Hawaii: Volcano Lodging

The Big Island is big enough that i decided it would be best to spend half my time on each side of the island. So, after we left the Captain Cook area we traveled over to the other side and stayed 4 or 5 days at the historic Kilauea Volcano Cottage. It used to be the home of the superintendent of Volcano's National Park back in the 1930's.. As such it's situated just 6 miles from the fuming Kiluea crater. I can't believe what a good deal it was. At $150 a night it was a bargain. This is not just a condo, it's an entire house with two bedrooms and can sleep at least 8 people.

The kitchen was huge.

Bedrooms were also roomy.

In the back of the living room was a couch against the wall that i think folded out into another bed.

Foggy morning subtropical rainforest scenery off the back deck.

The downsides were that there was nothing else to do in the area besides go to the National Park, but that's why we were there. If you want to go to the coast or Hilo it's an hour long drive. There are very few places to get food (but that's okay because the house has a huge kitchen) so it's wise to stock up in Hilo and bring it with you.

The 1930's era furnace no longer works and at 4,000 ft. in a rain forest it tends to get a little chilly by early morning. The owner's solution has been to place small space heaters in every room. That worked well enough for me. I just put several of them in the kitchen/living room when i got up in the morning and everything was warm in about 10 minutes. They also were handy in heating up the bathroom before a shower. If the heater worked it might actually have been more annoying with old furnace smells and crappy thermostats making it much too hot in the middle of the night.

The backyard had a treehouse for kids.

Outside the kitchen was a large lanai perfect for morning coffee or an afternoon nap.

One side of the yard had a bamboo grove.

Other than that the place was fantastic, with a huge yard, large back deck, huge garage, laundry room, covered front porch, treehouse and a little bamboo forest. It was almost too nice, we wanted to just hang out at the house on sunny morning.

 The long driveway resulted in plenty of privacy.