Lotus Garden Cottages

This place is fabulous! My husband and I visited Lotus Gardens with my sister and brother-in-law. We stayed in the White Lotus Suite and they stayed in the Rising Moon Suite. Both were wonderful. My husband and I were there a few years ago and stayed in Aloha Moon Cottage, which is also highly recommended. The place is immaculate, breakfasts are delicious, and the surroundings with the volcanic forest, birdsong, and decor is beautiful, but quiet and relaxing. John is an excellent host. We were close to Volcanoes National Park, but also only about 40 minutes away from Hilo. I highly recommend this special place.

Rooms are dark, dated bedding, terrible pillows. Bathroom needed deep cleaning, dead spiders around the tub. Lots of cobwebs inside windows and outside around the rooms windows. No maid service for two of the four nights. Came back after a long day and bed not freshened or made. Limited parking when guests took more than their allowed space. Arrived 9:30 pm after canceled flights and a 2.5 hour drive in the dark. Owner was very upset that we called him due to insufficient parking. Not what we had hoped for with this price point!

We had high hopes for the Lotus Garden cottages. Alas, it is not exactly as described on the website. On the plus side, it is very close to Volcano National Park. The owner, Mr. Kim, has collected some beautiful pieces that decorate the property. Our room was lovely looking and had nice touches included like bathrobes, a preset table and a big tub with Epsom salts. On the negative side, we stayed in January when the temperature fell to 51 degrees at night. The little propane fueled heater in the White Lotus Room did not cut it. I slept in a sweatshirt with every cover plus the bathrobe over me. Going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was the temperature equivalent of going outside to the outhouse. The pillows are limp rags; useless for resting my head and neck on them after an eight hour day of hiking in the park. The breakfast consists mainly of Costco items and is put in the room refrigerator the day before. The idea is for the guest to microwave any items that need to be heated up. A microwaved croissant plus a strawberry, a few kiwi and a Nutrigrain bar is not what I consider fuel for an active day. Also, the first night the two of us were given enough for one person. Both mornings we had to go have a real breakfast elsewhere. The setting is indeed zen like (aside from the owner’s ongoing construction projects which greeted us when we drove up). However, the garden stone path and the large leafed plants growing across it made bringing in luggage and toting roller bags. We wanted so much to love this place like all the reviews and those left in the room’s guest book, but wish we had stayed elsewhere.

Lotus Garden Cottages was my favorite accommodation during our 2 week Hawaii trip, and honestly, one of my favorite things about our entire trip. We stayed 3 nights in the Aloha Moon suite. The accommodations were downright luxurious for the two of us -- comfortable bed, fireplace, large jacuzzi tub and shower. It would be the perfect honeymoon suite. I was worried that it might be too humid without air conditioning in the room, but the temperature was perfect during the day and cool (50s Fahrenheit) in the evenings and early morning. We used the fireplace to heat up the space and for the ambiance. I loved the meditation loft, which had a nice view of the rainforest and surrounding cottage roofs. We loved hearing the rain in the evenings and ate breakfast on the lanai. The Aloha Moon suite faces the main road, but the room still felt private and surrounded by rainforest vegetation. The breakfast included with the accommodation was amazing and abundant for the two of us. Each morning had fresh pineapple, other fruit, and rotating pastries, with rotating quiche, breakfast burritos, and croissants. We always had some food for a snack later. We availed ourselves of the jacuzzi one rainy evening, and John also let us use the properties laundry facilities, as our stay was near the midpoint of our trip. The only challenges that we encountered were trying to park our behemoth rental suv in the parking area and trying to find dinner on the holiday Sunday evening of our arrival, since Volcano is a ways from Hilo. It is, however, super close to Volcano National Park, where we spent several amazing days exploring and still only seeing part of the park. As soon as we arrived, I regretted not booking a longer stay at Lotus Garden and knew that none of our subsequent lodgings would come close to providing the amenities and experience of staying here. We will be back and definitely have shared this property with other friends and family planning a Hawaii stay!

This is a tranquil retreat very close to the park. We reserved 2 cottages for our family of 2 teens and 2 adults. More than enough room. Very special spot - uniquely decorated and you feel like you are right in the rainforest. Breakfast was delicious! Highly recommend.

Lotus Garden Cottages exceeded my expectations and I really wished I had stayed longer! We booked the white lotus suite and omg, this room + bathroom itself was like 5-star hotel luxurious. It may seem underwhelming from the outside getting there, since it is tucked away and there is a bit of construction going on since the owner is building more units, but it's really the room that sold us. We stayed for one night to explore the Hawaii Volcano National Park and we loved that we were so close to the entrance. There is private parking, if you check in outside of normal hours or a bit later in the day, the owner leaves instructions and notes on your door which made it really easy for us. You could tell that every detail and aspect of the room was well thought out, I can't rave about this place enough. Book this asap if you want to treat you and your SO to a retreat in the rainforest!

A lot of time and care has gone in to this place. Our room had a king bed and was spacious. The grounds are very well kept and the owner was pleasant and helpful. We arrived on the island and drove here and checked in around 4, it was a very easy two hour drive from Kona. We spent today in the park and are going back to Kona tomorrow with a stop at the black sand beach along the way. Two nights was perfect and there are a few nice places to dine nearby. This is a very quiet place, not just the hotel, the entire area. I would suggest this to anyone staying in the area. We were in the Hula room and it was great.

If you are planning to visit the Volcanoes National Park this is the place to stay! It is less than 10 minutes away from the park which allowed us to hurry back and actually see the volcano erupt after we had left the park for the day. The whole property is beautiful, has free parking, no hidden resort fees and they provide a lovely breakfast each morning. The breakfast was a huge plus! It looked beautiful, tasted great and was enough to give you energy if you’re planning to hike the day away. We stayed in the Aloha moon cottage which was so peaceful and had an amazing tub that overlooked the gardens (but was still very private and relaxing). The place is well maintained, clean, and we had no issue with bugs despite being surrounded by the gardens. Would definitely Recommend!!

A beautiful setting very close to Volcano National park. It was a serene and pretty environment in a tropical paradise to come back to and relax after the wild and harsh landscape of the volcanoes. The cottages are spacious, clean and have everything you would want for a relaxing stay. The breakfast provided was plentiful and delicious. We came from London and we’re due to fly to Maui a couple of days before the tragic fires started. The owner was so helpful and lent us his own phone so that we could change our flights, hotels and trips etc and we were therefore able to enjoy a week on Oahu instead, although mindful always of the horror unfolding on Maui. It really is the best place to stay in the area.