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We have one free daily outbound shuttle at 8:00am. Hilo does not usually have lengthy check in or security lines, so schedule your airline departure for at least 1 hour after 8:00am. This shuttle goes to the Airport, Downtown and Wal-Mart. We also have an on demand sign up sheet for sharing taxi's. Use our near free ($3 a day !!) bicycles.  We
have laundry facilities at $2:00 per wash including liquid soap and $2:00 to dry.
Coffee and tea is also available at $2.00 per day for all you can drink or $.50
per cup. We also have a coffee vending machine with excellent
coffee and a soda machine offering other beverage choices such as juice, water, and of course, soda.  For
those with rental cars who wish to visit other parts of the island we have
an endless amount of information for you on other hotels, lodges and B & B's.
In most cases it is not necessary to book in advance. Just get to Arnott's,
look at your options, get information off our huge board of other people's
flyers, talk to us and you will have an excellent adventure. To see other
Hotels go to our Links page...Our own daily world famous adventures are described in an accompanying section. Mauna Kea is banned by rental car companies due to damages to vehicles and accidents due to failed brakes. So even if you have a car, leave space in your schedule for these great adventures because most of it requires specific knowledge of places that are not on any map and require a guide. Please note expedition times vary seasonally and in response to changing lava flows, so be sure to check times by calling or E-Mailing. Our earliest departure is 9:00am. our latest 2:00pm. On your day of arrival try to get to Hilo in time to partake in the days expedition. Hilo town is a mix of old and new with a good selection of supermarkets, modern stores and a Mall. Old Hilo town is in the midst of change, has a great museum, a great Farmers Market on Wednesday and Saturdays and many restaurants covering a reasonable range of cuisine and prices.. Our free 8:00am shuttle, our bicycles and our practice of stopping at a market outbound for expeditions, allow our backpackers to get their daily food needs. More substantial fare may be obtained at a neighborhood store about 800 yards away. There are many stores and major markets within a few minutes drive for our car renters. Hilo, of course has large Supermarkets catering to every conceivable food need.
No check-ins or business of any kind is conducted before 7:30 am and after 8:00 pm, a late check in fee applies - No check ins after 10:00 pm. If you have early flights out we can arrange an early pick up by taxi which you must pay for. Our one free outbound shuttle is at 8:00 am Checkout time is 10:00 am and we ask that you strip your bed of sheets and pillow slips (leave bed spread) and bring them to our laundry area. (De Luxe rooms leave on the bed.) With the near universal spread of cellphones we do not have any phone access to guests, our public phones are outgoing only and we are not staffed to take or deliver messages. If you are involved in urgent matters and do not have a cellphone, may we suggest a full service Hotel. We have Arnott's Lodge t-shirts, caps, postcards and postage for sale. Wal-Mart and Safeway are open until midnight and has most needs covered.  Arnott's
Lodge - What It Is and What Its Not!The Lodge is run by its founder - Doug Arnott, Annette Nakamoto our General Manager and a small dedicated staff who work extremely hard so you can have fun. What It Is: A high energy, fun, international Hotel with rooms for regular guests, dorm space for backpackers, daily expeditions, gathering areas, lamplight patio, a large movie room with a huge collection of latest videos, vending for drinks snacks and good coffee and extensive grounds for your pleasure. It is located near a beautiful wilderness coastline that is a must to visit, with turtles year round and whales seasonally. We created the lodge for international travelers on a budget who are out to have fun and share their adventures. We maintain a secure format where mothers in London or Sydney or school and college groups can send their daughters and sons with confidence... It is also available for interstate and local travelers who are easy going and fit into our format. What It's Not: -Arnott's Lodge may not suit those who like luxury full service hotels or who expect Lotion, Shampoo and a cotton robe in their room. We have great prices but "no frills" service. -It is not for people who use drugs or consume alcohol to excess, or have "problems" and do not want to join in the fun. -We do not take long stays, preferring to have a constant turnover of interesting guests being energized by their discoveries, there is a 7 day stay limit although genuine travelers with an onward ticket may request an extension, at our discretion. -Arnott's is not for people who have no cellphone etiquette, if you are an inconsiderate person who yells on their cellphone in public places, please go elsewhere. We Do Not Have: -Air conditioning except in de-luxe rooms, we have fans in every room. -Telephones in rooms as everyone has cellphones these days. -24 hour front desk, wake-up calls, daily linen service, phone message or fax service. -Late partying or disturbing others... our guests are adventurers who rise early to visit the wonders of Hawaii. If what we are is to your liking - - WELCOME - - you join over 100,000 happy travelers who have enjoyed our Lodge over its 17 years of existence.. If it is not to your liking we would be happy to help you find a suitable full service hotel in Hilo. And you can still take our "Great Expeditions".
We look forward to seeing you!!
Enhanced security with new card style door locks.
Arnotts has now installed keyless card style locks on all guestroom doors. This is a major advance in security for our guests as the cards automatically cancel on the day you check out. It also makes administering our dormitories very easy compared to giving out and changing combinations under the old system. We are looking forward to the day when even more advanced locks that can be programmed to take your own credit card become within our price range....this would eliminate the taking of a small deposit against return of the IC cards which cost over $1 each. Big
Mattress upgrade at Arnott's.
When Doug and his staff travel, they notice trends. One of the latest of course, is the upgrade by most good hotels to the bedding and pillows. A large import to Hilo of good quality new mattresses by one of our large stores has enabled us to replace virtually all the "old" mattresses, some obtained second hand from major Hotel refurbishments several years ago. As part of our continual upgrade of our facilities we are placing new mattresses and extra pillows in all rooms that do not already have them as a result of previous upgrades. Some of our staff have been beneficiaries of the "old" mattresses which were an upgrade on what they had at home. What goes around comes around !! New
vending area includes great fresh ground coffee & snacks...
In our quest to bring ever better facilities for our guests, we have recently purchased a fresh grind coffee vending machine. This machine makes coffee as good as that produced on an espresso machine. We also have Soda's, water and Snacks now available 24 hours a day. New
hourly County Bus service makes us even more accessible.
The County of Hawaii Transit Agency launched a new Monday to Friday Hele On bus service for Keaukaha in June 2008. For guests wanting to take the bus into town, they operate every hour from 7:00 in the morning and every hour from 1:35 in the afternoon until 4:40pm to the Mooheau Bus Terminal. If you wish to catch the bus to the Prince Kuhio Plaza, University of Hawaii or the Hilo Shopping Center, you will need to catch the 3:35pm or earlier bus. You will need to wait on Kalanianaole Avenue outside of Onekahakaha Beach. The County of Hawaii Mass Transit offers this FREE island wide bus service on all scheduled routes. Free
Saturday dinner in appreciation of you our guests.
In appreciation of all our great guests over the years we treat our current guests to a free meal on Saturday evening around 7:00pm. This is great mixer where people from all our diverse accommodation types get together on our lanai/patio and talk story on their mutual interest....Travel. The meal can range from delivered pizza to lasagna, baked chicken or stew cooked by Giles, husband of our General Manager Annette. With soft lamplight and a convivial atmosphere we have local music from the stereo and sometimes live shows by our staff. For the Lodge birthday on the first Saturday in each August we have a special meal, cake and Hula show. The meal is most often Pizza with a free beer for those over 21 years old. We appreciate everybody being there at 7:00pm for announcements. Sign up is required at our front desk, in advance of 5:30pm for numbers. Our
outreach program for schools and community groups.
Arnott's Lodge believes in giving back to its community and encouraging youth education. To this end we provide free or discounted accommodation, tours and donations for worthy groups. The extent of the discount depends on the needs and resources of the group and usually entails a frank and honest discussion with Doug Arnott, our owner, or Annette Nakamoto, general manager. We have taken groups of local high school students and Hawaiian cultural practitioners up Mauna Kea for free. We have done tours and dorms at 50% and 75% rates for visiting mainland schools, colleges and Eco groups. We expect groups who can well afford it, to pay their way, allowing us to give discounts to the worthy. We also support local youth, schools and sports.. Donations are made possible by our association with Norwegian Cruise Lines and the cruise industry which supplies 75% of our business. Some of the groups we have assisted with donations, discounts or free consideration over the years are: -The Royal Order of Kamehameha. -Gustavus Adolphus College, MN. -Liliokulani Trust. -Waiakea Intermediate School, HI. -The Salvation Army. -Bosque School, Albuquerque, NM. -Keaukaha Intermediate School. -Bridgewater-Raritan High School, NJ. -Hilo Youth Soccer league. -Colchester Sixth Form College ( UK ). -Hawaii Youth Rugby. -Concordia College. Moorhead MN. -Special Olympics. -Ellis School, Pittsburgh. PA. -St Joseph's Hilo. -Luther High, Onalaska, WI. -Young Democrats Pacific Century. -Bishop Stopford ( UK ). -Serteens Oahu. -Putney Student Travel, VT. -Molokai High School. -Seabury Hall, Makawao Maui, HI. -Various canoe paddling clubs. -British Military. ( UK ) -Hilo High School. -US Coast Guard. -United States Navy. -Navy League. -VASH, Visitor Aloha Society Hawaii.. -Hawaii County Youth Summit. -Outward Bound, Australia. -Ka'u High School. -Kona Hawaii Civic club. -UHH Career Day. -UHIFA Astro Day.
Doug Arnott addresses "comment sites" that rate us poorly.
As you can see by the page above this, Arnott's Lodge is dedicated to both service to its guests and service to its community. Many of you are aware their are certain websites which attempt to "rate" businesses, airlines, hotels and hostels by accepting unverified comments from unknown sources. Some Airlines despite carrying millions of passengers safely seem to have nothing but bad comments. The reason for this is simple.....people who get what they expected or have a good time rarely write anything....they are too busy with their present moments. Over the past 17 years we have served over 100,000 people sending the vast majority away very happy and getting excellent ratings in guidebooks like Lonely Planet, Frommers, Fodors and Rough Guide, that send out "stealth" reviewers who provide honest unbiased professional opinions. And the fact is, that this majority, if they have a good time and get what they expected, do not write glowing reports to review sites. Only the dissidents write. Due to Hilo being Hawaii's most remote city and its proximity to the Puna area, where many people seek inexpensive land and try to move here, we also have a constantly shifting "migrating" population of people meeting unforseen challenges and sometimes running out of money and entering a state of near vagrancy. Due to our reasonable prices, dorms and tenting, we would be overun by these people if we did not take precautions to make sure our guests are genuine travellers, here to enjoy our islands, and that they have money so they are not stealing from you .....This requires a reasonable but enforced set of rules and standards of behaviour, which does not sit well with a tiny minority of guests. And when we evict them they write to review sites to "destroy" our business !! These same people dont like security cameras, which no one has time to watch, but which can be reviewed if the wallet you accidentally left out is missing an hour later. These cameras also deter crime in our whole area making our Lodge one of the safest places in Hilo. (ask Londoners) We have cancellation policies, clearly posted here and on our website, for tours and rooms, as well as for sudden storms on the mountain.... or Lava disappearing an hour before we get there.......these same type of people do not believe that these policies apply to them.....or they gave their wife the impression they had booked at Four Seasons....not that Hilo has four seasons, and she demands to be taken to an expensive Hotel and of course does not believe the cancellation policy applies to them. In fact I am a sort of background figure, attending to office work, the larger tour business we run, and the demanding maintenence and upgrading of our Lodge which is constant and ongoing. My main contact with guests, is that I personally drive the free morning airport shuttle so I can meet some of my guests and make sure they had a good time. So if you read how RUDE I was to one of the complainers you can bet I was called by a staff member to deal with someone who was already out of hand and causing problems to our delightful regular staff......and yes in these circumstances I can be very abrupt myself, and call in Police to remove people who are ruining our atmosphere for our normal guests. And yes, some of our staff are young giving the impression they are inexperienced, but we support youth training programs and our kids are already taking nursing and legal courses or have become fully trained employees in the workforce, so please be patient....you were young once and these kids are not on drugs or waiting to steal your wallet !! Some of the more laughable comments involve the man complaining about the length of the Lava hike as if we control where the Volcano puts the Lava.....another claims our driver was 16 years old.....we have a dynamite trainee who led a group of Navy Seals kids from the sea to the summit of Mauna Kea in a three day hike, and who does ride along and do commentary and sometimes moves vans within our parking lot, but the minimum age of our drivers is 20. This means the complainer did not even do the actual tour.....Where do they get this stuff ?? Oh and there is the fired employee who decided to try and get back at us by writing to every comment site he could find....what he didnt discuss was the quality of his work and his drug habit that got him fired. We spend the larger part of what we earn in a genuine quest to make Arnott's the finest facility of its class in Hawaii, and are constantly upgrading what we have and adding new amenities.....check out the rest of our website and come and join the 100,000 people who had a great time with us in Hilo !! Guests of Arnott's Lodge or Tours and others may freely use pictures or links on this website for non professional purposes. |
