So as far as Kona goes, there are a ton of little condo resort type places as well as plenty of houses to rent, but not a ton of hotel resort type places. As a kid, I was not in love with Kona because it is pretty bare bones on the “kid” activities and it is really laid back, plus it is black sand beaches (which is not what people normally see in pictures of Hawaii). But let's face it, I was a kid going to Hawaii, so who is to complain about that.
Kona is not your normal “hawaii experience” - with the black sand beaches, it does not feel very yellow sand tropical, but it is mostly always sunny and it is a wonderful area. You can find a ton of rental houses on www.vrbo.com and then we have stayed at Kona Coast Resort http://www.shellhospitality.com/Kona-Coast-Resort which I know is a time-share place, but I think you can rent condos there without the timeshare stuff. My mom has stayed at the Keauhou Surf and Racket Club http://www.konacondo.net/more/SR.html which is right next door to the Kona Coast Resort and it was nice too. Now these are strictly condo places…maids do not come every day, there is no concierge and the pools are on the smaller side as compared to the big resorts. But you get the kitchen, BBQ and ability to prepare your own food which is nice. Plus there are areas for the kids to run and play outside the condo.
As far as hotel/resorts in Kona (which I have never stayed at, but have admired from the outside looking in J), there is the King Kam http://www.konabeachhotel.com/ which was just being renovated two years ago, so I think everything is fairly new there and they are right in downtown Kona…they officially start the entry into downtown and are pretty much the start of the IronMan swimming course. There is the Royal Kona Resort http://www.royalkona.com/Index.cfm where we have attended a luau (prekids) and it seemed very nice. Farther south is the Outrigger Kanaloa http://www.keauhoubeachresort-hawaii.com/index.cfm which is right by my favorite snorkel beach. And then the Sheraton Keauhou Bay Resort and Spa just was renovated about 3-5 years ago and I think is fairly nice as well: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sheraton/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=1469
Okay then if you move up the coast a bit (heading North from the airport – as opposed to South toward Kona) you head into the Kohala coast which has many more vacation resort areas which is more the hotel/resort experience…we have only stayed at the Waikoloa Hilton, but have played golf at both Mauna Kea and Mauna Lani…all 5 star resorts. These hotels have more traditional yellow sand beaches and provide more of the typical “Hawaiian resort experience”. Here are their links:
If you like golf, the Big Island has amazing golf, but you are definitely going to pay for that amazing golf. Both Mauna Kea and Mauna Lani have amazing courses (the type you see in magazines) but they are really expensive. There are cheaper courses – Mike has played the Kona Country Club which is one of the cheaper courses and it is decent too.
Here is my blog post from last January 2011 when we returned home…it has mostly information on traveling with the kids at the time, but might have some additional helpful info: http://gruvemomtimes.blogspot.com/2011/01/hawaii-advice-with-kids-in-mind.html
Cheers to loving the Big Island and Kona!
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