Volcano Village Lodge

Fantastic place. More of a set of individual lodges than an hotel. Very much a place to just relax. Clean and spacious. Nice bathroom and great little veranda with rocking chairs to sit out on and have a drink. Very quiet in terms of traffic etc. Noisy in terms of wildlife (frogs, crickets, birds) All good noise though. Would recommend ear plugs and an eye mask. Great base for investigating the Volcano area.

I'd like to give VVL 3.5 stars. The concept is very cool - high-end cabins in the rainforest. We were impressed with the layout of the room and the comfort of the bed, including pillows and blankets for layering. The second bedroom was also quite comfortable. It is very quiet, and you are truly surrounded by rainforest, which really is cool. If you're feeling super outdoorsy, you'll love it. There is AC, which we didn't use, and a small gas stove for heating, which we did use. The owner was proactive in communicating via text before and during our stay. What you need to know: You are in a rainforest, and the coqui frogs make a tremendous noise all night; you will need earplugs (obviously, not something the lodge can do anything about, just FYI!). The shades over the very cool glass walls are nearly sheer, so you don't have the privacy you think you have inside - anyone passing by can see in. There are no chairs to lounge in, just dining table chairs. Wifi is nearly nonexistent; I was able to go over to the reception area to use their wifi, which was better, but only during the short time the office was open (3-5pm), just enough time to work on rescheduling flights home. The shower in our cabin had almost no pressure, so only one of us got a shower. Breakfast was a small plate of fruit to share, plus breakfast burritos, which no one wanted. They were able to accommodate my request for gluten-free breakfast, which I appreciated. Overall, it was fine for three adults to stay for one night, but I would have been antsy if we were staying for two. This is not a place to take children. It also was quite overpriced given the drawbacks noted.

This was definitely my favorite stop on our 10 night trip to Hawaii. We stayed in Haleakala, which is an octagon-shaped cabin with windows on all sides opening up to beautiful rainforest views. We mostly left the window shades up all the time because it was so private, and because the surroundings are so beautiful. The lodge was totally unique and a welcome change from the more beach-oriented places we stayed at on this trip. The room itself was absolutely gorgeous- warm woods, comfy bed, a small deck outside, even a heated towel rack in the bathroom (handy for drying your swim suit after a quick trip to the hot tub). Lots of thoughtful touches like flashlights in the room for late-night lava viewing trips. Breakfast was left in our fridge every afternoon for the following morning, and I found we definitely preferred this to how most bed and breakfasts work; it was pleasant to take our time waking up and enjoy a private breakfast in our own room. The staff was absolutely wonderful. We were greeted by Kelsea, as well as Gino, the friendly resident cat who wanders the grounds. We also had the pleasure of meeting Jaime, who was kind enough to give us a phone call when my husband left his wedding ring behind after we checked out of the room (his second wedding ring, I might add; my husband is not great with wedding rings!) Thank you Jaime, and thank you to the housekeeper who found it- the wedding ring arrived in our mail last week!!