After arriving on The Big Island of Hawaii we picked up our rental Jeep and headed for the hotel. The Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona is one we’ve stayed at before but this is the first time I’ve reviewed it. In fact, we’ve stayed here 2 other times previously. The first time was nearly 7 years ago so I’m looking forward to seeing how this hotel is aging.
The Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona is obviously not a resort or an amazing top of the line property, it’s a Holiday Inn Express, but in our previous visits I’ve loved this hotel. I chose the hotel this trip because the location is good, the value is excellent, and I like the area.
In This Trip
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Location
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Lobby
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Pool Area
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Rooms
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Bathrooms
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Room View
- Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Laundry Room
- Final Thoughts
- Follow This Trip
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Location
Kailua-Kona is a town, it’s touristy but it’s still just a town. The Holiday Inn is easily walkable from the rest of the town. There are restaurants and activities all very nearby. It’s also about 25 minutes from the KOA airport and that makes getting in and out very easy. The hotel also has it’s own parking lot, so finding a space is easy.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Lobby
Walking into the Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona from the parking lot. This hotel looks completely different from any other HIX that I’ve ever been to. We didn’t use the front entrance after our first day here, the side entrance was more convenient once we had room keys.
The lobby is where the free breakfast is served. We didn’t eat here our entire trip. I love Hawaiian breakfast and the HIX breakfast is standard HIX fare.
As you can see, the lobby is open air, like much of Hawaii there’s a cool blending of indoor and outdoor space.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Pool Area
It’s important to remember, this is just a Holiday Inn Express, looking back at the lobby from the pool area. There is a pool and hot tub. We enjoyed a slow night after dinner here one evening. Nice way to relax and soak.
It’s not the biggest pool, it’s more of a hangout area. It was never crowded when we visited, maybe one other family at the most.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Rooms
Walking into the King Room at the Holiday Inn Express. These rooms are very large, one of the larger regular hotel rooms I’ve stayed at in a while.
The king sized bed was very comfortable. There’s also power on each side of the bed along with lamps and a reading light.
There’s also a sofa area with a side table. We mostly used this as a luggage rack. This was the last destination on our Hawaii trip, so we needed to dig deep in our luggage.
Within the room was a mini fridge, Keurig coffee machine, and a sink. I’m a big fan of this setup. There’s just something off putting about using a coffee maker in a bathroom.
Inside the fridge we used it to keep our beers and water bottles cold. When heading to the beach it’s important that everything going into a cooler is already cold. I also really liked this storage rack in the fridge, great use of space and easy to access.
Above the fridge was a microwave. We didn’t use the microwave, just the fridge and sink.
There’s a small table and chairs across from the kitchenet. We didn’t eat any meals here, this is a large room, have to fill it with some kind of furniture.
Along the wall opposite from the bed was a TV, desk, and chair. We didn’t use the desk for work purposes, but we did use it when folding some laundry that we did while at the HIX.
Near the door was a room key slot. This is used to power on all of the devices and lights in the room. Saves power and also for me, helps me not loose my room key. The thermostat was also here and very easy to use.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Bathrooms
The bathroom here could have been in any HIX in the US. Nothing fancy but I will say, this bathroom was extremely clean. In fact the whole hotel was extremely clean and well maintained.
A nice stand up shower with glass doors finished off the bathroom. Extremely clean as well.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Room View
The view from the room isn’t anything remarkable. That’s ok with me. This isn’t a beach front property, it’s an HIX in a small tourist town.
Holiday Inn Express Kailua-Kona Laundry Room
Ok, this is a kinda weird one. Here’s the laundry room. Yes, we used it. When planning a 12 day Hawaii trip with carry-on only luggage, it was easier for us to do laundry than to deal with packing more stuff. I think laundry detergent is going to be a forever addition to my standard travel kit.
Final Thoughts
I love this hotel. It’s clean, quiet, and super well maintained. This property just does everything right. This was our 3rd visit to this hotel in the last 7 years. I will gladly stay here again.
The Holiday Inn Express is not a beach front resort and that’s just what we wanted. This hotel is a great base to use for traveling around The Big Island. It’s also great for walking around Kailua-Kona on foot. There’s plenty of parking for cars and it’s close to the airport so very convenient location. There’s plenty of ABC stores and grocery stores too.
All in, I cannot wait to stay here again. I’ve had nothing but good experiences.