I thought this place was really bad - one of those places where you're afraid to take off your shoes. Surely there are better rooms at better hotels in Hilo. It was by far the worst place we stayed in Hawaii.

Very dirty rooms. We had to pickup the remote control for the tv at the front desk.
Appeared to be part homeless shelter. Our room faced a very loud parking lot. Lots of noise outside at night.

I wasn't sure where to start with this review (I rarely write about any place so bad) but then I read the review by sweiserw and realized - I don't need to write much because their experience was almost exactly the same as ours. Reserved on VRBO (not FRBO). Showed up and saw what looked like a pretty sleazy place. Told reserved room wasn't available because owner had overbooked. Was shown different room. Filthy place, water dripping from ceiling. Decided to leave whether I could get a refund or not. Went to the Dolphin Bay Motel. It's fabulous! I'll never stay anywhere else in Hilo again.

Called owner and complained, and she promised a full refund by mail (I'm still waiting).

We stayed at the Hilo Country Club for two nights in March. The first night we had a terrible room. It was not as clean as I would have liked and it faced a noisy parking lot with a VERY noisy fan just outside the lanai that kept us awake at night. We actually considered pulling out the sleeping bags to avoid the sheets. The person at the front desk when we checked in was either very shy or very rude.
The next morning we decided to hunt for a room elsewhere but the new front desk person, who was incredibly friendly and helpful, showed us a new room. We actually had to double check that it was the same price. It was very clean with an updated kitchen. The lanai had a beautiful ocean and pool view and was very quiet so we decided to stay. At $78 a night, I'd say night 2 was great value. If you decide to stay here, have a look at the room first and if you don't like it ask for a different one. The day staff are much nicer to deal with than the night staff.