Close proximity to volcanic activity makes Kilauea Lodge an attractive destination for tourists, but lava and steam vents aren’t the lodge’s only bid for visitors.
The Kilauea Lodge wasn’t always a hotel, but the building has been around for a while. Thanks to a bit of a storied history, Kilauea Lodge is on the Hawaii Register of historic places by the state historic preservation division, and on the National Register of historic places by the United States Department of the Interior, according to General Manager Janet Coney.
The lodge was originally built in 1938 as a YMCA camp called Hale-O-Aloha, Coney said. It was sold in the 1960s, and then again in the 1980s to Lorna and Albert Jeyte.
It was the Jeytes who first envisioned the building as luxurious accommodation for tourists. In 1988, they opened the doors of their Kilauea Lodge and Restaurant to visitors.
The lodge changed hands one more time in 2018, when Highway West Vacations bought the property.
“I've been with Kilauea Lodge for the last 31 years,” Coney told the Big Island Times. “I was with the previous owners for 28 years as their office manager and when they retired in June 2018, Highway West Vacations purchased the property, and I took on the general manager position.”
Located in Volcano Village, Kilauea Lodge appropriately shares its name with the Big Island’s most famous volcano and is literally a five-minute drive to the Volcanoes National Park.
Paradise has not been beyond the reach of COVID-19, and Coney said the business has been affected.
“There was a drastic decline of guest when COVID hit Hawaii back in March 2020,” she said. “When we reopened for dine-in, there are less tables so we can comply with social distancing."
The restaurant also offers curbside take-out in an effort to keep serving.
The coronavirus has not affected the hotel’s spirit, however. Coney said the team at the Lodge truly embodies the “Aloha spirit.”
In December of 2020, Kilauea Volcano began erupting again, and as its molten lava flowed so did an increase in visitors to the lodge, Coney said.