Volcano House

I had a very pleasant time at Volcano house. I stayed in a deluxe volcano view room. There was no obstruction to my view and I clearly saw the crater at night. I would recommend it to anyone of my friends but it can be hard to justify the amount per night. I guess they can charge what they want since it seems to be quite popular.
The room: very spacious, walking closet with a very modern bathroom. The king size bed was very comfortable. Like they say on their website, there is no TV but there is free WIFI which works great. They do leave the windows open but the screens are locked. It’s a pretty safe area so I wouldn’t worry. If you get chilly at night, they do have a heater installed in the room. The room also includes a flashlight to use and a a white noise maker.
The downsides of the room are the extremely creaky hardwood floors. You can’t take a step without waking whoever is in the room with you. Also the walls are SUPER thin. The couple next to us were quite the «passionate» one and we had to step out in order to give them privacy.
The staff: everyone was extremely pleasant and welcoming. This includes everyone from the front desk to the lounge to the restaurant to the gift shops.
The amenities: You get free wifi, free tours you can sign up for, free coffee and tea (in room and in lounge). Nothing crazy and I didn’t really utilize any of it except the wifi.
The view: Pretty spectacular… when mother nature wants to cooperate. Remember, at this level, sometimes you can get very dense fog that obscures the view completely. It can be a complete gamble. However. there is something very pleasant about going to sleep with a view of the orange glow from the crater and waking up and eating breakfast to a smoky plume. It is very relaxing but one does NOT need to stay at the Volcano house for these views. First of all, you can literally eat in their lounge or at the Rim (the lounge serves the same appetizers and the costs of the food is over all cheaper), both offer the same view. You can also explore around the volcano house during the day. No one is checking on who is or isn’t staying there. Finally, you can get an even closer look of the volcano at the Jagger museum. overlook from the museum is open 24hrs and people are there till late. Sure, after 8pm, you can’t look at the crater from the comforts of being indoors but if your goal is to just see the crater and not linger, then you have options that doesn’t include paying 300 — 400 bucks/​night to stay at the Volcano house.
The restaurant: I will write a separate review on their respective Unilocal sites.

Service is below par and disappointing.
I came to the restaurant at the hotel for dinner and needed to connect to wifi for a meeting on my iPad.
I felt like I had to jump through hoops to get wifi. The front desk staff was very rude and the manager wasn’t much help either.
Finally, the hostess at the restaurant said I had to give her my iPad because SHE had to enter the wifi in.

Exceeded our expectations! Because of the reviews, we were expectating terrible food at expensive prices. We were pleasantly surprise. The prices were reasonable, the food was delicious and the view was beautiful!
The Pineapple Fish and Pesto Pasta were delicious. Bread was complimentary. Service was good. It took us five phone calls to get a reservation, but it was worth it.
The volcano is only visible from the outside balcony (there are no tables on the balcony). We had a window table and you can’t see the volcano because of the glare from the lights. If you press your face up against the glass… sure you can see the volcano.
Anyways, this was worth a visit at night. We stopped by the museum after dinner to get a closer view of the volcano.

I really wish it was better! Expect a $ 100 room for $ 300 a night. If you’re a light sleeper, consider that they have single pane glass which rattles and you can hear everything going on in the hotel. Unfortunately they aren’t that accommodating in the restaurants to guests or non– guests. They turned away a couple for dinner when they had room at a the bar, and didn’t offer it to them. Then we told them we were staying at the hotel and they offered us bar seats. Be advised they close their breakfast at 10, and reopen at 11 for lunch. Honestly it is just disappointing because it could be so good, but they don’t have to be because of their location. Stay somewhere else and visit for the view and a drink!

Absolutely beautiful location… The Hawaii bento plate was devine. There is a bit of wait to eat & service is hit or miss.

Here’s a Unilocal tip for everyone thinking about paying a fortune to stay at the Volcano House: Stay at the cabins instead! They’re a third of the price, private, 3 miles closer to the core, and they have a great upscale camping vibe. There’s a full size bed and two bunk beds in each room with nice mattresses and hotel quality sheets and blankets. They’re clean, stay cool at night, and are private with a little grill and picnic table on the patio. Each cabin has two outlets, an indoor light, and an outdoor light. There’s good cell reception too! If you don’t mind roughing it just a little bit, I recommend checking them out.

Stayed 2 nights here in a non-​view room. Did not have view in room (was a view of front of hotel), but the location is what you are paying for. It’s very convenient to the Kilauea Visitor Center and you can roll out of bed and start hiking on the trails. It’s a short 2.2 miles to the Jagger Museum and about the same to the Thurston Lava Tubes. So great!
Room with double bed was on the small side, tiny desk. Large walk in closet.
No refrigerator. No ice machine — had to go to the bar to ask for ice every time.

It’s a bit pricey here but the view is amazing. It’s well worth stopping here if you’re hungry. We came after 2:00 so the menu options were limited but that’s understandable in a state park. The good they did offer was definitely a step above bar good. Speaking of bar, it appears they have a full bar and the beer election was pretty decent.
We had the kahlua pig and pineapple pizza and the guacamole (which they called Hawaiian dip because it had pineapple in it). The guacamole was served with chips made from sweet potatoes and breadfruit and was tasty. The pizza was pretty tasty as well and was more of a thin flat bread then a traditional pizza.
The major downer to this place was the flies. They were everywhere! A fly even landed in one of our beers. Before we even had a chance to ask for a new one the manager had come over and apologized, explained how they were trying to do something about the issue and offered us a new round of fly free beers. Apparently bug zappers aren’t environmentally friendly and not allowed in the state parks. Either way, it was pretty awesome he acknowledged the issue and did all he could to correct it before we even had a chance to say anything. That is what pushed this review to four stars, that and the fact you can drink beer in a volcano.

Amazing view and spot to get a cup of coffee. I wasn’t feeling up to the family hike around the crater, so I enjoyed a rocking chair overlooking the smoke at the center of the volcano. There is a bar nearby should you be tempted to a bevy.

Uncle George’s Lounge bar: don’t expect to be seated when they say forty five minutes and then be prepared to be told the kitchen is thirty minutes behind. So order a drink and relax. So, unless you are in the window don’t expect to see much because of the severe reflection. But, you came for the food, right? So, the burger and Caesar salad were good not great but definitely worth the wait.
And the service was attentive. In short, put your name in early!

Great view of the Kilauea Caldera from Uncle George“s lounge. Sipped a Mai Tai and enjoyed the Ahi poke which was delicious… wish it was bigger though. Also had the Kalua pork sliders which were amazing.
A bit pricey but you are paying for the view. Great drinks and a full bar.

The menu is limited, the staff is in no hurry, the manager did make an effort in the following but he was incompetent.
We showed up for our two-​day-​in-​advance reservation on time and then waited and hour. We were fine waiting a couple ten minutes — delays happen, and two of us are/​were in food service! — but were brushed off when we tried to ask about our table. The really irksome bit? Our reserved table was open, the group there simply refused to leave. They had eaten and paid, but were just sitting there. Worse, another table was open and we were still denied even that!
While we’re on it, the view is pretty mediocre. You can see a bit of red smoke, but a five minute drive/​walk puts you on the edge of the crater itself where you can, with some effort, get a spectacular view. The place has –two– shops in it stocked with $ 60 tshirts and $ 40 back scratchers. I made the mistake of buying a $ 20 multi-​tool only the find a blunt (as in no cutting edge, visible flat surface instead) knife edge and a defective hinge. It was, at one point, excellent. It has since come under new management and is a horriffic and shameless tourist trap.
To be avoided. Grab food at Ken’s in Hilo, or the KMC burger house, or McDonalds, or a nearby fruit bearimg tree.

I’m torn because the location makes this hotel. You can’t mess with a hotel that overlooks an active volcano, you just can’t. BUT when you pay the money to stay here, you expect a top notch hotel not only a great view, but with clean rooms. I get that they want to stick with the olé plantation feel of the hotel, but the rooms could definitely use an upgrade. The bathrooms are tiny and the walls are thin and the rooms are small so you don’t really get much privacy in there. The room felt so old that it felt a bit dirty and it WAS DIRTY. When you pay the hotel rate, and you check in your room and you go to use the bathroom, call me crazy, but i’d expect the bathroom to be clean. There was a pube on the toilet and urine stains on the seat. GROSS! Also, the shower had the worst water pressure of all time. It’s fine if you like taking a shower under a soft drip which is what it felt like. The water didn’t get to a hot enough temperature for me either. When you’re hiking through the park until after dusk, it gets cold out there and you want to come back and take a hot shower and it was really frustrating to not get one! My last gripe is that the parking could get a little packed but it is free!
The volcano house is the only food in the VNP so you pretty much have to eat your meals there. Be prepared to spend $ 15 for their breakfast buffet which i do have to say was really good though.
The location of the hotel is unbeatable. you’re right in the middle of it all. Easy to get to all the trails, some are within walking distance. So, i’m on fence. Should you sacrifice comfort for location?

We thoroughly enjoyed our 2-​night stay at the Volcano House. Convenient location IN the park. Very easy to make the 5-​minute drive to view the rising lava lake at night. Every staff member we encountered was friendly and helpful. I appreciated the convenience of 2 dining options and 2 gift shops on the premises. The lobby was very cozy with seating around a fireplace and a viewing area of the crater. Hot water and coffee were available around the clock. Parking can be a bit difficult during certain times of the day when people are visiting the hotel but not staying.
We paid a little extra for a crater view room and the view was phenomenal, totally worth it! They boast that the guest rooms were recently renovated. I feel that’s a bit of an exaggeration. The rooms were decent-​sized with a large walk-​in closet. Very, very clean as well. However, I’m not sure what major renovations were done. The rooms appeared to be freshly painted and the furniture seemed newer. The rooms do not have heat, just a built-​in space heater. The windows appeared to be original and were very heavy when opening/​closing. The hardware was updated in the bathrooms but I’m not sure if the tile work was new. During certain times of the day, it was difficult to get hot water in the shower.
Overall, the price is steep but you are paying for convenience, not a 5-​star hotel.

This review is for Uncle George’s Lounge located in the Volcano House in the Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. The server we had, Maketa, was excellent. Friendly, knowledgeable, great recommendations. She suggested the ahi poke and pork pizza. Both super delicious! I can also highly recommend a drink called the Polynesian Paralysis. Sounds scary, but tastes delicious like tropical fruit! Maketa told us facts about the volcano, and as sun went down, it did not disappoint. It’s a beautiful view to see the volcano glow red and the steam billow up as night falls. If you are planning a trip to the Hilo side of the island, I recommend arriving to the volcano house close to dusk. And if you have the good fortune to have Meketa as your server, you will experience true hawaii hospitality!

I loved this restaurant!
The view alone makes it a worthy stop.
My boyfriend and I made a reservation for dinner at the end our waterfall/​volcano roadtrip. We were waylaid by unexpected shopping side trips, and had to push the reservation back an hour and a half. The hostess was very accommodating and still sat us at a window table as I’d asked during time of booking. The view was incredible. We arrived just as the sun was about to set, and caught a view of the smoke drifting lazily upwards, and then of the deep red glow once the sun was gone.
The food was quite good too. We started with the sashimi sampler platter, on which every item was fresh and flavorful. I usually never order chicken at restaurants, but the Big Island Chicken caught my eye, and did not disappoint. It was tender and juicy, and the stuffing was simply scrumptious. My boyfriend’s fish dish was just okay. We also tried the macadamia nut pie — not what I was expecting and little sweet for my taste, but good nonetheless.
I highly recommend stopping in for dinner. Halfway through, a waitress will turn off all the lights so everyone can marvel at the volcano’s glow in its full glory.
Our waitress, Cassie, was amazing and though the kitchen was slow the night we were there, we had a great time and left happy.

We had dinner here as part of a Volcano tour and the food was what you would expect from a package deal like this. We had a choice of chicken or mahi mahi and I chose the fish. It was deep fried in batter and over cooked and dry. The others on the tour who had the chicken said it was not great either.
I would not recommend going for the food, but the view is spectacular!

You can’t sleep any closer to Kilauea than this! What a trip it was to look out our hotel room window at night and see the glowing red head of Kilauea underneath the beautiful stars. Book early and ask for a volcano-​facing room.
My hubby and I enjoyed ourselves here. There’s lots of trails to run, bike, or hike. All of them have a stunning view of the volcano. Volcanoes National Park is huge and you need a car to see most of it.
The Dining Room was sparse and pricey, but the food was good. And once again, it had that stunning view. The gift shops were great — we bought lots of tchotchkes for our kids back home. They also provide free coffee for hotel guests. The fireplace was lovely. Even in the middle of August I found myself drawn to it at night.
The rooms were recently updated. There was plenty of space, a large closet, a small bathroom (but the soap in the sink and the shower smelled like pineapple, which was fabulous!). We stayed in room 17, which was on the 2^nd floor with a view of the volcano. My hubby climbed onto the window to take some beautiful shots. If you’re looking for opulence, stay at a resort. If you’re looking to be in the thick of things with a lovely lodge experience, do this.
Love

Great place to grab lunch while exploring Volcano National Park. Full windows and patio seating look out over the steaming crater. The lunch menu had some of the more affordable lunch items we have had on the island. Drinks could also be ordered, but considering the narrow curvy roads we opted not
Menu items included pizza, kaulua pork sliders, burgers and salads

Yikes! Not sure where to start. The staff was great they got us everything we wanted and with a smile. I honestly have to put this mediocre review on the Chef and kitchen staff. We ordered Caesar Salad, Shrimp Prawns, Pork Sliders, Pork & Pineapple Pizza.
Caesar Salad was unmemorable and the chicken ($ 6 more) was dry and tasteless.
Shrimp was not cooked fully. Not sure how you can do that.
Pork Sliders were good but nothing to write home about.
Pork and Pineapple Pizza was not bad but had a little but of a weird taste to it. Not sure what it was or how to explain it just that it was a different taste.
That’s it! Would we comeback here again?
Ultimately it did the trick because we were hiking all day and hungry. But, no we’d look at the restaurants just outside the park.