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Enjoy Hilo Bay views from this beautifully restored 1912 historic home in the heart of Hilo, close to all the wonderful markets, cafes and galleries that make Hilo so famous. Each room has a private lanai with views of magical koi ponds and/or Hilo Bay and are furnished with period antiques and unique island art.
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HOTEL STYLE
Mid-range
Business
Location
301 Ponahawai St, Hilo, Island of Hawaii, HI 96720-2611
Hilo Bay Hale Bed & Breakfast
5 reviews
Getting there
Good for walkers
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
We stayed here for 2 nights. It's very close to lots of shops and restaurants but we did have to drive. The cottage is very nice and has a very nostalgic feel. Our room had an A/C unit, but with the ceiling fan we did not need the A/C a lot. We had our own lanai and the plantings outside provided privacy so we did not feel we were in the middle of a neighborhood. The chorus of frogs at night was very relaxing and we enjoyed spending time on our lanai. The front porch of the house is also very nice but there is a lot more noise from traffic. Matthew, the owner was not in town while we were there and breakfast has been suspended during Covid. Although he was not there, Matthew was available by email and responded quickly to any questions.
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Date of stay: July 2021
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The hosts were awesome. Traveling on your own can be tough... these guy gave me all sorts of great places I would have never know about... (warm ponds were unbelievable). I stayed 5 days in 2 different rooms... private... my own bathrooms... my own balconies and the beds were SO comfortable!!! I love the grounds too. Koi ponds were so relaxing.
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Date of stay: February 2010
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Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Highly recommend this hidden gem! Great value. I extended my 2 night stay for 3 nights at this in-Hilo town B&B. I just felt so at home. Had the run of the upstairs and kitchen area during my stay. Stayed in the James Michener room with spa tub with balcony overlooking the Koi pond. Wonderful Kona coffee, fresh cooked breakfast and island fruits each morning. Allowed me use of the laundry at no extra charge. Joe was my host as the owners were away in November 2012. Joe was helpful, warm and respectful of all the guests. Aside-keep in mind the couqui's (tiny tree frogs) chirp from dusk into dawn throughout the east island. I happened to love them, lulling me to sleep each night. / Another plus: Accept Bed and Breakfast.com certificates/
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Date of stay: November 2012
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Trip type: Traveled solo
Room Tip:All are quite a deal. I would ask for the James Michener again.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Only very conditionally recommended. I don't understand the guests' praise. The B&B is OK, but nothing more. The breakfast was good and the staff were friendly and welcoming. They also gave tips and prepared everything you wanted. The room wasn't enough, it's old and at least the carpets and bed linens urgently need replacing. There are also lots of other little things that don't fit, like the shampoo holder, the picture in the toilet only placed on the cistern, etc. The fine ripe bananas from the house's own garden and the water bottles in the fridge where you could just help yourself were positive. The host was just travelling in Europe, I hope he takes something with him.
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Date of stay: May 2024
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Let me begin by saying that we arrived here after spending time at two other fabulous bed and breakfasts on the other side of the island, so we have a strong basis of comparison. We chose this Hilo bed and breakfast based on the reviews but were very disappointed. We only saw the owners for 5 minutes when we called on the phone to say we'd arrived and were disappointed. The house is on a busy street. It does quiet down a bit at night but we could hear trucks periodically struggling up the hill on and off all night. The windows are poorly covered with paper shades that did not block the light. All night we were treated to the light show of the traffic light at the nearby intersection: red, green, red, green ... The house is in one of the noisy frog districts (not the owners' fault) but what really kept us up was a loud electric humming noise. It turns out there was a refrigerator on the small porch outside our room and it was leaning against the wall. Adding to the noise level, all of the rooms are right off a small sitting room / hallway, so despite the polite behavior of the very lovely guests, we all did hear one another. The noise and light of our room were somewhat mitigated the second night when the employee (not the owners) helped us jerry-rig a blanket over the window and unplug the refrigerator. We never received a visit or even a phone call from the owners. On a more positive note: We were able to use the washer and dryer as well as the kitchen. Breakfast was okay. Nothing fabulous. We enjoyed meeting the other guests. Finally, we understand that our review is heavily shaped by our poor sleep experience.
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Date of stay: December 2013
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:The front room in which we slept has street noise and light. But the rooms further down the hall...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from DMillerHilo, Owner at Hilo Bay Hale Bed & Breakfast
Responded Jan 19, 2014
We would like to thank our guest Susan for providing us with feedback on the specific things that we can do to make our place better for all of our visiting guests. Please know that we take all of our reviews seriously and would like to use this information in a positive way to better our place and our services. Here at the Hilo Bay Hale, we realize that the golden rule of "treat others as you wish to be treated" may not always apply as we are all different types of travelers. We like to employ the platinum rule "find out how people want to be treated and then give them that with aloha". This is the first time that we have heard from any of our guests of your specific issue of the streetlight located half a block away from us, and the mini-fridge located on the lanai of the room. It is the first time we have heard feedback that describes the window treatments as ineffective too. We want you to know that we will be taking steps to make some changes based on your feedback. New window treatments are in the works, and we will leave the mini fridge unplugged going forward, allowing guests to use the fridge simply by plugging it in when or if they wish to use it. We also plan on providing our guests earplugs to use as a way to more effectively deal with issues like noise from the coqui frogs or traffic which occurs naturally in a urban location, like downtown Hilo. We do hope that Carolina our employee did a good job in providing Susan with what her needs may have been, Carolina mentioned to us that she brought Susan some Keali'i Reichel CDs when Susan expressed her fondness for the artist. And Danny, the owner of the BNB met Susan at the BNB when they arrived and provided answers to all of her questions and helped them decide on the best places to eat and visit while in Hilo. Many thanks again Susan for the feedback, we appreciate it and will make these changes based on the feedback you have given us. Mahalo nui loa, Matthew and Danny
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed in the lava room-huge room down stairs wth awesome shower and your own sliding glass door to a little area outside to sit. Beautiful back yard. Frogs are loud-but we loved it-made us sleep awesome w/ them and the rain! In old town, close to resturants. Owners super nice. We had to leave early next day-so we didn't get a chance to eat the delish breakfast:( But he did give us some fruit and a muffin to go. Would stay here again-for sure!
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Date of stay: August 2012
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We stayed at Hilo Bay Hale B&B for a week, in the Lava room, and loved it here. Comfortable bedroom & delightful bathroom, good sized TV with cable, good strong wifi. Delicious breakfasts with fresh fruit, safe and pleasant place to be. Wonderful hosts with heaps of suggestions on what to see and do, where to eat, and what not to miss. And we met some interesting people staying in the other rooms over breakfast each morning. All in all, a wonderful place to stay.
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Date of stay: April 2011
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Once you step onto the stairway leading up to the main entrance on the first floor, you know this place is special. Owners Matt and Danny have transformed an old, run-down place into an incredibly charming B&B jewel. From the little reading room at the entrance to the vintage Hawaiiana in the kitchen and the zen-like bamboo garden with koi pond the Hilo Bay Hale reflects the love and dedication that the couple has poured into the renovation. But this place is not only visually appealing: we have never felt so welcome in any of the other places we stayed at in Hawaii. There are hand-picked bananas fresh from the farm, there are rambutans and tangerines and whatever fruit is in season. The kitchen is well stocked with all supplies to cook something extraordinary while on the porch/patio there's a barbecue grill. Matt prepares a generous and delicious breakfast (between 8 and 9) and makes a point of using fresh ingredients. Danny is a movie producer and Matt used to be a interior designer for a national book chain. Both are extremely helpful and will go out of their way to make you stay enjoyable (e.g. they gave us a ride to the airport). We stayed in the Lava Room and loved it. Even if you don't stay in that particular room, ask if you can take a peek. The bathroom rivals any five-star-spa facility (without the hot tub and sauna, of course) for creativity and style. Even though the Hilo Bay Hale is located close to a major street, we did not hear any significant car traffic out back. That might be because of the coqui frogs, though. Those buggers are all over this part of the island and turn up the volume to amazing levels at night. That could be about the only thing that could keep you from staying in Hilo, and this B&B for that matter. Another plus: the Hilo Bay Hale offers great multi-day-rates. And they rent out another place in Pahoa, too, in case you want to check out another part of the Big Island. Oh, and yeah - there is a free laundry facility as well. Plus, they have a highchair and a crib for kids. WiFi Internet access, too. One more thing we liked a lot: They let you pay through PayPal, which gives you much more peace of mind than using your credit card. All in all, this place is as close to perfection as it gets in this price/comfort category. Enjoy!
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Date of stay: February 2010
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Really enjoyed our stay at this B&B run by Matthew. The room itself -- we stayed in the James Michener room -- is rather plain but has some nice old Hawaiian memorabilia on the walls or as other decoration. Bathroom and shower were fine, there's this odd looking shower in a big tub in the middle of the room with a curtain that goes all the way around it --- unique, and it worked fine. It's in a neighborhood so you feel like you're just on an ordinary street. Room did have a balcony with a lot of greenery around and a koi pond. He has a couple of parking places in his driveway so you can get your car off the street. Plenty of sounds from frogs and other critters at night (maybe some pouring rain too:-)). The real highlight here is the top notch breakfast served by Matthew -- really a highlight breakfast of our trip. You are also just 2 to 4 blocks from a great bakery, the Farmer's Market, and a couple of restaurants. We ate at a restuarant called Pineapples, which was pretty good.
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Date of stay: October 2019
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This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My experience with Hilo Bay Hale B&B is not good except their bed were comfortable then previous B&B I stayed. I tried to contact owner twice to inform about our late arrival. We had our room key and instructions. There are two lanai / veranda to sit but mosquito will not allow you to enjoy. In morning care taker had asked to keep the door shut to avoid mosquito and bugs coming in. On arrival we had some time and wanted to use washer and drier. After wash clothes were very wet ( water dripping) and it was too much for drier to dry. We lost time and became too inconvenient. We left in early (around 8 am)so we could take some cereals, and care taker came bit early so we had fruit. The house is on a busy street. It does quiet down a bit at night. There are some noises at night from noisy frogs. We could hear vehicle periodically struggling up the hill on and off all night. Considering price and facilities available ( no interaction with owner), I prefer to visit area nearby ( mainly botanical garden, Akaka falls and Waipi'o Valley lookout point ) from Kona or look for alternate location.
We stayed in many B&B considering our experience elsewhere this is average experience. If you find review useful, please encourage me by giving your likes.
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Date of stay: November 2018
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Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:There is hardly any view from Bay room
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Aloha! Yes one of our rooms has air conditioning, The Orchid Room also known as the Manager's Residence. Mahalo for your question. Feel free to contact us for more info.
-Carolina
There are more places to choose from in the Hilo area.
ALSO KNOWN AS
hilo bay hotel hilo, hilo bay bed and breakfast
LOCATION
United StatesHawaiiIsland of HawaiiHilo
NUMBER OF ROOMS
3
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