Q: When is the smell of body odor on a pillow OK? When is mildew and mold on a door jamb OK? When is it OK for you to have to ask for TP at a hotel?
A: NEVER.
Several of the reasons I chose this place:
1) no resort fee
2) parking fee is only $10 a day, vs $20 at the Sheraton
3) smack dab in the middle of Ali'i Drive (but sadly, a COVID ghost town)
4) walking distance to restaurants and bars
5) free "breakfast" - which is restricted to cold items, no hot foods, including coffee. They have a coffee maker in the room.
6) cheaper than the Sheraton, of course.
7) microwave and fridge in room. Need fridge for wine and stuff.
8) Yelpers and Tripadvisor mentioned this place was "clean" - hmmmm.
What I loved, besides the reasons above:
1) super cold A/C
2) quiet rooms, couldn't hear neighbors talking or snoring
3) large room
4) hard, stiff comfy beds (I love hard beds)
What I did not like about this place:
1) BODY ODOR ON PILLOW. The minute my tired head hit the pillow, it smelled like Uncle Billy Bob's armpit. I am not making this up! Fortunately it was only restricted to the hard two pillows, so I tried sleeping with the soft marshmallowy pillows but they sucked, so I ended up rolling a towel for my head and banished the smelly pillows to the couch.
2) dirty stained carpets, and I mean stains everywhere. You'd think with COVID closures they had time to clean the carpet. I told my son to keep his slippers and sneakers on. No walking barefoot here!
3) mold/mildew on door jambs (see pics). I ended up wiping some of it off with hand sanitizer on toilet paper but I wasn't here on vacation to clean some dirty room!
4) Tipping the housekeeper did not help to get more toiletries. Nope.
5) I had to ask for toilet paper refill in the morning at front desk. The one in our room was skating on thin ice. I've never in my entire hotel life had to ask front desk for TP. Never.
6) Front desk girl was a bit frazzled. I felt grateful that she was ministering to me being there, that's how I felt. She was rather intimidating. My neighbors said the same thing, so it wasn't only me who felt a bit scared. Another morning there was a different woman, and her BF was sitting on some cabinets, that was weird.
7) Phone did not work, which was stupid, because I had to keep going downstairs to talk to the front desk.
8) Pull chain on lamps were either greasy, or corroded. My neighbors said the same thing about their room. It's not a good feeling so you have to wash your hands after you touch it. It felt dirty.
Things nearby:
1) Walking distance to one out of three open ABC store that closes at 7:30 PM.
2) Only places open for sit down dining that I researched were Papa Konas (til 11:00 PM on Sat night), Fish Hopper (check hours), Gertrude's Jazz Bar, Gypsea Gelato, Pancho and Lefty's Mexican (about 500 yards from hotel). We actually ate at Pancho's and Papa Kona's and listened to Gertrude's pumping out the jazz on a deserted Ali'i Drive, it was kind of surreal.
3) Hulihe'e Palace (closed) and the Mokauikaua Church (not sure if open), and the Hilo pier where we watched people fishing at sunset.
4) Sack N Save and another grocery store five minutes drive so you can stock up on wine, sushi, chips and cakes by the slice.
How much did all of this cost?
Approximately $355 for two nights, including tax and two day's worth of parking.
Return Factor - only if I were really desperate.
