Ma'Ukele Lodge

I can’t say enough about this place. I was apprehensive, to say the least. I am a self-described germaphobe who likes modern amenities. I like to stay in luxurious accommodations with all the bells and whistles. I travel with anti bacterial wipes. If that’s what you’re looking for, this is not the place for you, other than to say it was super clean. I had heard that the Big Island in general was more “rustic” in nature, so decided to go all in and try my best to put aside my fears. I was so glad I did and I found this gem. We rented the entire home which included one giant room with three beautiful, canopied beds and an outdoor shower- gulp. I wasn’t sold on that but like I said- I was willing to try to set aside my fears. As a back up, we did have a second option upstairs with an indoor shower and air conditioning. We fell asleep to the sounds of the tree frogs. The first morning I was terrified to shower but held my breath and did it. It was absolutely exhilarating. My daughter wants to build an outdoor shower at our house. This was followed by an unbelievably delicious breakfast on the porch while the kids walked out into the black sand beach. I stayed back and spoke to Mark who is so knowledgeable about everything to do on the island. I ignored all the research I had done and just wrote down a step by step list of what he said and followed it to a T - it was perfect. We spent three nights enjoying the island and our hosts. Raven and Mark - you are amazing and we can’t thank you enough for opening your home and your hearts to us. Mahalo!!

Away from the hustle and bustle of both Kona and Hilo - a great get away location not far from Pahoa. We were greeted by Raven, our hostess, when we arrived and were immediately upgraded to a room with a private garden, complete with a wonderful hot water bath tub and shower, at no extra charge. The beds are wonderfully soft and firm at the same time (magic?) with many billowy pillows and soft, high quality bedding. Each bed had a bedside table on each side, reading lamp and plenty of outlet space. The mosquito netting was charming and romantic but we saw no sign of mosquitos. The garden had lush vegetation, tropical flowers and tree frogs that sang us to sleep at night. Raven takes great attention to detail and the room provided snorkel equipment, flip flops, sun tan lotion, skin soothing lotion, nice soaps, you name it. Lots of soft fluffy towels, beach towels, etc. there was juice and flavored cans of water, fruit and other welcome snacks in the refrigerator. There is shared space, including a kitchen, but we were too tired from great local activities to take advantage. All the reviews rave about Raven’s breakfasts and they are on point. Although there were other choices available we had fancy French toast with our beautiful fruit salads almost every day. We were joined by beautiful, friendly geckos for breakfast, one of the reasons we chose Ma’ukele Lodge. One day when we had to leave very early for a snorkel excursion, Raven made us something special to eat on the way. Mark, Raven’s partner, was a fount of local cultural/history info which, as anthropologists, we greatly enjoyed hearing about. He and Raven can direct you to great local activities, even when the weather is not as hoped. We saw many sea turtles very close up at Carl Smith beach nearby in Hilo and a little further away in the opposite direction towards Kona at Punalu’u - beautiful. Lack sand. The lodge has its own beach a 3 minute walk from the door. We could listen to waves crashing all night long in addition to tree frogs. Raven is such a gracious host she even washed the wet clothes my boyfriend had put out to dry! And on the last day, when we were leaving for the airport - our rental car would not start. Raven quickly got a neighbor to give us a jump start (he would not accept any payment) and we made our plane on time! This would be a great property for events like family reunions, weddings, and families staying with kids.