- beckoa: Doubletree lite an oasis of sorts in Hilo (Jun 7, 17)
- DELee: Grand Naniloa Review: May 18-20, 2017 (Jun 19, 17)
- kpbadger: Grand Naniloa review: July 2017 (Jul 22, 17)
- TxTrav: Very happy with the Grand Naniloa (but book a balcony room) (Aug 27, 17)
Grand Naniloa Hotel - a DoubleTree by Hilton {US-HI}
Looking forward to bugs, parking far away in a dirt lot, and a crappy breakfast.
But hey, we'll get triple HH points!
Probably not too much in terms of bugs. Rain probably though.
If you can get to the hotel by 6, there should still be parking in the various lots. I would bring a flashlight anyway.
I personally thought the breakfast they have now was at least on par with a decent Hampton Inn. Should get better once the restaurant and new kitchen get finished. Eventually.
Enjoy the points!
David
As a diamond member we got a room upgrade to room 1200, which is a 1 bedroom Jacuzzi suite at the end of the hall on the top floor of Mauna Loa tower. The view was actually quite nice, and we had perfect weather during our stay. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures inside the room, but it's very similar to what you see on the website. Included are some pictures showing our view from the room. The room was spacious enough for the two of us, but no lanai. The air handling unit in the main room was rather noisy (I suspect it was part of the original building), but didn't bother us much since we slept in the bedroom. At least it was nice and cool in the room.
We arrived late in the evening, so yeah, after dropping our bags off in our room upon checkin, I had to park across the street. At no point did I feel unsafe doing so, but it would have been better if there was more lighting available, and if the parking lot would have been finished instead of a gravel lot. It would be nice if they added valet parking as an option, because I certainly would have taken advantage of it.
The breakfast really wasn't that great, but I really wasn't expecting much since it seemed that the restaurant was under construction/renovation at the time. Yeah, the extra $6 per person was a bit "tacky" given the service we received. If you want a very good breakfast for reasonable cost, I highly recommend Ken's House of Pancakes, a local diner/hangout with pages upon pages of breakfast menu options, awesome bang for the buck, just down the street on Mamalahoa Hwy! Since it's open 24 hours a day, it was a welcome place for a late night dinner after a long day/evening at the volcano. If you're looking for an awesome lunch, go to Cafe Pesto in Hilo, *amazing* pizza!!
I guess at the time we checked in and out, the front desk wasn't busy, we got prompt service and warm cookies. The staff behind the counter were very nice and courteous. It wasn't really that busy at the hotel when we stayed.
The property is in a state of restoration, but the pool and grounds that were open were clean and well cared for. They did a pretty good job in keeping the old vibe of the place, and giving the place a good "refresh". This whole Banyan Drive area is undergoing a slow revitalization, but with anything in Hawaii, progress is slow: http://www.bigislandvideonews.com/20...aps-discussed/
I think this hotel is great if you're exploring the Hilo side of the island, there aren't a lot of hotel options in this part, and would consider this as one of the better ones. It certainly is not as nice as the Fairmont Orchid we stayed at on the other side of the island, but then again for the $150 I spent for the night here, I think it was worth it, and helped break up our week so I could bump up my stay count with Fairmont. If I go back to the island for another visit (maybe next March), I would definitely consider staying here again for a night, especially when visiting the volcano, but my expectations wouldn't be as high as what I'd expect on the Kohala coast.
Last edited by Arthurrs; Jul 29, 2017 at 7:03 pm
Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo - a DoubleTree by Hilton
93 Banyan Dr, Hilo, HI 96720
Very happy with the Grand Naniloa (but book a balcony room). (17 Photos)
Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo - a DoubleTree by Hilton
Overall
Have always wanted to stay on the Hilo side of the island so jumped at the chance to try out the 'new' Doubletree Grand Naniloa.
Thanks to everyone here who posted reviews which helped me decide what type of room to book. Originally booked a king ocean view (no lanai) with the hope that as Diamond we would get an upgrade. But with this hotel being so new to the Hilton portfolio decided not to risk that (especially since we were staying five nights). It was so inexpensive to select the room type that I wanted using a promotional rate that I canceled my original reservation and rebooked a room with a lanai.
The bay facing lanai rooms are only the even numbered rooms in the Mauna Kea wing. It appears that all the rooms in the Mauna Loa wing face the bay but they DO NOT have lanais. Hoped for an upgrade to a corner room but that didn’t happen so I’m really glad I chose the room we wanted. Would NOT have been happy if we couldn’t sit outside our room to enjoy the fabulous view.
Evening view from our lanai.
Check In
I used the on-line check in option and the floor maps it was easy to select my preferred location on an upper floor, near the end of the hall, far from the elevator. Since I had pre-checked I just stopped at desk to pick up the keys. I didn't have to wait in line for more than a couple of minutes either at check-in or check-out.
Mauna Kea wing floor plan, 7th of 9 floors. Only the even number rooms have balconies and those overlook the pool, grounds and bay towards Hilo and Mauna Kea in the distance. Higher floors have the best views.
Location
We had mostly sunny weather so we spent lots of time on the lanai or under a shady palm tree near the pool. This side of the island is more laid back and it was very relaxing to hang out at the hotel and in Hilo town. We picked up Mai Tai supplies at a grocery storso we didn’t use the hotel bar. But did enjoy listening to the live Hawaiian music which we could hear from the pool area in the evenings.
Yes, this is a hang out for local Hilo folks to enjoy the bar and live music (including hula some nights) so the parking lot can get crowded in the evening. The hotel is used for local conferences and events (and several took place while we were there). We were usually back in our room before the evening events started so we didn’t have issues finding a parking space in the main lot next to the hotel. Only once did we have to park across the street in the overflow lot but we moved our car back to the main lot before we went to bed that night. I agree that they really need to address the parking issue so hotel guests get first dibs of the spots in the main hotel lot. I didn’t feel unsafe in the overflow lot but it isn’t the best idea (in the dark) to walk from there.
Otherwise we liked the location of the hotel with the historic banyan trees, close proximity to walk to Liliʻuokalani Park and Coconut Island. We also walked into downtown Hilo several times. Its pretty easy to get to the volcano and to sightsee up and down the east coast of Hawaii Island (beautiful waterfalls!) using Hilo as a base. The Hilo airport is small and easy to get to. Very close to the hotel and on-site rental cars make it quick and easy to get in and out of the airport.
View of the Mauna Kea wing (left) and Mauna Loa wing (right) from the lawn. Notice that the Mauna Loa wing has floor to ceiling windows but does not have balcony rooms
Grounds are expansive and nicely kept.
Watching the cruise ships from our lanai and from the pool area.
Local March of Dimes event on the hotel lawn
Room
Our room was clean (the housekeepers were friendly and even left us daily notes thanking me for leaving them tips). We would have preferred a king bed but the queen that we slept on was comfortable. The room furniture is a holdover from the previous incarnation of this hotel and is ready for replacement. But it wasn’t bad and the bed seemed new. Our sliding door to the bathroom worked fine. AC worked fine also, just be sure to close the drapes when you leave for the day since the room can get really hot in the afternoon.
Spartan furnishings but updated with Kim Taylor Reece photo art.
Fridge, microwave, coffee maker. Plenty of plugs for devices.
Small but adequate closet.
The bathrooms need a complete remodel as the fixtures are older and yes, the tub faucet is totally weird (but it worked fine). But the bathroom was pretty large (bigger than many hotel bathrooms) and had plenty of space for our things. I liked that the room had a microwave and refrigerator (empty, not a minibar thank goodness). This made it easier to enjoy our cocktails and snacks.
The lanai was small but comfortable and the view was great. We loved seeing the sunrise, the rainbows, the cruise ships, and hearing the waves.
Bay View
Hilo in the distance. On clear days we could see Mauna Kea.
We could see honu in the waters surrounding the pool area.
One of the best things about Hilo are rainbows. We saw this spectacular full double rainbow while having our morning coffee on our lanai.
Nighttime view of pool from our lanai. Could hear the waves and cocqui frogs.
Dining
We were given vouchers for full breakfast daily. The breakfast staff did seemed unsure of how/when to take the vouchers, it seemed like it was a different process every day. But no upcharge was ever added to get the full breakfast. Hot items were okay. There was almost always someone available to make fresh waffles. Fresh fruit was good. Cereals were the small boxes of mostly kiddy stuff but the waitress had no issue going to the back to bring me a box of granola when I requested it.
The location of the breakfast room had a very nice view of the grounds. Overall the grounds were lovely and uncrowded. Wish they could do something to renovate the tiki bar restaurant and attached swimming pool on the grounds adjacent to the parking lot. It looked like it was pretty cool back in its day. Now it’s just a a derelict mess. But change comes slowly to this side of the island.
Link to more photos
I hope this hotel succeeds. We would definitely stay here again but only if we get a lanai view of the bay.
https://goo.gl/photos/eEz4Ly8sX9r9UmdS7
I also noticed on the website it used to say "renovations through August" and now says "renovations through September" - what type of construction/noise did you have?
I also noticed on the website it used to say "renovations through August" and now says "renovations through September" - what type of construction/noise did you have?
It did look like the ground floor space (restaurant area or perhaps conference rooms) near the pool was boarded up so maybe they've started some work there. And the closed wing (pretty far away from our room) might be getting renovated eventually. Best bet would be to call the hotel to find out what is currently going on.
Even for one night I'd want a lanai but that's just how we like to travel. I like to hear the waves. There is plenty of open area at the bar or on the grounds and pool where you can enjoy the outdoors.
There are also some construction vehicles and a part of the parking lot is blocked for them.
But we never heard anything. (we were located in the 11th floor)
The only annoying thing was the very noisy air condition.