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Hilo Hawaiian Hotel
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- No
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- No
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
14 reviews for Hilo Hawaiian Hotel
I'm a local Big Island girl, but have never been crazy about the Hilo Hawaiian Hotel. The rooms have always been pretty old with a mixture of a smoke and mildew smell. I always felt so depressed coming back to my hotel room after a long day of work.
I am happy to say that staying there last month I noticed a bit of an improvement to my hotel room. This time my room didn't have the usual foul stagnant air stench to it. I'm guessing that they finally changed out the old moldy carpeting and updated their outer bedding. It definitely costed more for us to stay there this time even with the local kama'aina discount, but I felt it was worth it if we were chipping in for any type of improvement or renovation to the hotel. It's definitely due for an overhaul.
I never thought that I would ever be back, but who knows...
Food: N/A
Service: ***
Ambiance: ***
Value: **
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This place seriously needs renovation--like NOW! It looks like it hasn't had any refurbishing since the 70s, if then. We stayed here one night only, as it was a convenient stop on our way off the big island. The service was friendly. The rooms had a dank, musty smell. The restaurant downstairs had a much worse dank musty smell. We thought about having the buffet, but went to Ken's House of Pancakes instead. Sooo glad we did!!
Bottom line--this is not a destination, or resort hotel.
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** This review is for the buffet. I've never actually stayed at the hotel. **
It saddens me to say that Hilo Hawaiian is still one of the "nicer" places to dine in Hilo.
The buffet used to be wonderful, with a huge spread of salads, meats, and desserts. They used to have these wonderful cream puff swans. They even used to have a harp player. It was a really warm, romantic, classy setting.
But like the exterior of the hotel, they haven't kept it up over the years. The buffet is now a disappointingly overpriced excuse for a buffet. They seem to have "themed" buffets, like steak & lobster on one weekend night, Chinese-style food another night.
The food is ALWAYS subpar--if I even began to list the things that were wrong about the dishes, this review would be several pages long. Even the salad bar is bad, with wilted veggies and tasteless dressing. Worst of all, the dessert table shrank! There are typically just a few dessert choices, which, of course, are never any good--like some weird mix of jello and dry baklava. Come on, dessert is supposed to be the perfect endcap to a meal. You gotta give me more than jello and baklava.
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- Useful (3)
Ugh. Old room. Dank. TV remote didn't work. Rooms have Ethernet, but you have to pay $10/day to get access. Vanity area has a little dorm fridge. I guess they are doing renovations, because I got woken up by a jackhammer from the floor below.
The best things I can say about this place:
* Free parking (but the stalls are tight).
* Proximity to Ken's House of Pancakes
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Hilo isn't exactly a town known for luxury resorts so you shouldn't expect much from this hotel. That being said, it is probably one of the better hotels to stay at when you are in town. The rooms do show their age and have a weird musty smell.
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I'm sure this place was once a pretty nice resort. We got a room facing Coconut Island for a decent price. It was a place to stay for a night. I slept pretty well on their beds and that's what I needed. It was nice to be close to the banyan trees, Coconut Park, and Liliuokalani Gardens. My brother-in-law didn't think much of the meal from Queen's Court Restaurant.
It's fine. Hilo is not Kona or Honolulu...so it is not a primary tourist stop...so don't expect a resort hotel. Stay on the waterside over looking Coconut Island, have Hilo level expectations, and you'll discover a Big Island spirit that will let you chill and be good with it. The best way I can put it is...Hilo is like the Monterey, CA to Kona's/Honolulu's Carmel, CA... if you know what I mean. If you get that...then you will get the Hilo Hawaiian.
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I looked and looked for a nice place to stay in Hilo, but this was supposed to be the "nicest" place. It was OK. There is NO comparision to the places on Kona, however,the prices can't be beat.
For the price, the hotel is reasonable. I stayed for 6 nights and did not have any complaints. I had a nice view of coconut island. The room was pretty standard. There was nothing fancy, but it was clean. Plus, it looked way better than the other hotels around Hilo Hawaiian. The other hotels looked REALLY run down.
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Hilo Hawaiian Hotel is actually not that great of a hotel, but its substantial in comparison to some of the others. Hilo isn't a real vacationing spot so you won't find great resorts to stay here. The rooms are old and the bed sheets have a funky smell. Parking is very tight. The Queens Court Restaurant isn't the best. It's a buffet. My grandmother loves the food and takes my family there so many times each year that I'm almost sick of it. Sometimes the crab is small and dry, but sometimes its large and soft. You can never really tell what the quality of the food is going to be. The buffet used to be so good before (10 years?), but the people are very friendly and service is good.
This hotel definitely needs an upgrade, like NOW. Hubby and I had to stay here because our ATA connection flight to Honolulu was delayed in Oakland. Surprise, surprise!
The hotel may have looked like it was the shisnitz......................in the 70s. The room had a nice view of Hilo Bay where the locals hang out at night. The "kitchen" was equipped with a sink, electric stove, refrigerator, coffeemaker which appeared to be ONE entire unit. I've never seen anything quite like it.
It was a temporary and unexpected stay, but I wish I had taken a photo of the interior. The hallways and room looked as if they were the the Hawaiian version of the hallways and room in the movie, The Shining. The hotel definitely had that creepy feel to it. On my way to the vending machine on our floor, I fearfully expected one of the hotel doors to open and see a woman and a man with a pig mask! Ewwwww. Scary.
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This review is based on the restaurant, didn't stay at this location though.
Unfortunately food at the Luau at Hilton wasn't quite the Luau experience but we must agree that the selection of the buffet at this location was so much better and even the quality and price were way above par. This hotel is not anywhere near Hilton's standard in terms of the interior decor, lobby etc, it's somewhat older style circa 1970s but service at the restaurant was impeccable, they clean the plates off the table, replenish the food at the buffet counters, no lines, many stations, carving station moved quickly, definitely a nice selection of Hawaiian cuisine encompassing seafood and meat and good dessert spread.
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Parking is free but there was a conference at their restaurant and parking was pretty hard to find. The room was pretty big but it isn't a fancy hotel. Actually all the hotels I've been to in Hawaii were Ok or a little below Ok hotels. Hotels in Vegas spoil you to the extreme for probably the same price we payed for for this Ok hotel. But anyways! Internet is about 10 bucks a day. annnd. that is all. It's an ok hotel.
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Well it was nicely located in Hilo and made it easy for me to tour, but compared to the other hotel I stayed in (the Hapuna Prince), this place definitely needs an upgrade. I must agree with my fellow yelpers , I did find this place dark and dank, but considering I had to stay in Hilo for a while, it did work for me.
Ok....it's supposedly the best hotel in hilo....but it smelled all moldy...b/c of the humidity! it was our honeymoon and wanted to visit grandma for a few days so we wanted to stay on our own....we didn't stay there one night! the first night there was a tsunami watch and it's right on the bay so we stayed at uncle's house which is far away and on a hill....the next day we just checked out and stayed at his house for the remaining days! thank goodness! i'll always stay at someone's house compared to this place.....you still have to use a real key and it just feels a lil dirty to me! sorry but i'm being honest! hopefully they'll redo the place or something!?
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