Kona Islander Inn

Just got done with my stay at kona islander inn. We stayed 2 nights this weekend. Our stay was mediocre. I would have rated higher but customer service from the front desk was TERRIBLE. Jane was outright rude. The room was not too bad but very disappointed with the service. I will not come back. The goals of any hotel/​vacation rental should make the customers feel welcome, comfortable, and want to come back. This is not what we experience. Location was the only enjoyable aspect. Next time we come to kona (we live in hilo so quit often) I will not waste my time and money here.

We stayed for one night and I am glad that was all it was. The location and outside area were okay, but the room was disgusting. The bed had not been changed from the previous stay with dirt, skin, hairs and goodness knows what else on the sheets. The shower tub was very dirty. Overall the entire room was dirty, smelly and in disrepair. The good part is that we complained to the property management company and they issued a full refund. I believe there are good units at the property as we saw a number being renovated which looked in good shape when we walked by. Half of the units are run by a property management company for private owners; so, it is likely hit-​and-​miss as to whether you would get a good unit or not. One other tip: parking is limited, with only about half the spaces for the number of units. The management company provided some other suggestions nearby, including a discounted paid option. We ultimately found a space on the street nearby; so, not a big issue, but something to consider.

Me and my husband were staying in the room #239 for Christmas and New Year holiday. This is my first negative review. This place is dirty, there is never be cleaned well before. I bought the trip on Expedia. I could not imagine that they sales private condos that owners doesn’t care about anything excepting for getting profit from renting their property. There is policy when you rent this place. NOTICE: THE CLEANING FEE IS ONLY AN «OUT-​CLEANING FEE» IT DOES NOT COVER YOUR DAILY DISHES, DAILY TOWEL USAGE OR DAILY GARBAGE DISPOSAL. PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT THESE ITEMS ARE CLEANED UP AND DONE ON A DAILY BASIS & BEFORE YOU LEAVE OR THERE WILL BE AN ADDITIONAL CHARGE FOR ANY ADDITIONAL CLEANING UPON YOUR DEPARTURE AND CHARGED TO THE CREDIT CARD ON FILE.
I paid for this condo around $ 200 per night.
The cleaning lady who came in the day we checked out rudely made us to wash a cup and one dish we left so as to avoid a fine. We bought paper dishes and used them mostly because all dishes are terribly dirty there.
There wasn’t bed bugs but roaches. A bed smells that bad like you are sleeping on the garbage. Air conditioner doesn’t work just making nose instead of cooling air. The stove it’s not a real one. It’s a tiny portable stove hardly working. If you are going for a vacation and want to rent this place expect having problems and solve them by yourself. No one will help you with them. You will have to buy a lot of things like toilet paper, shampoo, napkins… If you use their super old towels make sure you washed them before you leave because they charge for that.

A week long stay… let’s see if I can find some positives. Located Close in to restaurants and shopping of the waterfront area. Loved the plants around the walking paths.
The unit itself had some mold in the shower and on the shower head. Was evident that this ground unit on the street side had been subjected to water damage. Sparse paint covering wall damage. Dark underneath paint led us to believe more mold just being covered by the paint. Not even a cheap DVD player for the tv.
Long Hair in the bed. Loud AC unit.
Very very small and cramped kitchen area.
It was a Studio, but that’s just too small a space for a kitchen. Just sink and small fridge, microwave .that’s ok but just crammed in.
Parking limited.
Locals call it a dump.

My husband and I booked room 145 for a week in October through RCI, our timeshare exchange. This facility offers studio condo’s only which have a small fridge, coffee pot and microwave in the kitchen area. NO toaster or anything to cook with other than an electric fry pan. The electric fry pan was not clean, I had to clean it to make toast. I cleaned the black mold off of the faucet and the handle in the shower shortly after we arrived. I went to the front desk to replace the towels I used to clean the shower and was told it is rented through RCI and the linen comes from another facility. The friendly staff at the front desk called immediately to get new linen and I picked them later in the day from the front desk. The chairs on the deck had mold along the back of them. The only table in the room had a section in the middle of it that had mold stains on it. The sheets and towels were stained. I found (2) long black hairs in the sheets when pulling the covers back. My husband is bald, I have blonde hair. I had a new set of sheets sent to the front desk also. The new sheets were also stained. The entire railing for the bottom of the closet is rusted.
In my opinion the good points do not out way the bad. The great things about this Inn are… It is right in the middle of town, you can hear the waves crashing on the beach, it has a nice pool and the staff are helpful and very pleasant. Although I did not see any other rooms I’m sure all of them are better kept up than room 145. I may stay at this facility in the future IF it is the only place to stay for the week I want to be on the Big Island (as it was for this trip) but I would not go at all if I had to stay in room 145. I took pictures of the condition of this condo but can’t figure out how to get them on here from my phone.

This is NOT a hotel. It is privately owned condos that are old, dilapidated and quite frankly overly seedy. There was NO soap anywhere. When asked for soap or wifi at the main lobby, we were told NO. They didn’t have either. The shower was gross and stained and needs to be thrown out along with everything else in the room. The bamboo floors were the only nice clean thing of the place. Who knows if the sheets and towels are clean, but my 70 year old mother and I couldn’t think about it. Hard to sleep. Very very hot and stuffy in the room. The air conditioner basically had two settings: extremely loud and cool (ish) or off and stifling. The furniture is old and rickety. I could go on, but what’s the point. It’s gross. Period. Thank goodness we both have a sense of humor and had many a good laughs at the owners’ expense…

I absolutely loved spending my long weekend at Kona Islander room #236. Location was prime, right on Ali’i Drive, smack dab in the middle of the main drag. Upon arriving, the young lady, Lorraine, was super helpful and accommodating although our itinerary had a little hiccup– check in was at 4pm. So with some time to kill, we called Enterprise, a shuttle came to us and we rented a car and cruised till check in.
The room was EXCEPTIONAL! Fridge with ice maker, dishes, blender, basic cooking tools, dinner table out on the beautiful lanai surrounded by lush tropical plants. Linens, bathroom, everything was super clean and cozy. There were books and Netflix and a few convenient luxuries like a cooler and beach towels. This is the type of place you come and set your worries aside.
Can’t wait to return again!

Some pretty bad reviews about this hotel but my stay was uneventful. Two nights at a decent price. Downtown and the main drag is right outside your door. No complaints from me, just nothing in particular that would bring me back.

Do NOT stay here. Not a hotel. Individual Condo apartments that they rent out. They don’t say that on their website. They advertise as pastel décor. What décor? Old & dated. No minimum standards for condo or cleanliness. While you might get a nicer one, if lucky… Those of us stuck with the luck of the draw… Not so lucky. We wasted a good hour trying to check in. looking at one disgusting filthy place after another. Can’t get your money back, so we are stuck.

Worse experience I ever had. first of all online pic. Is really miss leading, I confirmed that I will want a unit with a kitchen and I didn’t get that. .we checked in a little after 9pm, there is no parking I had to unload my family, go drive up and down the street looking for avilb. parking cause they didn’t mention it is first come first serve. 2^nd, we open the pull out dust couch to find there is no sheets. i go to the desk, ask if someone can bring me sheets, he replied I don’t no if we can I have to the manager and see what they
like you kidding me right, nope, they didn’t have no sheets, I had to compromise too the hot blanket off the bed to use as a sheet so I could sleep on that why my girls sleep on the bed .the shower is heavy stained, it’s full of kitchen ware but no stove, the floors were dirty, no complimentary ice, toothpaste, or shampoo like most places, it has a 5000, btu, ac that barely make the room comfortable. .there attitude and customer service is even worse, I came to kona to scatter my brother ashes, and want everything to just be a little comfy, to get buy couple night we spent a lot of money with everything else we had to do, this was reasonable, but I guess you get what you pay for crappie all the way around… bbb. is next. .I feel they should refund me back half of my money.

Rm 136 was FILTHY, not well supplied or maintained. I finally had to l to go the office and asked have it cleaned, there was no apology or concern. The room had no stove, just a hot plate, walls were painted dark green, dark red and dark green so it was like a cave and lighting was very poor. It was like being in a cave.
The location is great except that Kona has an overabundance of homeless people and quite a few hang out directly across the street from the walking exit. They do not bother you or ask for money, some make things to sell.
The wi-​fi reception is the lobby and very week.
The central area where the pool is located has a lush and beautiful garden area.

Do you like BUGS in your bed? You’ve come to the right place. Do you enjoy VISIBLE MOLD in the bathroom, with a fan that does not work because it’s so clogged up with dust & mold? This is the motel for you. Do you like getting told you will get a refund, only to be blown-​off for 2 months? By all means, make this your destination. Scary. Less expensive, yes, but everything has a cost. If you value your health, you will pay a bit more & stay somewhere else.

The location was very convenient to Kona’s downtown area. We booked a very last minute trip to Hawaii and they had the ONLY availability for the nights we needed, those were the only positive things about this place. The staff wasn’t friendly, the room wasn’t clean, the place was very dirty and smelled disturbingly frightening. The room itself wasn’t maintained, there were petrified bugs on the walls, ants all over, the «kitchen appliances» barely worked, the shower had clearly not even been cleaned, the floor was vulgar and had not been sweptbor mopped in what seemed like months. Worst of all, there was what was surely appeared to be human fluids on the walls and pictures. Since this place doesn’t work like a typical hotel, that’s not to say all the rooms will be the same or as in such bad condition, but the cleaning should be on par with what we had discovered. I had to not think about it too much, or it would have ruined that part of our trip! :(

Cons:
Room 331… Gross. Not kid friendly. Bed was not a queen but a full. Furniture was minimal. It had the old rattan love seat and 2 single chairs. It had cold tile floor with no area rug and a glass top table. The TV was from the 90s and in an oversized armoire that could only be seen from the couch. Air conditioner was practically on the floor… The room never really got cold even at 64 degrees. The bathroom didn’t have a door… With little ones it was annoying to have to constantly keep them out of the toilet … Lol It is a walk up step stairs.
Pros:
The kichen/​bath sink was double which was good and the kitchen area was fully equipped for a kitchenette. Double locking doors
Parking was okay

Don’t stay in unit 327. Rita, the owner of this unit, doesn’t seen to think its a big deal to compound broken small appliances, missing kitchen baskets, dirty sheets and the mysterious wad of toilet paper shoved in the ceiling. The paint peeling off the shower, (who paints the interior of a shower?) is a huge turn off. During a call to Rita, she broke down in tears. This is a professional conversation about just what needs to be done. We suggests she discount the price of the unit for us as we were at Long’s buying the small appliances we needed for our stay. She told us she thought that was illegal and suggested the following: «Don’t ever stay with us and leave a bad review.» I’m taking her advice. If we could find a room for tonight we would move on.

Wished I looked at Unilocalers reviews before renting here. Never, never again and wouldn’t recommend anyone here. The place we rented was really dirty, stink and old. This room needs repair and updating. I couldn’t believe they’d rent out a room like this. The mirrors and glass were dirty, their was a dip in the middle of the bed, dust on the lamp shade was thicker than molasses and chipped by paint, the sofa bed was dirty and so was the coffee table.
Oh and to top it off, the young haole stuck up girl at the front desk did not show no ALOHA spirit at all. I asked her if the pool was open since the day before they were maintaining it and she told me to ask the security guard. Supposedly this security guard does more than just secure premises. The front desk haole girl is in the wrong business. She needs to work somewhere where she does not deal with customers. Her attitude makes the company look bad. When getting a parking pass, she had the «VALLEY GIRL» attitude throughout the whole process. My other friend stayed here once in the past and she knew exactly who I was talking about because she had a conflict with her also about their room.

Our plane landed late, so we were met by Security who took us to Room 101. Eek! The room was tiny. We were supposed to have a Queen bed and a futon. The bed didn’t look especially clean and the futon was broken. The «bathroom» consisted of a toilet and a grungy shower stall. The only sink was in the «kitchen.» Although the grounds are lovely and the location is great, the room was, frankly, «icky.»
After one night we checked out and, for the same price, found a one bedroom, two bath condo at Kona Coast Resort.
Perhaps there are better rooms available as the rooms are individually owned, apparently. Do NOT rent a room until you have seen it!

We rented two rooms for the family when we came over from the other side of the island. The rooms are VERY small. Fairly clean although I was unimpressed by the bathroom (hair in the shower & towels) but the kitchen was nice & the living room/​bedroom were clean. The furniture is old so be careful. A few cigarette burns too. There are NO shower shampoo or soap, etc. Bring your own.
The kitchen had dishes & soap to wash them. The floors were tile, so easily cleaned. Couch was comfortable as was the bed. Had cable on a new TV.
Internet was available for $ 3 a day but I didn’t use it. Doors have a lot of locks. Parking is VERY limited. Bedroom & Kitchen were ok but Bathroom was not very wheelchair friendly.

We are island residents, and make frequent trips from one side of Hawaii to the other. From the street, despite the very inexpensive room charges, this looks like a bit of old Hawaii. When you walk past the dinky pool to the front desk, you think hey, I am going to be swimming in the ocean, so the pool doesn’t really matter. And you think, the ocean is right across the street, and that’s petty neat.
You walk past the ti plants and awapuhi ginger, and think hey, they put some effort into this place.
But to be on the safe side, we asked to see the room before we plunked down our cash. The very nice lady gave us a key and told us how to find it. On opening the room our noses were met with a smell I would trade any day of the week for wet-​dirty-​dog. It was the smell of nasty old room. Smoked in for years, despite the no smoking sign nailed to the wall. Not opened to let the air in regularly in recent months.
Nevertheless, we opened the sliders to the ocean breeze. Maybe the air would blow through, and the smell dissipate. nope.
Turning back to gaze into the room, the carpet was thoroughly stained. Many drinks spilled, and probably animals peed. That also accounts for some of the odor. The mattress was new decades ago, maybe five decades ago. Lumpy, thin, and missing the top sheet. There were footprints on the wall over the bed. Shoe sole footprints. The painted over wall paper was coming away from the walls.
All in all, a depressing wreck. If you are on a tight budget, there is Uncle Billys, and there are campgrounds. It is conceivable there are rooms that are in better shape, but look before you buy. this was a premium ocean front room.

The stay here was great! We were really close to the downtown walk, and right on the beachfront. Although, I think most of the hotels were right by the water :)
I think we really liked how cheap the stay was for our own private place (only $ 50/​night for 5 nights). The place was clean, had a lanai where we ate breakfast each morning, a little kitchenette and small living area. It was very comfortable we enjoyed the stay. It was a great deal!
The units are each individually owned and rented out, so prices may vary. We found the listing on craigslist and the person that rented to us was really nice. The only thing is they switched us out from the original room we had rented because the couple there decided to extend their stay. Not a big deal since I think most rooms look similar.
So the kitchenette was actually a microwave in the hallway between the bathroom, with a mini fridge below that we got fresh groceries in for the week and kept our food in. There was a mini portable stove and lots of utensils and dishes/​cup/​pots and pans for us to use. We ended up cooking eggs and toast each morning and eating fruit. I highly recommend going to costco to stock up on food you’d want for the week, we saved a lot of money that way, and it was nice to cook together and eat on the balcony. I think boyfriend was happy with the stay too
Security there is really strict, they have gates for you to go through and you HAVE to get a parking pass in order to get in. We went in the wrong way one night and got an earful from security there. That was a bit of a bummer, he called us stupid californians which wasn’t very nice.