying in a condo in Kona, across Ali'i Dr. from a small beach.

Kona Bali'Kai by any chance?

No, but I think we looked there.  (We were booking like a month out from our vacation, so pickings were slim.)  We're staying at White Sands Village.

[love1999]

We stayed at the Sheraton in Kona and liked it. It was more south than all of the other resorts so a little closer to VNP. No beach there but it didn't bother us. It was also much more reasonably priced.