Introduction:
In May 2023, my wife and I finally checked something off our bucket list: a trip to the Island of Hawaii. We spent 5 nights at the Hilton Grand Naniloa in Hilo without paying any cash out of pocket for the room! (We used points for the entire stay.)
In this post, I’ll take you through Day 1 of our trip: how we got there, our drive across the island (including the dramatic Saddle Road / Mauna Kea route), and our first impressions of the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo. Make sure to stick around to the end of this series to see the exact breakdown of our expenses on this trip and learn how you can fund your next vacation with points as well!
Flying to Hawaii:
For our flight, we flew with Alaska Airlines on the route YVR → SEA → KOA. It cost us $853.92 USD / $1,152.80 CAD total for both tickets, or $576.40 CAD per person round-trip.
The reason I chose Alaska was because I had a companion fare voucher plus some Alaska wallet funds which were set to expire.
While the fare was still higher than the average $500 per person round trip from Vancouver, it allowed me to use up my expiring wallet funds, my companion fare voucher, and gave us each a free checked bag since I paid the balance with my Alaska MBNA World Elite Mastercard.
Originally, our flight was supposed to depart at 8:00 am, but it was moved up to 6:10 am, so we showed up at YVR at 4:30 am and hit up the U.S. departures lounge for a quick coffee before boarding.
The first leg to Seattle was short, and we slept the entire flight.
We arrived in SEA around 7:10 am, grabbed our bags, rechecked them, and got through security by ~7:45 am. We still had hours to burn before the Kona leg, with boarding at 12:15 pm. During that downtime, we enjoyed into the American Express Centurion Lounge in Seattle.
This lounge is one of my favourite in North America. The elevated buffet with a rotating menu designed by a local chef, delicious premium cocktails at their bar, plus a complimentary coffee bar with a barista crafting handmade drinks makes it worth stopping at every time I am at the Seattle airport.
After a few hours at the lounge, we walked over to our gate and boarded our flight to Kona. Although our hotel was on the other side of the island (Hilo), flying into Kona gave us flexibility to see both sides of the island.
Landing in Kona:
The moment the plane door opened in Kona, we were greeted by a dense, warm wave of humid air. The airport in Kona is half-open: you step off onto the tarmac and walk into a partially covered terminal. It is the complete opposite of a slick modern airport, but refreshingly relaxed and tropical.
From the terminal, a free shuttle (running every 5-10 minutes) delivered us to the nearby rental car center.
We had booked our rental car via Costco Travel, which gave us the best rate in our searches. We also compared options from Hotwire, DiscoverCars.com, and RentalCars.com.
All these sites offered comparable rates, and for those without a Costco membership, I would recommend discovercars.com or rentalcars.com as they both offer free cancellation, and discovercars.com also offers a price-match guarantee.
Having free cancellation is a great benefit, as the price of car rentals can fluctuate daily. Even with Costco travel, I re-booked our rental car 10 times as the prices kept getting lower as we got closer to our travel date.
We ended up paying $246.70 USD for the 5.5 days of car rental (excluding gas).
Pro tip: If you have a premium credit card that offers car rental benefits, you can decline the rental agency’s damage waiver and accident insurance and still have coverage. In my case, my American Express Business Platinum covers collision and damage (up to $85,000) as long as I decline the agency option and pay with my card. That saved me ~$34.99 USD/day.
The Business Platinum card also comes with benefits for Avis and Hertz car rentals, but these benefits only apply if you book with them directly. Since we booked through Costco travel, we were unable to access the free vehicle upgrade benefit. However, the counter agent still allowed me to add my Avis loyalty number to the reservation.
Dinner in Kona:
Once we got our car, we drove 15 minutes away to have an early dinner at Umekes Fish Market. Umekes is highly rated with 4.4 stars on Google with over 6,000 reviews. However, the meal I had there was sub-par. I ordered the shoyu tuna poke with rice and macaroni salad. Given that I had such a great previous experience with poke in Maui, I assumed that all poke from Hawaii would be at the same level. Sadly, the poke at Umekes was overly salty, and was overall just not very good. My wife ordered the fish tacos, which were okay. In total, we spent $50 USD on this meal.
After dinner, we decided to cleanse our palettes and enjoy the waterfront view, so we went to Scandanavian Shave Ice about 5 minutes away. They are highly rated with awards for having the best shaved ice in Kona.
We got the passion fruit shaved ice with hopia cream, which was massive, delicious, and refreshing. No wonder they won so many awards.
Then, it was time to cross the island to Hilo.
From Kona to Hilo:
We had three driving options to cross the island:
- Northern route (around the top): 2-3 hours
- Southern route (around the bottom): ~3 hours
- Central route via Saddle Road, passing near Mauna Kea: ~1.5 hours
For the sake of time, we chose the third option.
As we ascended into Saddle Road (Route 200, aka Daniel K. Inouye Highway), the landscape began shifting. We climbed through tropical forest, then into sparse terrain. Up ahead, the peaks of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa (volcanoes) loomed.
Saddle Road is about 85 kilometers long, linking the east and west sides of the island between those two volcanoes. The road reaches elevations of roughly 6,600 ft (2,020 m) at the saddle point. Landscapes along the way are wildly diverse: dense rainforest, arid lava flows, and rolling grasslands.
In the past, Saddle Road had a fearsome reputation with many narrow stretches, poor pavement, fog, and even parts off limits to rental cars. However, extensive upgrades over the 2000s and 2010s improved much of it. Still, some rough patches, sudden weather, and wildlife (goats, pigs, sheep) remain.
About halfway across Saddle Road, there is a turnoff to Mauna Kea Access Road, which leads upward toward observatories.
Driving up toward Mauna Kea, the air grew cooler, and the terrain shifted to stark, lava-strewn fields. Then, descending toward Hilo, the forest reclaimed the scene again, mist bobbing through the trees, until we rolled into the wetter, greener side of the island.
The full drive felt like traveling through multiple worlds in one car ride.
Checking-in to the hotel:
After about 2 hours of driving, we pulled into the Hilton Grand Naniloa – A DoubleTree by Hilton in Hilo.
The staff greeted us with warm Hawaiian hospitality. As is tradition in DoubleTree hotels, we each got a complimentary warm chocolate chip cookie at check-in, which, after a long drive, was a delightful welcome.
The Grand Naniloa Hotel has 3 towers, and when we stayed at the time, one of the towers were not yet renovated. Originally, our room had been in an older tower. Once we entered our room, we noticed a few issues with the room, so we politely asked to be moved. The staff obliged and moved us into the newer tower.
The room itself was comfy and modern, though basic. Ours faced the street and didn’t have a balcony. But honestly, since we were out exploring daily, it didn’t bother us much. We did however have a view of nearby properties, palm trees, and lush greenery.
Waking up every morning to swaying palms and tropical greenery outside the window was a great way to start the day.
If you are planning to stay at the Grand Naniloa, make sure you plan your check-in and check out times as there are 3 elevators for the entire building, which can sometimes cause congestion. Also, make sure to ask to be placed in a newer tower upon check-in!
Conclusion:
That’s a wrap on Part I of our Hawaii trip. Make sure to stick around for part 2 as we talk about our first few days exploring Hilo.
If you’ve ever driven Saddle Road or visited Mauna Loa or Mauna Kea, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Drop a comment down below. And if you’re planning your own Hawaii trip, stay tuned, Part 2 is coming soon!
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