After three days in a Honolulu high rise, we wanted a place on the Big Island with character and genuineness. The story of how this couple bought and renovated a truly filthy, derelict property is fascinating. Since they clearly display Christian signage and literature on this seven-room property in the forest, their story is one of faith and religious messaging rather than mere finance and hard work. Miriam showed us numerous before/after photos of their property. Simply amazing good luck, hard work, and good taste have almost redone this wonderful, reasonably priced inn. Ours was a bit small but also cheaper. Wifi worked very well and the utilities were quite operative. Her omelets were morning treats accompanied by heartfelt hugs and outdoors seating near lots of birds and a single friendly chicken. The renovation is a work in process after only 18 months but they could use more outdoor lighting to mark their driveway and parking lot to direct Mainland drivers entering at night. A chair would have been welcome to use my laptop but space was necessarily compromised. Dave offered useful ideas for activities on the island and Miriam welcomed conversation and suggestions, unlike Honolulu high rises. Next time we will stay in the Japanese room.

My family and I stayed in the Banyan Cottage which totally has a tree house feeling. We loved it. The room was very spacious and cozy. Sitting on the private lanai at night, listening to the sounds of nature, overlooking the trees and the beautiful landscape was just what we needed after an exciting day. Miriam and Dave are most welcoming. They have a little sign in the kitchen that says “You come as guests and leave as friends” and that’s totally how we felt. Miriam prepares a delicious breakfast every morning and made us feel special. Dave helped us navigate the island and gave us great tips for every day. Thank you!!,

This inn is located a short drive from Kona in the hills. The property is beautiful and is so much nicer than the typical hotel. We stayed in the Pikaki room and it was very comfortable and extremely clean. We had a kitchenette, dining table and bed in a good size room. The bathroom was a great size also. We stayed 3 nights and only had the opportunity to have breakfast one morning and it was amazing. Miriam and Dave provide a beautiful breakfast and the presentation of the various foods prepared is fantastic. They are wonderful engaging people and you cannot help but be uplifted by them. They are working hard to improve the facilities for guests since they purchased the property and we would love to return to their inn on our next visit to the Big Island.

Dave, Miriam, and daughter Christine are the epitome of kind, friendly and helpful hosts. I also had a wonderful conversation about photography one evening with their friend Don who was working late helping out on the property. The group morning coffee and breakfasts nourish body and soul. Loved meeting and sharing with fellow travelers from all over the mainland, visiting old Hawaii. The inn itself is a sprawling structure nestled into the hillside forest alongside a steep winding road. There is a narrow glimpse of the ocean and sunsets downhill through the V of the road cut below, and a section of the lawn next to the fishpond where you can view the stars, moon and planets (Mars the night I looked) above. Be warned that there is nothing nearby to walk to. You are several miles above Kona proper and a mile below the artist colony of Holualoa above. So, if you arrive late in the day after a long flight, you may choose to go to sleep hungry and binge on breakfast the next morning. My room (Jasmine) can best be described as an attic dormer so watch your head on the steeply sloped left side of the room, and be prepared to climb a long steep stairway. I only stayed two nights with the intent to move across the island to a house I’m renting for the remainder of my two week visit. Glad I had the foresight to pack two days of necessities and clothes in a carryon for my stay here at the inn and left my 50 lb checked bag in the trunk of the rented car for the duration. Would have been a bear to lug that up and down the stairs. So, all in all, a bit rustic, a bit isolated, and a whole lot welcoming, friendly and giving.

My brother and I chose the Hale Maluhia Country Inn because the setting looked so beautiful. The Inn is off the coast, cooler, more peaceful and very comfortable. Dave and Miriam's generous hospitality was an unexpected bonus. Dave goes out of his way to help with advice on where to go each day and how to get there. Miriam's breakfasts are delicious too. We loved hanging out on the lanai each morning with fellow guests, swapping stories about our Big Island experiences and sharing our lives. It was a very special stay. We would book again in a flash!

I absolutely left my heart back at Hale Maluhia Country Inn and with the beautiful family who knows it. I should start by saying that the rooms are all so beautiful and clean! I stayed at the Banyan and the Japanese room. I don't know which one I loved more. Breakfast was my favorite time while staying here. Breakfast is at 8am every morning with an amazing spread of fruits, cheeses, omelets and FRESH BREAD. Yes, Miriam bakes fresh bread every night. I spent about a week here and I didn't want to leave. I only left because I had to - I was ready to move in with them. All their children are amazing and Miriam and Dave go above and beyond for their guests. I know need to go to the Big Island at least once a year just to stay here.

My family of 4 stayed in the Banyan Cottage for 5 nights, it was spacious and beautiful, not fancy but very comfortable. We enjoyed breakfast on the lanai each morning very much, the atmosphere is relaxed and easy going and the food was fresh and delicious. For us the location was perfect, centrally located for most of our activities and just enough off the touristy beaten path. The grounds are heavily forested with trees and foliage, it was beautiful. The barrage of nightly noises were a bit unexpected and almost humorous at times but to us they really added to the authenticity of our stay. After we left, I missed waking up to the roosters and going to sleep listening to the frogs. Earplugs are a simple and effective solution. Im very pleased that we chose to stay here! Dave and Meriam are gracious and attentive hosts full of helpful information and willing to assist in any way. I would highly recommend this B&B and I would gladly stay here again!

Not a 5-star beach-side resort-type hotel with the multistory rows of cookie-cutter-style rooms, the Hale Maluhia is a delightful collection of 7 distinctly different but charming suites -- each with their own personality -- and is nestled in the high reaches of a residential area high above the Kalua-Kona, Hawai'i shoreline. Our family -- my wife, my daughter, my sister-in-law, and I -- stayed in the "Japanese Tea Room" suite that was separate from the other structures of the BnB. It was a fascinating octagonal structure that resembled a Japanese version of a Mongolian yurt or gur, but with sliding shoji doors and windows, a pushed out wall to make room for a closet/wardrobe and TV/video cabinet, and another wall that opened into a separate spacious bath/shower/toilet/sink area. The bath area also had the sliding shoji windows on two sides of the bathtub that provided ample light during the day even if the lights were not turned on. At first, I questioned the need for the beautiful Hawaiian-style motif quilt that draped the bed, because when we arrived in the afternoon, it was quite humid and warm, maybe in the mid 80s. However, as the night went on, and as our fan was no longer needed around midnight, it got down to about 70 degrees, and the quilt was appreciated. In addition to the main queen-sized bed, the BnB provided two comfortable cots for the other two members of our group. Also in the room were two rattan chairs with pillows, a bamboo-framed full-length mirror, a writing table/desk with power outlets for phone chargers or laptops, night stands with lamps on both sides of the bed that provided nice lighting after dark, and an oscillating vertical fan. In the washroom area of the suite was a small refrigerator and a microwave, as well as utensils if you wanted to stash and cook some of your own meals. Another rattan chair on the suite's front deck provided a pleasant place to read or to watch the birds or watch the sunset over Kailua-Kona. The grounds of the inn were interesting as well -- the inn was surrounded with an amazing variety of Hawai'ian foliage that included massive banyan trees that seemed to want to envelope the stairs to the Japanese tee room suite and the "Banyan Suite", breadfruit trees, papaya trees, coconut palms, royal palms, betel nut palms, mango trees, avocado trees, noni, bamboo stands, sugar cane, passion-fruit, guava, and even macadamia nut trees. Around the bases of these larger trees were ti plants, orchids, hibiscus, plumeria, jasmine, ginger, and bird-of-paradise. The aromatic fragrance of these flowers mixed with the scent of the ocean breeze created an almost intoxicating experience when inhaled. Each day, we were up, dressed, and ready for the day's adventures when the Hale Maluhia Country Inn rang the "breakfast bell" at 8 am. I usually was the first one up and headed down to the lanai -- the inn's front porch and breakfast area -- earlier at around 7:15 am each day to get a head start on the day and to get started on a first cup of fresh-brewed Kona coffee. I chatted with Dave Cariveau -- the co-owner of the inn as we watched the feeding frenzy of birds around the bird feeder across the front lawn fronting the breakfast lanai. On a credenza along the back wall of the lanai, there were various books about the natural history of Hawai'i -- and particularly about the Big Island of Hawai'i. The books were on Hawai'i bird and fish identification, Hawai'ian geology and volcanos, and Hawai'ian history. Also on the credenza were some pairs of binoculars that you could use to get a closer look at the birds (mostly) gathered around the feeder that Dave filled every morning. My wife and the rest of our group, as well as the other guests of the inn, would come down to the kitchen where we were treated to a sumptuous display of foods including fresh fruits from the property of the inn -- papayas, bananas, pineapples, and mangos, yogurt, fresh-baked bread, muffins, and made-to-order omelets from the inn's chickens. Breakfast drinks included herb-infused water, POG (passion-fruit, orange, guava) juice, mango juice, and Hawai'ian tea. We'd bring our plates and glasses of juice out to the lanai to eat. On the lanai, we could choose between medium or dark-roast Kona coffee or a variety of teas. Our group visited with our fellow guests while we ate breakfast and enjoyed the antics of the birds. We saw the Java sparrows, mourning doves, zebra doves, the yellow saffron finches, and a red cardinal that tussled on the feeder and watched the flock of chickens scrambling at the base of the bird feeder for the seeds that were falling onto the ground. Some movement at the base of one of the papaya trees caught my eye -- it was an emerald-green, gold-dotted Madagascar gecko (also known as a "gold dust day gecko"), introduced to Hawai'i, yet seemingly adopted by the locals as a fun addition to the bug eaters. Dave warned us that the geckos had a fondness for sweets, and if we spilled some jam or sweet tea or coffee on the table, the gecko would be sure to find it to lap it up. Of course, the geckos would also go after the ants and other bugs that had been attracted by the crumbs and sweets. Dave kept a spray water-bottle next to the coffee credenza that we could use to shoo away the braver chickens that would not only hop onto the lanai to scrounge for food under the tables, but would also hop onto the chairs and the tables if you let your guard down. We, as with all the other guests, found this quite amusing -- really "tropical village life" ... rather than the more sterile resort-hotel experience. Like us, they were here to have an adventure rather than be pampered -- yet, we were all treated like family by the inn owners. Our experience was like staying with relatives for our time on the Big Island, so yes, there were some aspects that were quite different than what you would get at your standard resort hotel. When we stayed at the inn, we had managed to get the last remaining suite -- the Japanese tea room. We didn't get a chance to see what the other rooms were like, except that we were able to get a glimpse of the Banyan suite (the largest suite) while it was being prepped for the next group of guests. Merriam, Dave's wife and the other co-owner of the inn, invited us into the suite to see what it looked like. It was a considerably larger suite than our Japanese tea room suite and had a separate kitchen counter area with refrigerator, microwave, sink, and cupboards. In addition to a large king-sized bed inn the main separate bedroom, there was a couch that folded into a queen-sized bed in the "living room" along with plush chairs and a coffee table and with plenty of room for more cots, if the group had that many people. A separate bathroom with a tub, shower, toilet, and sink was off of the access hall from the kitchen. As with much of the inn, the place is going through a lot of modifications and improvements. Dave and Merriam Cariveau acquired the inn after it had gotten fairly run-down and they have put a lot of work bringing it up to its current state. Yes, there are more improvements that are probably necessary and are planned, but for us, the inn was a perfect setting as our base-camp for our Hawai'ian adventures on the Big Island. If you want the luxury frills of a generally quiet resort hotel, I wouldn't recommend the Hale Maluhia Country Inn, because it's sort of "rustic" in many ways. In particular, because it's in a rural residential area, you get the noise of the neighbors and their many dogs barking and whining through the night (and their owners yelling at the dogs to get them to shut up). You'll have the coqui frogs making a ruckus with their peculiar call throughout the night. in the morning (well, seemingly all day and all night), you'll have the roosters crowing and the hens clucking -- sometimes right in front of your room (and because the rooms are not air-conditioned and they have open-screen windows, you'll get the full-blast sound of those critters. And, to top it off, the inn is on a steep grade and surrounded by an access road that has traffic throughout the night, including some vehicles that sound like they are a broken leaf-blower on wheels. What I found amusing was that Dave and Merriam recognize that the noise gets a little wild at night, so they have provided ear-plugs in the rooms for those light sleepers with sensitive ears. I found that after a mai-tai or a pina-colada at one of the great restaurants in Kailua-Kona or Waikaloa and with the oscillating fan turned on full-blast for the "white-noise" effect, any of the other noise that surrounded the inn was negligible. Yes, I woke up a few times, but I also do that when I'm at home, so it wasn't a problem for me. I found the noise amusing -- and we even laughed about it with our fellow guests over breakfast each morning. My family and I would definitely return to stay at the Hale Maluhia Country Inn when we come back to Hawai'i's Big Island ... It was one of our best vacations ever!

Our host Dave texted me and my partner Ray the morning of check-in, and because our room was being prepared, graciously allowed us to stop by four or five hours early to drop off our things for the Thanksgiving weekend stay we had planned. We knew we had made the right choice for our stay right off the bat. Hale Maluhia provided our preferred atmosphere, rustic, yet was somehow typical of a Hawaiian neighborhood on a convenient road with its occasional sounds. We both researched our choice and this choice for our Thanksgiving holiday weekend proved to be a good value for us (compared to a hotel stay) as we came over from where we live on Oahu to explore the ‘real’ Hawaii. Although there was an inviting, well-kept hot-tub there, we did not use it. Maneuvering and parking with a bigger vehicle on, in and out of the driveway can be a challenge, as anywhere in Hawaii. The bed in the small Maile Room (with a clean private bath) was very comfortable, and the wifi was adequate when we needed it. The setting of the large property, the sights and sounds, the décor, and the area is just as advertised, and its location proved very convenient to town for Thanksgiving dinner. We enjoyed the bird-watching, the chickens, the sounds of the coqui frogs in the peaceful setting. We appreciated the excellent local coffee and delicious home-made breakfast items to fuel our planned road trips in our rented vehicle over the three days we enjoyed on the Big Island (by the way, they are very convenient to the KOA airport). Miriam was wonderful to talk to, and her housekeeping skills and perfectionism, and food presentation art and pride in the expansive property was apparent. Both Dave and Miriam were helpful with travel suggestions, inquisitive about what we enjoyed about our day trips, and were never intrusive about our lives nor personal beliefs – and it’s apparent they love what they do, and truly care about the comfort and feelings of every one of their guests. They have plans to keep improving the property, mixing what are now modern amenities people want with the old Hawaiian country motif. We are certain they will succeed. We enjoyed near-perfect weather in late November, and if we can get back to the Big Island, we will return to Hale Maluhia Country Inn. We recommend this B&B to travelers of all sorts, from any background, any culture - especially if you don't care to stay in an impersonal and high priced resort hotel. Mahalo to the whole family of the House of Peace (Hale Maluhia)!