Yes, we'd return

We researched several locations in the islands. Seaside Hotels had multiple locations. We stayed in 3 of their hotels. Maui, Kona, Hilo. Each was clean, good location. Staff was helpful, complimentary meals good, locations very nice. Rent just a room and get your rental car separate at the airport. Cheaper plan. Would return to Maui or Hilo but not Kona. Kona was clean and good locatin but one of the girls at the front desk was rude and put us in a potentially dangerous position. Our tv started to smoke. We called the front desk immediately. She seemed not to care. 10 minutes later, no one arrived. Called again. 20 minutes later someone arrived with another tv. Someone should have been at our room promptly as the tv could have caught on fire. Wrote to management about it. Never heard anything.

Fine place if you are used to a cell

We thought we could put up with an inexpensive hotel since we were only going to stay three days. We asked for a room with a King Sized bed and were put above the check in area, basically right on the road. There were bright lights just outside so we felt like we had an eternal sunrise outside. The room was pretty clean, though the furnishings were circa 1950. The bed was not comfortable and the room was noisy due to the location. There was a sign on the sliding door telling us to put a provided bar in the door frame for security - only the bar barely stayed in place and the idea of it made me feel very unsafe. Their publicity says they provide a secured parking lot, though there was no security, the lot was muddy and there was not nearly enough parking for the customers. The only positive about the room was that there seemed to be a slight ocean breeze coming from the bay. I don't think you would have had that in many of the other rooms. We left after one night and will not be back.

Hilo offers fine Hotel

After reading some of the reviews of Hilo Seaside

Hotel, I was leary, but booked a night stay anyway.

We only needed a place to sleep prior to take off the next morning at the Hilo Airport and the price was right as well as being close to the airport. The front desk staff was friendly and courteous. When she saw we had two teenage daughters, she

offered us a family room with three beds instead of the two beds I had reserved at no extra charge. The room was a ways from the front entrance and parking was limited, but the decor was inviting and

the room and bathroom were extremely clean. An air conditioner and refridgerator were available for use as well as cable TV. I would definitely recommend a stay here and would stay here again if I were to return to Hilo.

Would not return

I just found out about this web site, so I will tell you about our HORRIBLE experience at the Hilo Seaside.

First of all this was our Honeymoon. We booked it thru a tour group - Your Man Tours.

When we got to our room there were bugs EVERYWHERE!!!!! We changed rooms twice. We were traveling with an older crowd (50+), we are only mid-20's. I am surprised no one else in our group complained. We even went down the street to inquire about vacancies at other hotels.

I would certainly not recommend staying at this hotel (make that motel).

Just another hotel. not that great, but could be worse.

This is my first and probably last stay at the hilo seaside. I have stayed at hostels and B&Bs in hilo before without problems. Here at the seaside, they have really old furnishings, the place was clean enough, but there were numerous bugs and I saw a gecko in the room. I had a non smoking room, but people in the room next to me were smoking and It got into my room. no desk available, so working on the laptop was difficult. parking is pretty bad, and only one entrance from the hotel. At $60, which is the normal rate, I would have felt terrible for staying here. I got this for $42 on priceline, a little more than my favorite hostel, but next time, I will stay at the hostel instead. this hotel charges .50 a call for all local and even toll free numbers.

Disappointing

I liked the location, and I like Hilo. I really wanted to like this hotel too, but couldn't. It started at check-in when the front desk staff grumpily told me we had gotten a reservation rate (I booked by phone) that was 'too cheap' and 'not supposed to be available' but she would 'let us have it anyway'. Not my definition of friendly or professional. Anyway, this hotel was definitely busy esp. with local guests, but I think that is largely because Hilo options are so limited. The rooms are small and plain, non-coordinated as to furnishings and decor, and noisy at night. Clean, though. All in all, I'll take my chances somewhere else in Hilo next time I'm there.

There are worse places!!

The accomodation we originally booked over the internet was so overgrown with mold/mildew we refused to stay there. Desperate to find last minute accomodation at a reasonable price, we were happy to find the Hilo Seaside. It's not luxurious but it was clean and only slightly damp, a big relief after seeing the place we originally booked! I think dampness is unavoidable in Hilo, but we found no mold at Hilo Seaside. The staff kindly let us inspect the room before we decided to stay. I will be returning to the Big Island again in May for my honeymoon and will stay at this hotel again.

Damp side of the Big Island

I spent November 26 & 27th at the Hilo Seaside. This hotel has one section which is 3 stories and does not have an elevator. The use of local woods made this a very attractive hotel. The Koi ponds are nice, but if anyone knows about injury or preditors for Koi please contact me. Dotty's restrurant if located just off the lobby and the food is very good and has a lot of local flavor. They close between breakfast, lunch and dinner. Portions are large enough to fill you up. The rooms were clean, but musty (?). The only available outlet was in the bathroom so rechargeing your batteries takes unplugging something to open an outlet. Hotel staff will help with luggage but you must ask. The airport is very close and the noise from Helicopters can be disturbing. Parking is very limited. Their are a 2 sets of 3 stairs leading to rooms off the lobby and this can make handeling luggage difficult.Quiet, Clean (even if musty, Neutra-air would help), not a bad location and the price is reasonable. Would I stay again, if I were ever to stay over in Hilo, Yes.

Pleasantly surprised

We were very pleased with the service at the Hilo Seaside Hotel. The hotel surroundings and rooms were much cleaner then we expected. Much better then The Naniloa. The garden and pool area were well maintained as well. We also were granted a later check-out time. Mahalo-Hilo Seaside!!The food was great too.

My Opinion

There are many reasons why we stayed in this hotel. The main one was because we had spent so much money on other hotels that we wanted to save a few dollars here and the other was that we were leaving the island the next morning and wanted to be close to the airport.

Well, we were close to the airport.... all night we were close to the airport. And close to the harley motorcycles and the busy street, etc.

In defense of the hotel it was clean. very dated, but clean. They also lowered the price a small amount because things were slow. The staff was nice and courteous.

Hilo is not a bustling metropolis. There were other hotels that looked nice from the outside, but there were others that looked worse. Since we needed to make reservations site unseen the Seaside was about average.

Hawaii is expensive! I just had a hard time paying a high rate for so little. If you are going to Hawaii, don't skimp. Pay the extrs $60-$80 and get something nice.