Hotels

Remember to add Hawaii's 11.42% in taxes to your final bill. In the listings below, all rooms come with a full private bathroom (with tub or shower) and free parking unless otherwise noted.

For additional information on bed-and-breakfasts, contact the Hawaii Island B&B Association, P.O. Box 1890, Honokaa, HI 96727 (no phone; www.stayhawaii.com). If you would like to go "on the road," contact Island RV & Safari Activities (tel. 800/406-4555 or 808/334-0464; www.islandrv.com). It offers weekly rentals of a 22-foot class-C motor home, which sleeps up to four, for $2,200. Included in the package are airport pickup, all linens, barbecue grill, all park registration fee permits, your last night in a hotel (Royal Kona Resort), and help with planning your itinerary and booking activities.

The Hamakua Coast

Another B&B in this area, in Ahualoa, a mountain community a short drive from Waipio, is Mountain Meadow Ranch Bed & Breakfast, 46-3895 Kapuna Rd., Honokaa, HI 96727 (tel. 808/775-9376; www.mountainmeadowranch.com), offering both a private cottage ($135 for four) and rooms in a house ($95 double).

Hilo

Just outside Hilo is a terrific bed-and-breakfast called Lihi Kai, 30 Kahoa St., Hilo, HI 96720 (tel. 808/935-7865), a beautifully designed house with mahogany floors, perched on the edge of a cliff with a wide-angle view of Hilo Bay. Double rooms start at $65 (with a 3-night minimum; otherwise, it's $70 a night).

Hawaii Volcanoes National Park

As a result of Hawaii Volcanoes being officially designated a national park in 1916, a village has popped up at its front door. Volcano Village isn't so much a town as a wide spot in Old Volcano Road, with two general stores, a handful of restaurants, a post office, a coffee shop, a new firehouse, and a winery.

Except for Volcano House , which is within the national park, all of the accommodations in this section are in Volcano Village. It gets cool here at night -- Volcano Village is located at 3,700 feet -- so a fireplace might be an attractive amenity. It also rains a lot in Volcano -- 100 inches a year -- which makes everything grow Jack and the Beanstalk style.

I recommend spending at least 3 days to really see and enjoy the park. The best way to do this is to rent a cottage or house, and the best rental agency is Hawaii Volcano Vacations, P.O. Box 913, Volcano, HI 96785 (tel. 800/709-0907 or 808/967-7271; www.hawaiivolcanovacations.com). Manager Aurelia Gutierrez selects only the top cottages, cabins, and houses in Volcano and makes sure they're perfect for you. Her reasonably priced units range from $99 to $200, and each one is outfitted with a full kitchen, plus an outdoor grill, cooler, flashlight, umbrella, and fresh flowers for your arrival. Many of them are great options for families traveling with kids.

Moderate -- The Volcano Teapot Cottage (tel. 808/967-7112; www.volcanoteapot.com) is a quaint 1914 two-bedroom cottage, decorated with one-of-a-kind antiques, and complete with hot tub in the forest out back ($195 double).

Inexpensive -- On the way to the park is Bed & Breakfast Mountain View (tel. 888/698-9896 or 808/968-6868; www.bbmtview.com), a 7,000-square-foot home overlooking a 10,000-square-foot fish pond with teahouse, spa, and patio; rooms start at $90. The Log Cabin (tel. 808/262-7249; www.crubinstein.com/cabin.html) is a century-old ohia-log cabin for the young at heart ($125 for two, $150 for four, and $175 for six).