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Reviews of Hamakua Guesthouse

2.5 out of 5
Hamakua Guesthouse
28-1435 Old Mamalahoa Hwy., Pepeekeo, HI

Reviews

8.6

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 95 out of 164 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 38 out of 164 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 18 out of 164 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 8 out of 164 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 5 out of 164 reviews" "

9.0/10

Cleanliness

8.8/10

Staff & service

8.2/10

Amenities

8.6/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.6/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Maria

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very nice place to stay!
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Joy

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This was the perfect getaway for someone who likes it quiet, peaceful and beautiful. I will stay again. Very clean. Authentic "old kine Hawaii". Joy Johnson
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024

8/10 Good

Roxanne J

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
Very secluded, and has most of what you need. The rooms are a bit old and not as clean. Amenities are great though! There's a personal waterfall you can go to.
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2024

10/10 Excellent

Wendella

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful setting
We enjoyed our stay and it was very comfortable. We had a king room. No A/C but windows to open for breeze. I was happy I packed a very small portable fan which really helped when it rained but it was still warm. We had to close the windows to keep the rain out. Snacks left in the room were nice and the kitchen was well stocked. Thank you!
Stayed 3 nights in Jan 2024

4/10 Poor

Wei

Travelled with family
Disliked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It is located in a remote area with really bad road leading to the place. The room is really small and smells with shared bathrooms outside for all tenants. We arrived at night with no electricity in the building. The breakfast place is decent though but you have to drive there.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

2/10 Terrible

Chao, Arcadia

Travelled with family and small children
Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
We stayed here for one night, and our experience was not good, for two reasons. First, the check-in process was extremely stressful. We were supposed to receive our room assignment and check-in instruction through email by 3:00pm, but we never received that email. After 3:00pm, we started calling and messaging the property manager, many times, using contact information found on Expedia.com. We never got reply. By 5:00pm, we were really nervous (not knowing if we would have a place to stay at all). We had to drive to the property to find the manager, who wasn't there. We got his phone number finally by talking to another person who was staying in the same property. Second, the bedroom that we finally got was tiny and not clean at all. It has a queen bed on the floor and another queen bed up in the attic. Since this property is in a very rural area (with unpaved road), it really depends on your own expectation. We were expecting a normal hotel room, so it was a disappointment. But for camping, this property is much better than a small cabin.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Donald

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Stayed 7 nights in Nov 2023

6/10 Okay

Christopher

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
There are a lot of positives about this place: well-maintained, pretty, isolated property, our bedroom was very nice, and there's a wonderful folder in the room with a detailed list of the property itself, nearby communities, and things to do. But trying to communicate with the property was a disaster. Myself and other guests couldn't get in contact with anyone before arriving, and some guests just had to wait in the common room before they could access the room code. Additionally, there are laminated signs literally EVERYWHERE, instructing guests on what to and not to do (it's very preschool). And lastly, while houseguests are admonished to be quiet as a mouse after 9 p.m., that doesn't go for the staff downstairs, who party the night away. Micromanaging of guests and mismanagement by employees isn't a great combo. Maybe we caught them on a bad couple days.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023

8/10 Good

Norman, Abbotsford

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful place. The manager (owners?) were never around, and it would have been nice to get some local perspective on things. Noisy guests with big feet also problematic!
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023

4/10 Poor

John

Travelled with family
The road to guesthouse had several pot holes so very hard to drive especially at night Steep narrow stairs to room and loft. Carrying luggage up stairs was hard Small living and kitchen space and shared washroom with several guests

8/10 Good

Matthew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023

10/10 Excellent

Adario

Travelled with family and small children
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely place
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023

6/10 Okay

glen

Travelled with family
Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Read a lot of reviews first
Disappointed. Reservation said 2 queens but did not say loft with ladder access so make sure all members can climb before you book. Cats were all around entrances so if you have allergies be aware. There are 2 shared kitchens with time restrictions so if you are arriving late you might not be able to cook. 3 shared bathrooms for 5-6 cabanas and 4-5 guest rooms. No a/c. Breakfast was available in town a mile away with a gift-card. Limited menu. Eds bakery was good but if you have not family early day planned they might not be open. Not family friendly, noise restriction and space. Good for singles or couples.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2023
Response from Mathew on 7 Aug,2023
Aloha, Mahalo for your feedback. Expedia sites do not allow us to write room descriptions but we do have several pictures of the ladder lofted second bed with this room type. Our outdoor cat does not come inside. The kitchen right next to all the rooms closes at 9 pm for obvious reasons but the one downstairs is open 24/7. The scenario you described of not being able to cook is simply false. We do not advertise A/C, nor is it necessary is a place that is 70 degrees every night, year round. Many, many families love our space as an eco-friendly and less expensive alternative to hotels.Overall, I would have to agree that you could have benefited from reading a bit more before booking because it seems like you were expecting a hotel experience.

10/10 Excellent

Valerie

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Fantastic place (some caveats)
Fantastic place and exactly as described. Mat was very helpful when our check-in instructions didn’t make it to us, and the information on site is really helpful too. The beds were really comfortable (we got the private room with 2 queens), and you can’t beat the views. Also really loved the treats left for us and the breakfast vouchers. Some things to consider/know: 1) Room: One of the queen beds is in a loft accessed by a ladder. If you don’t have someone in your party who can manage that, you may want to reconsider. 2) General: This is a shared space. The room is private, but the bathroom is shared, as is the rest of the space. People seemed to be respectful of the quiet hours, but outside of that, you may hear/run into others. If that’s an issue for you (like, if you really want your own space and your own bathroom), you’ll want to reconsider. 3) Driving: It can be a little rough, but if you drive cautiously and mindfully, you should be totally fine (if you put the address in Google maps, it may take you a different way that has a much longer stretch of gravel road that is rough driving). What worked for us was putting Mr.Ed’s Bakery in Google maps and then we just kept going straight through the ravine until we hit the gravel road and looked for the Hamakua Guesthouse sign on the right.
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2023

6/10 Okay

Jianghua

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Amenities, property conditions & facilities
It's okay stay for us overall. The site manager is very nice and friendly, especially, the cats he raised in the yard are very cute. The surrounding is a beautiful jungle. There are couple things surprised us: - the way to get there is very bumpy and narrow. It's under-maintained. There were many pits on the way . - There is NO continental breakfast. ( at least, the site manager did not mentioned) and we did not see it. - You will SHARE bathroom with at least 4 rooms of people. It's huge misleading in this property's detailed descriptions.
Response from Mat on 17 Apr,2023
We provide breakfast vouchers for the bakery down the street for all guests who are booking our B&B rooms. I'm sorry that you missed that in the detailed instructions we left you for checking in. Our camping cabanas do not come with any breakfast included. The B&B has three full bathrooms available for you to use and all of them are located off the hallway/corridor. The fact that our accommodations have shared bathrooms and kitchens are prominently displayed in the descriptions of all of our accommodations.

10/10 Excellent

INNA

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Eco friendly and educational. Gorgeous views. Very nice staff.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2023

4/10 Poor

Pradyumna

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Unique location; beware bathroom access
This was a unique experience and setting. The listing should make clear that not only is there a shared bathroom but access to it requires going down a stairwell For those of us who need that access at night, not easy.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2023

8/10 Good

Kelli

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Our stay at this Guesthouse was a wonderful highlight of our stay on the Big Island of Hawaii, and I am so glad we chose it. My husband and I found it to be an interesting place. The room, and the open areas of the guest house were nicely furnished and decorated, and provided a deep sense of peace and calm. There were little thoughtful offerings for each guest including ear plugs for the sounds of night frogs, and birds. However those sounds were very nice and relaxing, and I personally cannot imagine blocking out these sweet sounds. The manager was accommodating and friendly. I think Expedia should be more clear about what a Guest house means, so that travelers know what to expect in terms of shared space. There was no A/C and it was very damp. However in terms of temperature, A/C was not needed. The only real concern was the road leading to the Guesthouse. We came in after dark, and were very concerned with the narrow road which was over run by the thick forest and trees and vines on both sides. The road was not paved and there were holes our little rental car struggled to get through. There was also a lot of debris, perhaps from an earlier storm, and our car picked up some of this debris, causing some minor damage. This is probably out of the Guesthouse’s control, but until we pulled into the well appointed parking lot and were reassured of the Guesthouse’s good accommodations we were put off.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2022

10/10 Excellent

vicki

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
True hawaii jungle experience
Awesome experience! Aaron and Huston were more then accommodating! The site is beautiful and met some awesome people. The swim pool and waterfall are gorgeous and the ultimate Hawaii experience. Thank you,!
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2022

10/10 Excellent

Michael

Stayed 1 night in Aug 2022

6/10 Okay

Margo

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The property is beautifully located. The amenities were exactly as described. I will return, for sure. What I do advise is that you immediately clarify with the property regarding your accommodations after booking through Expedia. When I booked Expedia booked me as a queen guest room at a higher price, when I received my email the property staff informed me that Expedia requested the hammocks, not the queen room I had booked on their website.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2022

10/10 Excellent

Ericson, CORTE MADERA

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Myra L

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2022

10/10 Excellent

Lynne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
An Experience in Itself
So happy to have found this place. Quite an unique experience to sleep in hammocks and share communal bathrooms, kitchen, and living space. Beautiful view of the ocean and not far from Hilo if you want dinner in a restaurant. Love the commitment to the environment and a lower-cost alternative to an otherwise expensive island. It is very European concept though American-owned. Hammocks were fairly comfortable and despite a lot of rain we stayed dry in our cabana. We are 60-years old though former scout leaders. Get the deluxe cabana, which is closer to the bathrooms.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

10/10 Excellent

teresa

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2022

8/10 Good

Wendy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Terry

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
It actually was easy to find, the property is set up nicely and instructions are straightforward….
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2022

8/10 Good

David

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This place was easy to find, and located in a beautiful agricultural area with plenty of space. The Old Mamalahoa Highway segment it is on has some incredible river canyon scenery just outside the nearest town of Honomu.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2022

10/10 Excellent

Natalie

Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely spot! Cool location
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2022

10/10 Excellent

Piangjit, San Jose

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful landscape and view and very clean. I was concerned about the shared bathroom and shared kitchen, but they were fine. We stayed at the room with the climb-up loft and enjoyed our stay. The nearby waterfall is very pleasant and more beautiful than the picture. Animals nearby made some noises at night (rooster, etc) but they provided ear plugs. Ed’s bakery (we received breakfast vouchers from the host) is yummy. Thank you for your hospitality!
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2022

10/10 Excellent

Jorge, Alexandria

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2021

10/10 Excellent

Jeff

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Great quiet getaway in the middle of a jungle. Make sure you get to the waterfall.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2021

10/10 Excellent

Keli

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2021

6/10 Okay

Jenna

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Amenities
If you come here you need to know this property is off the grid. They run on solar and rain water so you cannot plug in most things, i.e., a hair dryer. We did not know this when booked but didn’t have much choice as our flight out was cancelled and most places were booked. The guest room where we stayed had live geckos everywhere and no a/c or other amenities. Shared bathroom. Sheets and towels were stained and gray. It all was fine for a night but just research this place before you go.
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Mat on 3 Dec,2021
You can actually plug in "most things". You just can't use electronics that heat up from electricity like a hair dryer on a solar/battery powered system. Do your hair a favor and let it dry naturally. You are in Hawaii, live a little! We are advertized as an eco-lodge on here and the shared facilities are disclosed too. We must hang dry everything in the sun/breeze. If there was an issue with your sheet or towel, we could have resolved/replaced that very quickly if you had only mentioned it. Seems like you should have picked a hotel (much pricier) over a family run small business like our place.

8/10 Good

Roman

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
friendly stuff
Stayed 6 nights in Oct 2021

2/10 Terrible

S Andrew

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Incompetent staff botched my booking, leaving me without a place to stay my last night
Stayed 1 night in Oct 2021
Response from Mat on 3 Dec,2021
You requested to extend your stay and we informed you that would not be possible as we were already sold out. Despite wanting to stay longer, the lack of availability appears to be the sole reason you have rated us 1 star. Covid customers have been sooooooo fun to handle! (sarcasm). Thanks for harming a small business in the middle of a pandemic. :-(

10/10 Excellent

Tracie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

Isaac

Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A relaxing stay
We had a great stay here. The only issue we ran into was that we did not have clean linens in our Cabana when we arrived. This issue was quickly solved and was most likely due to our last minute booking, so I don't think it's completely fair to fault the hosts. Our stay was quiet, relaxing, and we loved the outdoor shower and bathroom. The cabanas were in good repair and were a great way to truly get away. The waterfall swimming area was a great amenity as well, way better than any pool. We would definitely stay here again.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

Derreck Lee

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Eberything
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

Stephen Van

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Everything was unique - the off the grid feel, the walkable swimming hole nearby.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

10/10 Excellent

Sophia

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This guest house was amazing. It's very eco-friendly and comfy. Check in is super easy, late check ins are not a problem. You have access to this amazing swimming hole. The drive there was a little rough considering it's a little deeper in the jungle but it was totally worth it.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

mikala lee

Travelled with family
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
It's a beautiful property. This is only is you want a remote getaway. I would suggest arriving before nightfall. It's not easy to get. And the owners are right of course--do not use GPS. Use their directions which feel like you are on a treasure chest exploration so daylight helps. Make sure the checkin goes to accessbile email. You might not have service when you start down the path.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2021

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

8/10 Good

Agnieszka Zofia, San Diego

Travelled with partner
Liked: Staff & service, amenities
Beautiful location!
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2021

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Great sunrise.
Stayed 1 night in Aug 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
This property is BEAUTIFUL!!! We had the king bed on the third floor which had a beautiful ocean view. It definitely can get hot in there but as most properties in Hawaii, there’s no AC. I agree with the other reviews that the listing should include more information about nightly power limits, some bedrooms are up some steep stairs, etc that I think would minimize any people from complaining like in some other reviews. There is a host that lives on site in one of the rooms but we only saw her the morning we were leaving. Other than her, I believe no one else was there while we were. If there were, the walls are quite thin and you would be able to hear other guests (we heard some people from the basement I believe the campers).
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful and affordable to stay! Staffs are super friendly especially Lily and Ben. Highly recommended if you love nature and less crowded environment.
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Tifani

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Sweet Serenity
Awesome little weekend adventure! Loved sleeping outside in our hammocks in the cabana. Nice twist on camping. Great scenery, quiet and peaceful, and the waterfall swimming hole was awesome too!
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2021

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
You feel like family when the staff greets you, and spends time getting to know who you are
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2021