The service, simplicity, jungle sounds and perfect location all come together nicely to provide a relaxing place to come home to after each day of exploring the island. The hotel even offered free breakfast. It was so nice to sit down each morning to a warm cup of coffee and fresh local fruit. We loved our stay at the Wild Ginger and received so much more than we expected.

Wild Ginger is rustic and quaint and really fits in with the spirit of the Big Island. It is not a resort and what it offers is very simple. There will not be a TV, a coffeemaker or a microwave in your room (though the lobby does have a microwave, and our room did have a little fridge). The shower is tricky to work (but works when you figure it out). The only amenity I really would have liked would have been drinking glasses or cups in the room, but again, it wasn't hard to get cups from the lobby. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful.

The Wild Ginger Hotel is Real Hawaii. It’s authentic Hilo and it’s the only hotel of it’s kind. Oh and the owner is super cool dude and a master carver and painter. My name is Kehlani and I was born and raised in Hawaii. My first visit to the Wild Ginger was back in 2021 and I immediately become a loyal customer ever since. No other hotel has more island soul than the Wild Ginger. I’ve stayed at most of the hotels on the island over the years and dollar for dollar the Wild Ginger is by far the best value on the Island. It’s a casual spot where you can deeply feel the energy of the community and what is means to live in Hilo.

We absolutely loved the hotel. It's different in all the best ways. Friendly staff, charming rooms, comfortable beds and the perfect location. Also, this may be the only hotel within walking distance of Hilo's eateries and entertainment. Was so very nice to be able to walk to and from dinner each night. The lobby tikis were amazing! Jason at the front desk was so informative, kind and welcoming. The Wild Ginger will be our preferred hotel from here on out!!

I'm not sure where you got these photos for your website but they are complete fantasy. Wild Ginger is a dark rusty DUMP! pure and simple. It should be torn down. I drove in on the potholed drive, took one look at it (completely dark at 6pm/not 1 light on anywhere nor a sign), said no freaking way... my car would probably be broken into by AM. Go look at their website. It a hostel..barely qualifies as a "hotel". The entire property/ neighborhood is sketchy and really run down. THIS NOT A PLACE YOU SHOULD EVEN HAVE ON YOUR WEBSITE. Do not advertise this very questionable property on your website using the photos you are using. It is false advertising. I called the "hotel" and left a message telling them that it was so bad, dark questionable and completely unaceptable, I didn't even get out of the car. The building, property and immediate neighborhood is NOT up to 3rd world basic standards. I AM DEMADING A REFUND for false advertising. I did not stay there - turned around and drove home(2.5 hrs). Again, I AM DEMADING A REFUND and suggesting you remove this kind of property from your website. I'm asking that you email me directly regarding my refund. Mahalo PS I've never written review before. This place is not a disappointment - it's awful.

The toilet bowl was dirty, in dire need of a good scrubbing. The sink is rusting and water took forever to get to a meager luke warm when taking a shower, in which the tile grout is stained or missing entirely. The door to the bathroom doesn't close and the door knob paint is flaking off, almost causing a splinter to remain embedded in my wifes hand. We rang the "Service" bell on check in and still waited another 5 minutes before somebody showed up. We also didn't sleep at all due to the noise that continued all night. There were people talking all night long, one can hear everything from 5 rooms away! Insulation is nonexistent and the nearby road doesn't help. They sent out an e-mail before we arrived saying the place is old and they're trying to keep the experience authentic Hawaiian, but in reality the place is just falling apart and is in disrepair. The grounds are unkept from the parking lot to the backyard. All in all THE WORST "experience" we've ever had!

Staff was very nice and helpful all the time. Location was perfect to walk to downtown for dining. I love the coffee and the fresh fruit included in the breakfast.

Nice hotel

This hotel may have been charming in my 20s but was quite lacking. The photographer did an amazing job of making the rooms look nice. I can’t recommend and we chose to drive back to our condo instead of staying there.

You get what you paid for the price. The issue for us is no hot water.

The property is self-described as "an old, Hawaiian-style Hotel". The problem with it is the cleanliness. Edges of floors, corners, baseboards all had many dead bugs and too much dirt. Outlets and switches have no covers. The screens and bent and leave gaps. With a little TLC and elbow grease, this hotel could be a charming place. Without higher standards of cleaning, I could not recommend it to anyone.

i understand this is a old property and i expected and was excited for the old character, but what we got was just terrible there was bed bugs like hundreds of them all through my bed there was blood stains and hair all over the sheets the area itself seems very unsafe and very dirty . the breakfast was a complete joke and day old food that should be refrigerated sitting out in the heat i would not advice anyone to stay here at all so your self a favor and avoid this place

Baufällig - State of disrepair - We checked out immediately after seeing the room.

Requested a refund due to not receiving my after-hours check-in, therefore unable to stay the night. Still waiting for a response from rhe owner and waiting for my refund. Get this, the staff says you (the guest) have to contact the owner to request a refund. Never received a call back in response to any of my phone calls. I didn't have any expectations as far as the facility is concerned, but I did expect to at least have been given the necessary info to access the room. I even spoke with the manager or receptionist to inform her that I would be arriving late. I'm sure others have had a decent experience, but I sure didn't. If the owner is reading this, respond to my numerous emails and give me my refund. Hotel.com should remove listings for establishments that are sub-par. I'm very frustrated with businesses that are not trustworthy and non-responsive.

The room lacks basic items as a hotel and it is not clearly listed on the website. The place is more of a cabin stay not a hotel. It would have been nice if it was listed as a cabin and I knew ahead of time what I was paying for.

This property is dilapidated and should be torn down. The floors are slanted, windows rotten, holes in walls, black mold all over. No face lift will help this property.

The property should be demolished, not in livable condition.

A portion of the property collapsed. Our room was right next to the collapsed portion. There was mold and bugs in the room. The outside Window trim is broken off. There is junk all around the property. There were broken steps that could have caused a slipping accident. The property is dangerous and should be assessed by building code regulators.

This property is as advertised. It is not a luxury hotel- it is old, noisy and does have character. The staff were good as was the location for exploring downtown. Do not bank on the breakfast- yesterday there was only fruit and today there was no coffee. As well, it didn’t bother us, but there are no tv’s in the rooms. Hot water takes a long time to make it to the room. There is a lot of potential for this place.

Don't look at the pictures on Expedia, totally deceiving. Read more reviews on Google and Expedia. Inside the room, wall has some cracks, holes, and missing pieces. The restroom is small and the door won't shut. We are one of a handful of parties stayed at the place that night (only 3 other cars parked outside) and still waited for 10-15 minutes before there is showerable (not hot) water. Frogs were very noisy at night but luckily we brought earbuds so we were okay. Besides a like-new fridge (which is pretty amazing for an old and not well-maintained property like this), don't expect anything even moderately related to modern. If there's any sort of natural disaster, I wouldn't stay here at all for safety reasons. Also, don't book here if you are looking for comfortable vacation hotel (read other reviews for a message the hotel will send you a day before you check in and the interpretation. Pretty accurate). If you want to experience the REAL Hawaiian life, this may be for you and you may be even surprised by how nice the place is. Staff (one front desk lady) is really friendly and amazing though. Breakfast (fruits and bagel) was refreshing too. I wouldn't say we had a comfortable stay, but it is livable for a night. The front desk lady was definitely the best. Wouldn't stay here again.

Showed up and they said they have no room. While I was at the desk they sent me an email through hotels.com saying they’d refund me plus send me $80 more to cover the only other available option nearby. It’s been 2 weeks, no refund, no payment, and they do not answer phones or emails.

I was shocked at this hidden location but by the end loved it. Little weird but staff is great and everyone welcoming

I would not stay here again, and would tell others to stay away! The pictures on line are not a representation of this broken down motel. Bathrooms had tons of spiders on the walls, Koki frogs are extremely loud around the rooms. The bed was thin and hard, and there was no hot water! Do not stay here!

The room had no hot water and was very noisy due to its proximity to a highway. The windows in the house could not be closed, and the facilities were outdated. There were multiple spider webs and signs of insects. The area surrounding the hotel was dirty, and the actual condition of the room was significantly different from the photos. The front desk lady mentioned that the hotel is a century old. She explained that the outdated facilities contribute to the long time required for hot water to come out. We tried various methods she suggested for 2 hours but failed to get hot water. When the front desk staff came to our room and tested the water, she informed us after a few minutes that she herself bathes in nearly cold water. She had no authority to process our refund request and refused to let us negotiate directly with her boss. Despite our insistence, she claimed she couldn't contact her boss again, although she had gotten through immediately on her first call. We left the hotel immediately and contacted our bank to handle the matter.

The room itself was too small. The bathroom doors didn't lock properly. We were in room 17.

DO NOT COME!!! This is a huge scam!! This is definitely not a hotel, this place is worse than a motel. There is no staff member to help after 6pm. When we got to this place, it's 8:30pm. The email clearly said, "If you need any help, please ring the bell". We rang, rang, rang, no one showed up. And we can hear the staff members were upstairs chatting. When my husband went up to talk to them, they got mad and said, "This is for employees only." Very rude and helpless! We booked 3 king rooms, but they gave us 1 king and 2 queens. The bathroom is very small and dirty, my bathroom door has 3 bloody fingerprints. The shower stall was raised up, different rooms had different heights. My mom's shower stall was raised 20" high, so she slipped when she stepped out, and hit her neck on the ceramic sink. The window on the hallway side is Jalousie Windows, my room had 2 panels missing, so wind bowled on me the whole night, and the noise from outside (people walking, talking, birds fighting, etc) made me awoke the whole night. Walls and door frames were broken, and looked like termites chewed. The bedding sheets seemed ok, but the mattress had a uterine smell.

Very old and just not a hotel. More like below a motel

Old building but perfect for us. Quick walk to Hilo restaurants. Staff was young and friendly. Rooms are basic but very clean and comfortable. The hotel offered free breakfast which was surprising given what we paid for the room. Parking was also free and we didn't have to pay a resort fee. Carvings in the lobby were incredible and offered fun social medial pictures.

Please help me send a message to ownership by choosing another hotel. After coming here, I investigated all the others in Hilo at this price range (and stayed at two) and this is by far the worst. I begged out of my six day stay and was told (after resistance) that they would. And comp my one night there. They held back $280. They told the Expedia services rep on my cel phone in front of me. They record and transcribe all calls. I even confirmed it with the manager. FYI - the rep could not get through to their listed number. Said that never happens. I had to leave because around a dozen of the amenities they list were not provided. Including AC. And no hot water (and pathetic pressure) or tv. The area isn't great. Planes cross right overhead. It is on the wrong side of Hwy 19 and the "better" the room's view the closer to the road noise you are. You hear every semi, car and motorbike all day and night. And no access to the water like the photos imply. Critters chirp all night. The jungle has swallowed this creaky, sagging structure. My room had a rusted sink and window apparatus. The window was frozen open. If anyone smoked, it came into my room. Lots of paint over paint. Paint on the comforter. Dent on the fridge. One window had a missing slat. Walls were paper thin. You could hear every neighbor. Their staff is just a bunch of teenage backpackers working for room and board. Their contractor, who was there pruning, told me that he keeps telling the owner about these issues..

No supplied hot water at bathroom. No closed window at room. So we had felt so cold during overnight.

Bait and switch: the pictures are lies and calling this wet wooden box a “budget” hotel is paying it an undue compliment. I don’t know who these high ratings are coming from, but I doubt they are real. As someone who actually stayed here for five miserable nights, let me address some of the previous comments: There’s not just homeless people in the neighborhood; they were sleeping on the porch when I was here! The water, in truth, does NOT get hot at certain times of day. None of the doors close properly; light creeps in from the entire way around my room’s door and I have no confidence the lock would keep anyone out. The pillows are hard, lumpy, and too big in every dimension to be comfortable. The mattress has grooves in it and doesn’t feel level, probably because the FLOOR OF THE HOTEL ISN’T LEVEL. I asked for an extra pillow and was told there are none. The room is always damp (no AC), so the floor and walls are forever sticky, and so are you. No window for the bathroom and the bathroom door doesn’t stay closed so there is constant noise from the highway during the day and loud frogs chirping all night. Even if there was a window on the bathroom, the little slatted windows they have do nothing to keep out noise. At breakfast, the coffee maker didn’t work, so the staff shared their personal French press coffee with everyone, and those two nice staffers were the main positive about this place. There’s also a garden and some cats.

Warm water took 10 minutes to come out. Sink was blocked. Window glass was broken (have a hole. Bedside table drawer couldn’t be closed.