Let's see… Mildew, mold, separating caulking & rotting wood in the bathrooms; a room vent that blows black stuff when turned on; a room that smells of urine; sheets that have stains on them and carpets that were worn out 10 years ago...and people rate this place a 4... Really! This is their superior room, I can only guess what the lesser rooms are like.
Delivery trucks start arriving at 4am; garbage pickup is at 4:30am & security personal communicate on walkie-talkies that have no ear pieces, and all is known to the individuals staying here because the rooms are not air-conditioned, sliding doors have to be open at night to stay cool and every room faces the vehicle entrance.
There was an outdoor restaurant but it was closed and based on its appearance I’m sure it was condemned; the pool needs some serious repairs as there is yellow construction tape blocking specific areas and the outside restrooms make the average budget service station look good.
...and did I mention the "continental breakfast". I'm sure that it is contracted out to the lady who runs it and my guess is she is given a $2 per-diem for each guest. You have a choice of white or sort-of brown toast and two flavours of jelly; a pastry that felt and tasted like it was 3 days old, orange juice from a dispenser that tastes as if it is corroding inside and papaya. The papaya is good and the only redeeming item, but it is after all dirt cheap on the island...4 for a dollar.
Let's call it what it is, it is a seriously run down hotel, that is in need of several hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs and it isn't going to happen with the present ownership.
Room Tip: as one viewer said, you are caught between a rock and a hard place and that is the upper end hotels...
See more room tips
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
17 February 2012
Aloha eltonj
Mahalo (thank you) for your review and choosing to stay at Uncle Billy’s Kona Bay Hotel. I do apologize for your impression of our hotel during your stay, here at Uncle Billy’s we want all of our guests to enjoy their stay with us and if ever there is an issue or problem please let us know and we’ll work to resolve the issue immediately. I do hope that you notified the front desk of the issues you encountered; in the case that you did not, I’ve notified management of the issues that you mentioned in your review and we’re working to resolve these problems.
The delivery and garbage trucks do arrive in the morning but never as early as 4am; I’m not sure which truck noise you did hear at 4am but thank you for mentioning it in your review. The security guards do use walkie-talkies but these are issued to them by their company and unfortunately we do not have control over the types of radios or earpieces that they use. I am a bit confused however in regard to your reference about the air-conditioning. All of our rooms are air conditioned and the climate controls are located on the wall next to the closet as you enter the room. You didn’t mention whether or not you had difficulty operating the climate controls or if there was a problem with the air conditioning temperature but the front desk certainly would have been able to assist you in either case.
Our restaurant is closed (it was never condemned) however I am unsure of the construction you refer to in the pool area. There hasn’t been any construction around the pool; we do however have tree trimmers that perform maintenance on property and we do cordon off areas where this maintenance is occurring for safety reasons. We do try our best to cause as little inconvenience to our guests as possible but there are times that maintenance is necessary and I do apologize if you were inconvenienced.
I’m sorry to hear that you found the continental breakfast disappointing; most of our guests have nothing but good things to say about the pastries, coffee, juice, tea, and locally grown papaya.
Once again I am sorry that you did not enjoy your stay with us; at Uncle Billy’s we do pride ourselves on our spirit of aloha and we do everything we can to ensure that our guests have an enjoyable stay and it looks like we fell short.
I thank you again for your review and if you would like to provide any input/feedback on your experience I encourage you to email us at reservations@unclebilly.com.
Mahalo Nui Loa (Thank You Very Much),
Aaron Whiting
Reservations Manager
Uncle Billy’s Hilo Bay & Kona Bay Hotels
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
