Last night we had an errand to run at the Keauhou Shopping Center (about ten miles/twenty minutes from our house). I’d known for some time that they had regular entertainment there but had never found myself there at the right time to see it. After we ran our errand we sat down for an early dinner outside of Habanero’s, and I noticed a flyer taped to the window that noted hula performances each Friday evening from six to seven. Each week a different local halau is featured.
As luck would have it, we were just in time. We strolled over to the main courtyard (over near KTA supermarket and Kenichi Sushi) and were happily surprised to see a large group of visitors had amassed to watch the performance. We sat on the ground while our son danced happily in front of us. There was some nice slack-key guitar first, followed by traditional hula performed by young girls.
The dancers on this night utilized traditional instruments as well, which was wonderful to see. So if you happen to be in Keauhou on a Friday night, waiting to catch a movie or perhaps grab dinner, please stop by the courtyard and see what’s going on. It was fantastic to see some traditional hula, which can be hard to come by.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Fruit Thieves
Recently our neighbors watched a very interesting scene unfold in front of their house. They were sitting on their lanai drinking coffee when they saw a rental jeep pull over and a man hop out. The jeep was left running with the other passenger inside. The man hopped the rock wall into their orchard, and started climbing a papaya tree to get at the ripe orange fruit at the top.
It’s necessary to clarify some things about papaya trees at this point in the story. Papayas grow like weeds all over the island. The trees can grow very tall, very quickly, and produce fruit within a year. The trees have tall stalk-like trunks, with a clump of leaves at the very top and a cluster of fruit just beneath the leaves. They’re classified as herbs rather than trees, and, most importantly, their trunks are hollow and weak.
So, as the man started to climb, the trunk cracked and both he and the tree toppled onto the wall. He cried out, jumped up, scuttled back to the jeep and tore away as quickly as possible. Our neighbors, who’d witnessed this scene unfold in its entirety from their obscured lanai found this quick karmic-return very humorous. The moral of the story is simply to not steal fruit from people’s property; it’s not right, and it can be dangerous!
It’s necessary to clarify some things about papaya trees at this point in the story. Papayas grow like weeds all over the island. The trees can grow very tall, very quickly, and produce fruit within a year. The trees have tall stalk-like trunks, with a clump of leaves at the very top and a cluster of fruit just beneath the leaves. They’re classified as herbs rather than trees, and, most importantly, their trunks are hollow and weak.
So, as the man started to climb, the trunk cracked and both he and the tree toppled onto the wall. He cried out, jumped up, scuttled back to the jeep and tore away as quickly as possible. Our neighbors, who’d witnessed this scene unfold in its entirety from their obscured lanai found this quick karmic-return very humorous. The moral of the story is simply to not steal fruit from people’s property; it’s not right, and it can be dangerous!
Saturday, February 13, 2010
Humpback Whales
It is humpback season and we’ve been watching them from the house. The humpback whales migrate down to the Hawaiian Islands from Alaska each winter to give birth and mate. They can be spotted along the west coast of this island, some years clustering up the Kohala way, and some years hanging out down here in the South Kona area.
We’ve seen them at South Point, and this year, we’ve had guests see them up off Waipio Valley. We often see whales from our house in the mornings just off Keei Beach or in Kealakekua Bay. Just the other morning during breakfast we saw a mother and calf tail-slapping right in close to shore.
Their season is November through May, with sightings seeming to peek in February, which is Humpback Awareness Month. Like all wildlife here in the islands, there’s no guarantee you’ll see one while here. But if you do, you will undoubtedly feel moved.
We’ve watched them at all hours from the house and from shore, we’ve known swimmers who’ve encountered them in the water and/or heard their calls. No matter how many times you see one of their huge, shining black backs emerge out of the ocean, it always feels lucky.
For Island visitors who will be here next week, please note that the City of Refuge National Park – Pu’uhonua O Honaunau – will be hosting a talk by Justin Viezbicke, Coordinator for Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, on Wednesday February 17 at 6.
I went to this talk a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely. This is a chance to learn all kinds of things about the humpbacks you may not know. For example, did you realize that the whales – even the birthing, nursing mothers – don’t eat while in Hawaii? They give birth, mate, and make the journey home to Alaska, all without a thing to eat.
Also, did you know it is only the male humpbacks that sing? The songs have been studied and it has been noted that each year the song is added on to, the rest remaining the same. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau is a beautiful park, a fantastic place to whale watch from shore, and provides a wonderful setting for such an informative talk-story session. We encourage attendance.
We’ve seen them at South Point, and this year, we’ve had guests see them up off Waipio Valley. We often see whales from our house in the mornings just off Keei Beach or in Kealakekua Bay. Just the other morning during breakfast we saw a mother and calf tail-slapping right in close to shore.
Their season is November through May, with sightings seeming to peek in February, which is Humpback Awareness Month. Like all wildlife here in the islands, there’s no guarantee you’ll see one while here. But if you do, you will undoubtedly feel moved.
We’ve watched them at all hours from the house and from shore, we’ve known swimmers who’ve encountered them in the water and/or heard their calls. No matter how many times you see one of their huge, shining black backs emerge out of the ocean, it always feels lucky.
For Island visitors who will be here next week, please note that the City of Refuge National Park – Pu’uhonua O Honaunau – will be hosting a talk by Justin Viezbicke, Coordinator for Hawaiian Island Humpback Whale National Marine Sanctuary, on Wednesday February 17 at 6.
I went to this talk a couple of years ago and enjoyed it immensely. This is a chance to learn all kinds of things about the humpbacks you may not know. For example, did you realize that the whales – even the birthing, nursing mothers – don’t eat while in Hawaii? They give birth, mate, and make the journey home to Alaska, all without a thing to eat.
Also, did you know it is only the male humpbacks that sing? The songs have been studied and it has been noted that each year the song is added on to, the rest remaining the same. Pu’uhonua O Honaunau is a beautiful park, a fantastic place to whale watch from shore, and provides a wonderful setting for such an informative talk-story session. We encourage attendance.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Flattering Photos
Recently I was talking on the phone to a prospective guest. I was describing our guest rooms to her while she looked at the photos on the website. She was excited about booking with us and breathlessly stopped me part way and asked, “Are these photos for real?” I was a little taken aback, but assured her that yes, we took them ourselves, and that yes, the property and everything she sees there is exactly as pictured.
Her question seemed strange at first, but as I thought about it, I realized that it was fair. In fact, it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, or something similar like: Do you serve breakfast? Do you have to pay for parking/internet? Do you really have an ocean view? Are your breakfasts really the way you describe them? Is there parking? etc. We’ve tried to provide loads of helpful information on our website, and are always ready and able to answer questions via email and phone, so we’re always slightly surprised by these questions. But what we’ve eventually come to realize isn’t that we aren’t being clear in our communications or marketing, but that there’s lots of misleading info out there in general that tourists and visitors have to wade through (oh, and the standard of accommodations on the island is unfortunately surprisingly low in some cases).
We realize our photos aren’t that great. In fact, we took them ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, we would LOVE to pay a professional photographer for new photos that really capture our place. Our photos really don’t do justice to the place, especially to the size of the guest rooms. But on the other hand, we always wanted to paint a REALISTIC picture of what’s here. Our guests arrive and either say, “it’s exactly as it looks online”, or, “it’s even better than we thought it would be!”, which is EXACTLY the reaction we want. We would never want a guest to arrive after all the expense and effort of travel and planning and be disappointed.
We have, however, heard plenty of stories of guests who have been mislead, and we have also been misled. For example, a common pet-peeve of ours is when B&B’s or vacation rentals advertise panoramic ocean views and sport great ocean-view shots on their websites, but have either used photos that were taken with a telephoto lens from miles away OR have had their once fine view obscured by foliage (which can happen in a place where there’s no end to the growing season). This gives a false impression of proximity to the ocean and/or of the view from the property. We once stayed at a place that had a photo taken – obviously once you’ve been here and seen it – from Alii Drive, but was actually located at least five miles up mauka.
Oh, and the view from the property, while probably great thirty years ago, was totally overgrown with trees and vines. You could only see sky (which is fine, but not what we were expecting). Everyone says “ocean view” here, because we’re all near the ocean and probably sitting on a hill, but not all views are equal. Another pet-peeve is guest-room shots that make the rooms look much larger than they actually are (fish-eye view). We’re always grousing about our lame efforts and how our photos only show a portion of each room. We’ve shot from all angles, at all times of day, sitting down, standing up, crouching, etc., but again, we’d rather delight than disappoint. It seems that it’s common practice to go the other way. We had some guests recently who stayed at a place where it turned out that the guest rooms—although they looked large and roomy on the website—were all in a converted basement and had very low ceilings. They felt so claustrophobic they left. We stayed at a place a while back that looked to be a massive cottage online, but in reality was a teensy-tiny little studio.
Another unpleasant surprise relating to size has to do with guest room bathrooms. Because traditional B&B’s are usually converted homes (and often guest rooms are old kid’s rooms), it is not uncommon to either have to share a bathroom with other guests, or to have a small bathroom in the room that’s been converted from a closet or other small space. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, you just have to know what you’re getting. We had a guest stay at a place that did have private bathrooms—which was nice—but the shower was so tiny she bumped into the sides when she had to bend over to get soap. She laughed about it, but it had been uncomfortable and claustrophobic.
It is such hard work to plan a trip and find the perfect place to stay, and our thought as innkeepers is that, after all the effort, guests should find something that makes them happy. If, when we’re speaking with a prospective guest we get the sense that they may not be happy at our place, we will say something and make a recommendation that we think we’ll be a better fit for them. The last thing we want is for someone to be unhappy here. As a visitor, it’s important to do your due diligence and find a place that works for you. Your vacation-time is precious, and you should be able to relax and enjoy it.
Her question seemed strange at first, but as I thought about it, I realized that it was fair. In fact, it wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, or something similar like: Do you serve breakfast? Do you have to pay for parking/internet? Do you really have an ocean view? Are your breakfasts really the way you describe them? Is there parking? etc. We’ve tried to provide loads of helpful information on our website, and are always ready and able to answer questions via email and phone, so we’re always slightly surprised by these questions. But what we’ve eventually come to realize isn’t that we aren’t being clear in our communications or marketing, but that there’s lots of misleading info out there in general that tourists and visitors have to wade through (oh, and the standard of accommodations on the island is unfortunately surprisingly low in some cases).
We realize our photos aren’t that great. In fact, we took them ourselves. Don’t get me wrong, we would LOVE to pay a professional photographer for new photos that really capture our place. Our photos really don’t do justice to the place, especially to the size of the guest rooms. But on the other hand, we always wanted to paint a REALISTIC picture of what’s here. Our guests arrive and either say, “it’s exactly as it looks online”, or, “it’s even better than we thought it would be!”, which is EXACTLY the reaction we want. We would never want a guest to arrive after all the expense and effort of travel and planning and be disappointed.
We have, however, heard plenty of stories of guests who have been mislead, and we have also been misled. For example, a common pet-peeve of ours is when B&B’s or vacation rentals advertise panoramic ocean views and sport great ocean-view shots on their websites, but have either used photos that were taken with a telephoto lens from miles away OR have had their once fine view obscured by foliage (which can happen in a place where there’s no end to the growing season). This gives a false impression of proximity to the ocean and/or of the view from the property. We once stayed at a place that had a photo taken – obviously once you’ve been here and seen it – from Alii Drive, but was actually located at least five miles up mauka.
Oh, and the view from the property, while probably great thirty years ago, was totally overgrown with trees and vines. You could only see sky (which is fine, but not what we were expecting). Everyone says “ocean view” here, because we’re all near the ocean and probably sitting on a hill, but not all views are equal. Another pet-peeve is guest-room shots that make the rooms look much larger than they actually are (fish-eye view). We’re always grousing about our lame efforts and how our photos only show a portion of each room. We’ve shot from all angles, at all times of day, sitting down, standing up, crouching, etc., but again, we’d rather delight than disappoint. It seems that it’s common practice to go the other way. We had some guests recently who stayed at a place where it turned out that the guest rooms—although they looked large and roomy on the website—were all in a converted basement and had very low ceilings. They felt so claustrophobic they left. We stayed at a place a while back that looked to be a massive cottage online, but in reality was a teensy-tiny little studio.
Another unpleasant surprise relating to size has to do with guest room bathrooms. Because traditional B&B’s are usually converted homes (and often guest rooms are old kid’s rooms), it is not uncommon to either have to share a bathroom with other guests, or to have a small bathroom in the room that’s been converted from a closet or other small space. There’s nothing necessarily wrong with this, you just have to know what you’re getting. We had a guest stay at a place that did have private bathrooms—which was nice—but the shower was so tiny she bumped into the sides when she had to bend over to get soap. She laughed about it, but it had been uncomfortable and claustrophobic.
It is such hard work to plan a trip and find the perfect place to stay, and our thought as innkeepers is that, after all the effort, guests should find something that makes them happy. If, when we’re speaking with a prospective guest we get the sense that they may not be happy at our place, we will say something and make a recommendation that we think we’ll be a better fit for them. The last thing we want is for someone to be unhappy here. As a visitor, it’s important to do your due diligence and find a place that works for you. Your vacation-time is precious, and you should be able to relax and enjoy it.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The magic of not over-planning
When visiting the islands it’s tempting to fill each precious vacation day with things to do. Of course there are loads of things to see here, but in our travel experience, we’ve learned it’s also important not to plan too much. It’s good of course to have a general idea of where you’re going and what you want to see so that you are prepared, but it’s also important to be flexible and open and allow things to unfold. You never know how a given day may turn out, and what fantastic opportunity may present itself.
I was reminded of this the other night when we went out for dinner. It was the last night of our vacation and we thought it’d be nice to have one last dinner out. We had a certain restaurant in mind but when it was full had to go somewhere else. We took this in stride and decided to try some place new to us. This other place turned out to have a fantastic band playing. We enjoyed our dinner, and spent the last part of it sitting up next to the stage (at the manager’s suggestion) so our son could dance. It turned out to be a wonderful night.
We’ve had many experiences like this here, and so have our guests. When you’re out and about, you never know what you may discover. We’ve come across hula performances, impromptu musical gatherings, small festivals, exhibits, fantastic restaurants, and off-the-beaten path beaches and activities. You also never know who you’ll meet. Big
An Innkeeping Family
My apologies, dear readers, for not keeping up on my postings. Our little son is going through another bout of teething and has required lots of additional distraction. He seems to get them in fours so I’m hoping he’ll soon be through.
On the topic of family, we’re often asked how we came to be innkeepers. Our first connection to
We are very thankful for all the wonderful guests we’ve been able to meet and serve over the years. We will continue to work to make Luana Inn a place our guests love, and a business of which our son can someday be proud.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Luana Spa
We are pleased to announce that our Spa Room is finally open! The Spa Room is an open-air room in our main house that we’ve converted from an orchid growing-room into a wonderful room where our guests can receive massages and facials. We have two excellent licensed massage therapists and an esthetician available to provide a variety of treatments.
The Spa Room is situated upstairs in the main house over our koi pond. As you rest on the massage table you can hear the koi-pond waterfall just below, along with the wind in our cocoa palms. There’s lots of fresh air blowing through, but because the room is screened-in, you don’t have to worry about bugs, strong wind or sun. With all the natural light pouring in and the wonderful breezes and birdsong, you feel like you’re outside without having to worry about the sheet blowing off (it’s happened to me) or flies.
Ken and I both had massages there earlier this month and were both so comfortable and relaxed we both nearly fell asleep on the table. I had my massage in the late afternoon and afterwards the sun was burning brightly before its final set. I lay down in a cool shady corner and took a quality nap. I awoke just in time to watch the sun set and felt fantastic for the rest of the day.
I am a huge fan of massages and facials and have enjoyed many treatments over the years. If I was a guest here and interested in a massage or facial, I would schedule it for the late afternoon after a morning spent in the ocean. I would take a long, slow swim/snorkel at
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