Hale Maluhia Country Inn

Kona Coast


Take an exuberant grab-bag run by a friendly couple and stuff it with Japanese, Hawaiian and bohemian style and sensibility. Put it all on a jungle mountain abutting some coffee plantations and boom, there's Hale Maluhia. We're not fans of the smallest, cheapest rooms, so go up a little in price or opt for one of the excellent private cottages.

The cottages feel like Shinto-Tropical retreat rooms designed by a Zen monk who was really into the Swiss Family Robinson story.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kona Coast attractions

1. Japanese Cemetery

0.65 MILES

The upland coffee country of the Kona coast has historically been settled and worked by Japanese immigrants and their descendants, and this cemetery,…

3. Keolonahihi State Historical Park

1.81 MILES

While largely overgrown with jungle and scrub brush today, this was once a major religious complex for Native Hawaiians. A heiau (temple) here was once…

4. Pahoehoe Beach Park

1.91 MILES

This little beach park is about seven parts 'park' and three parts 'beach'; the beach itself is small and studded with more coral rubble than sand. With…

5. Honl's Beach

1.98 MILES

If you're an avid bodyboarder, Honl's, also known as Waiʻaha ('Gathering Water'), may feel like a historical pilgrimage. It was here, in 1971, that Tom…

6. Holualoa Kona Coffee Company

2 MILES

Kona Leʻa Plantation does not use pesticides or herbicides on its small organic-certified farm, less than 2 miles south of Holualoa. As you drive up,…

7. Magic Sands Beach

2.04 MILES

About 4 miles south of central Kailua-Kona, this small beach (also called White Sands and, officially, Laʻaloa Beach) has turquoise water, great sunsets,…

8. Original Hawaiian Chocolate Factory

2.25 MILES

A must for chocolate fans, these one-hour farm tours detail how Hawaiian chocolate is grown, harvested, processed and packaged, followed by chocolate…