Volcano Forest Inn in Volcano, HI

Four women of the 60's and 70's stayed one night after a helicopter tour over the volcanoes. Hosts were very friendly, the 2 rooms we stayed are very elegantly decorated and roomy. Breakfast was awesome. Too short of stay, never has opportunity to explore the forest behind the house, which makes us want to come back just to stay at Volcano Forest Inn.

We stayed here overnight as we travelled around Hawaii. Best guesthouse ever. Place was clean hospitality was fantastic. Room was amazing and breakfast was top class. Can’t fault this at all. Mahalo for making us feel so welcome

We stayed here for two nights. The place is in a lovely, forested location set in from the road. The room is clean and everything works OK, including wifi (unless modem is removed one night as happened when we there). Decor is depressing 1990's and the bed sheets were a cheap cotton or polyester that we sweated in with the plastic cover over the bed. BUT, service is pretty non-existent. We suspect that something has changed, maybe somebody looking after while the owner is away. But - when we arrived they did not check who we were and barely spoke to us subsequently. Walking into reception is like walking into a family lounge room with washing strewn everywhere. We were not told anything about breakfast (that we understood was supposed to include fruit as per their advertising), but saw a sign that said it was ready at 8 am. Sure enough when we went around there were muffins in a pan on the stove, but we had to sus out tea facilities. One day there were cold eggs and bacon on the table, but not a word from anyone! The washing machine was running all day and night and sent a god awful noise groaning through the place whenever the pump operated - all night! The fridge in the room was filthy, with rusty shelving and food stains all over it. The room was never refreshed or cleaned while we were there. We left as quick as we could given all of this, and you guessed it, with a perfunctory "you right now" from someone who we still never really met. A strange, strange way to run a B&B guys!

After driving from Kailua Kona and viewing the National Park, we decided to spend the night and drive home the next day. We booked the VFI during lunch and found the place later in the day. The entrance drive is obscure and proceeds through a jungle! But we were greeted by One the dog who was thrilled to see us, and by the cleaning woman who showed us our room and even provided new toothbrushes and toothpaste. Volcano is tiny so we were grateful for her thoughtfulness. Our room (#4) was large and clean although clearly in process of fixing up. Breakfast was plentiful but if you are a modest eater, I recommend telling the hostess Tray! (We had a lovely meal at Thai Thai, a restaurant down the road. ) Do try this B&B! It’s a little gem hidden deep in the jungle!

Let me begin by saying we are not the kind of people who normally complain. However our experience at Volcano Forest Inn left much to be desired. First, and on the good side, our room was spacious and comfortable. That was about it however. When we arrived in the evening we walked into a dark and seemingly empty building. There was no note, no instructions on where our room was, nor any information on how to contact management. After calling out and looking for someone from management for 15 minutes, we sat down and called both the contact number for the Inn and then Booking.com who we had rented our room through. All to avail. Over an hour later, well after dark, the ‘Interim manager’ showed up and let us in. We had the room rented for 4 days. The regular manager never showed up. Our room was never cleaned nor our bed made, nor was extra toilet paper or clean towels provided at any time during our stay. On day 2 the internet and TV service went out and was never repaired (it was fine in town). Breakfast, when it was offered, was sporadic and of poor quality (for instance there was no milk provided for our cold cereal breakfast one morning). The ‘interim’ manager was mostly unavailable and pretty standoffish. Frankly she seemed hassled about even being there, and was fundamentally unhelpful. No information was provided about the national park or area recreation opportunities. We really did feel somewhat like unwelcome outcasts. This was all pretty disappointing and frankly pretty odd all in all. - TJ