Stayed for one night last week and did not have any of the issues of the last poster. We did self parking in the lot across the street for free, and we didnt hear about the no resort fee for diamonds. Yes, the room is dated, but we were upgraded to an ocean view with balcony, and all the furniture was there, and no problems in the bathroom. Check in was actually smooth, even though it was a saturday night and there was a wedding in the hotel. We arrived about 5, and wanted to go to Volcanos national park later that night so desk advised to order food since the restaurant would be closed when we returned. Was able to use the food and beverage credit for the dinner we took to the park. Breakfast at Ken's diner down the block was a much better option the next morning. We did a lovely drive from Kona to Hilo with many small stops along the way - Waimea farmers market, akaka falls, botanic garden among them, so all in all a good day and stay.

I love the description of low-brow Hilo glory, it was my thought but didnt have the words. We actually much preferred this side of the island to the disneyland of kona. YMMV We went to see the King Kamehameha statue on sunday morning and there was this amazing line of motor cycles and old mustangs and other cars with racing engines all lined up for some kind of parade, but we stayed about 5 minutes and no one was in a hurry to move.

and the bar was a hopping place when we returned from the volcanoes ..