Big Scam on the Big Island

We’d had such good luck with accommodations on our trip, ranging from the luxury of The Edition Waikiki to the rustic charm of Waimea Plantation Cottages. But something had to go wrong, right? 

After staying in bigger resorts on Oahu, we opted for smaller hotels on the Big Island. We landed in Hilo at 8 p.m. and drove our rented Jeep out of town where we had been given directions and an emergency contact number. Surely, nothing could go awry with directions and a phone number, we naively thought to ourselves.

In the darkness and rain, we drove through the Hawaiian jungle in search of anything resembling the Luxurious Waterfall and Pool Resort. The directions we were given were vague at best, with landmarks like “wooden sign” and “orange cone.”

It was almost 10 p.m. at this point and our frustrated phone calls to the emergency number were left unanswered. We were hopelessly lost and received no help from Wainani Vacations, the owners. That gave us no choice but to drive back to Hilo and find somewhere else to stay.

Back in Hilo, we found a room at the Castle Hilo Hawaiian Hotel on Banyan Drive. After a late dinner at Ken’s House of Pancakes, a 24-hour diner, we went to bed, hoping for better luck in daylight. The next morning, my mom called Expedia, the company we booked with, trying to get a refund for the night since we had to pay for two rooms.

They contacted the “hotel,” but we were refused a refund. Instead, we got a $50 voucher to use on Expedia, which didn’t even cover the price of one hotel room. I took to Twitter hoping for a better response, but was told by Expedia they would “look into it.”

Since we were booked at Luxurious Waterfall for 2 more nights, we had to find it so we didn’t lose even more money. The directions were still unhelpful (is it that hard to put the actual street names?), but we finally found the yellow house we saw online. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn’t it.

It was essentially a house split into 3 condos without a soul in sight. The kitchen and laundry were in a separate building and both the washer and dryer were broken. Once inside our unit, we saw a sparsely decorated living room with a hot plate and tables and chairs, as well as a flat screen television that only got the BYU Hawaii channel.

There was a note saying we could only use 20 megabytes of internet, but we had no way of measuring that and it seemed we were the only guests. The porch overlooked the so-called luxurious pool, but it was so dirty none of us dared to take a dip. We were never given any information on where the waterfall was, so we never saw it. The rooms were standard and so was the bathroom, but it’s not what was advertised, as a resort.

Unfortunately for us, the second place we had booked, the Volcano Luxurious Bed and Breakfast, was also owned by Wainani Vacations. They had, however, answered our phone calls a few days prior so we had higher hopes for this place. We drove to a cute yellow house that said Wainani B&B, so we assumed we were there.

For once, we were actually impressed with how it looked. A man walked out and told us we were in the wrong place and that they were closed. He proceeded to give us more half-assed directions. We recognized the house from the website, so we drove to Volcanoes National Park, as confused as ever.

The pattern continued when we tried to call the company and they didn’t answer. After a few more voicemails and threats of legal action, we got a callback and were told we were in the Forest House, in a separate house a mile away from the bed and breakfast we had booked.

It did not have the pool, computer room or self-service kitchen that we were advertised. There were only 2 beds, a double and a single, as well as a long cushion with a pillow and sheets for the fourth person. In addition to the internet restrictions, we were given a list of chores to do before checking out.

Because of this company’s lack of communication, we reported them to the Better Business Bureau. There were warnings on Trip Advisor, but we ignored them because of the proximity to the park. For $157 per night, we did not get what we paid for. 

The pictures online are misleading, as is the name. Neither are luxurious and neither are hotels. It’s not even that the rooms were that bad. I’ve stayed in disgusting hostels on my travels (but not ones where I was given chores!), so this was nothing. But I feel like we were taken advantage of. The staff was of no help and we never saw any of them in person. As a hotel employee, I know what good customer service is and this wasn’t it.

What would you have done?