Lokahi Garden Sanctuary--Main Lodge

• Ladies get-a-way in March 2013

  Ladies get-a-way in March 2013

  • Guest Maggie
  • Date of stay 03/23/13
  • Review Submitted 04/13/13
  Lokahi Garden Sanctuary Lodge is located in the delightful small town of Hawi on the north coast of Hawaii. The house, with three bedrooms, two baths, a lovely open kitchen-dining area and living room was perfect for our ladies get-a-way in March 2013. It was comfortable and contributed to our spending quality time together while visiting, fixing meals and enjoying the warm, lush environment. The Lani, running the length of the house, was a pleasant place for meals and relaxing, with a view of pastures and the ocean. In the mornings, song birds announced the day. The gardens surrounding the house are interesting and scented the air with herbal fragrances. A short walk into Hawi found us at the local coffee shop, a fun gathering spot for friendly locals and visitors. Good restaurants with live music at night, interesting galleries, and small boutiques make visiting the area fun. Richard and Natalie are great hosts. The fresh vegetables and eggs add to the charm. Natalie also does great massages. We enjoyed our time here and found the location ideal for our gathering of friends.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children, romantic getaway, adventure seekers.

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• Studio Apartment

  Studio Apartment

  • Guest Plumcreek
  • Date of stay 10/02/12
  • Review Submitted 10/27/12
  I enjoyed a week's stay in the studio apartment while on a project in the Kohala Area. It was the perfect place - easy walk to Hawi for meals or cook my own right there, excellent reception for phone and emails, and a pleasant table and chairs on the porch to do some work while listening to the hens. The queen bed had an amazingly comfortable mattress. For one or two people, it is way more convenient than a hotel room and, like others said, the organic farming is a nice variation from the average resort ambiance. I would definately recommend the studio apartment to anyone not needing the big ocean view, which you see everywhere you drive in Kohala, anyway.

  Recommended for: Tourists without a car, adventure seekers.

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• Spectacular Home, Wonderful Garden, Working Farm

  Spectacular Home, Wonderful Garden, Working Farm

  • Guest David C.
  • Date of stay 06/01/12
  • Review Submitted 07/02/12
  Our family of 7 (3 small children, 2 parents, and 2 grandparents) spent a wonderful, rejuvenating week here at this glorious and comfortable home surrounded by all the thriving plants. Our daughters loved helping feed the sheep and chickens and collecting the eggs, and we enjoyed preparing meals from the food grown right here on the property. The home is only a short walk to the town Hawi with a lovely collection of restaurants and shops and a great Farmer's market. We observed the Transit of Venus on June 5th from nearby Hapuna Beach -- it was a beautiful sight.

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• Farm Living in Paradise

  Farm Living in Paradise

  • Guest JP
  • Date of stay 03/25/12
  • Review Submitted 04/07/12
  Our family of five including grandparents in their 90's stayed here for 6 nights in March. Richard and Natalie were gracious hosts. Richard gave us a marvelous tour of his remarkable farm & he shared some of his crops with us that we were able to purchase: 2 exotic fruits we had not had before: Poha and Rambutan which were delicious! Also, leg of lamb, eggs, potatoes, cherry tomatoes, lettuces, greens, asparagus, radishes and spices. Natalie brought us samples of exotic scented Hawaiian flowers: spider lily, the double pikake and the pua kini kini. She made us a special tea one night with some spices from her garden, including holy basil, mint, terragon and verbena, which was delicious. She is a licensed massage therapist and has lots of tips on the healing of muscle aches and pains & will also give you a professional massage if desired. Richard is a Naturopath and has some of his herbal products for different ailments available to purchase. He has an incredible green thumb as evidenced by the flourishing farm. Natalie and Richard came over one evening to take us to watch the sheep being fed. It was a joy to see the little lambs kick up their heels in excitement. Richard and Natalie have 2 double kayaks and have invited to take us kayaking next time we come:-). The star gazing is magnificent here..we saw Venus, Mars and Jupiter one night. Would recommend bringing cards or some sort of entertainment for evenings as there is no television reception there which was nice.

  Recommended for: Tourists without a car, age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, people with disabilities, sightseeing, families with young children, romantic getaway, adventure seekers.

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• Beautiful, Sustainable, & Welcoming

  Beautiful, Sustainable, & Welcoming

  • Guest Gocheif
  • Date of stay 09/23/11
  • Review Submitted 02/27/12
  Our family had the pleasure of staying for a week in the lodge this past September and we could not have found a more beautiful, sustainable, and welcoming place to stay on the Big Island. First the lodge: a spacious and luxurious home with 3 bedrooms, master spa with garden tub, a gourmet kitchen, and a huge porch from which you can see Maui. The outdoor shower off the master spa has a great view of the gardens with the ocean in the distance; superb and tranquil. The sanctuary is a real working organic farm with a large selection of vegetables, citrus, and eggs available. We were allowed to pick as much citrus fruit from the trees as we required and the produce from the farm was fresh and delicious. On Saturdays produce from the farm is also sold in the Hawi farmers market which is a charming town with one of the best restaurants on the island. Finally, the best part of our experience was the people. Richard and Natalie are very welcoming hosts and we thoroughly enjoyed our time with them. They made us feel very comfortable, gave us great advice on the best beaches and hikes, showed us around the farm, and were so kind to our young son (he loved feeding chickens in the morning). Everyone working at the farm was very kind and we will cherish our time spent with them all until we can visit again. So if you're looking for commercialized Hawaii, this is not the place for you, but if you're looking to have an authentic experience of real Hawaii and meet some really great folks this should be at the top of your Big Island list.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with teenagers, girls getaway, people with disabilities, sightseeing, families with young children, romantic getaway, adventure seekers.

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• Special place

  Special place

  • Guest S&A
  • Date of stay 04/18/11
  • Review Submitted 05/02/11
  We arrived in the town of Hawi with directions on how to get to Lokahi Garden Sanctuary, having no idea where it was or what it was like. The directions were easy to follow and the road almost led us directly into the driveway, which was a dirt road that continued for several hundred yards, past a storage building to the parking area in front of the house. The front entry looked in on a beautifully appointed great room and you could see through to the ocean in the near distance. Unfortunately, it turned out that this was the home of our hosts. We were warmly greeted and directed back to the storage building, which turned out to have a complete well-appointed studio, with great ventilation, a large bathroom and shower, comfortable bed, and it's own very tranquil yard and space. While we didn't have the view of the ocean, we did have the wonderful hens and fruit trees in our front yard. If you are looking for a tranquil place to nurture and heal yourself, a place to be at peace, strongly consider this space. On the other hand, with Hawi just around the corner, there are great restaurants and galleries to visit, and Kona isn't that far away. Most of the restaurants have music on several of the evenings, but if you are a stay at home body, the night sky is incredible. Our hosts were gracious and helpful and had organic vegetables and fruits available for purchase. We can't wait to return.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, girls getaway, sightseeing, families with young children, romantic getaway, adventure seekers.

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• Unique and Wonderful Spot

  Unique and Wonderful Spot

  • Guest Matt
  • Date of stay 01/12/11
  • Review Submitted 01/26/11
  We recently stayed at the Lokahi Garden Sanctuary and had a wonderful eight days there. If you're looking for brochure Hawaii, drinks with little umbrellas, and those tourist trappings, this isn't the place for you. However, if you are looking for a little slice of paradise, to disconnect, to relax, and to get back closer to the land, you can't do any better. I'm not sure the pictures really do justice to the well-crafted, well-detailed house itself, or to the property as a whole; it really is a neat place. We would definitely come back, and hope that we can.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with young children, adventure seekers.

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• Happy to be back

  Happy to be back

  • Guest Jenn
  • Date of stay 12/05/10
  • Review Submitted 12/15/10
  We're back for the third stay in this lovely garden studio. The space is light and airy looking out to a beautiful topical garden. The studio has a pleasing simplicity, is well equipped, maintained and clean,. Our hosts Richard and Natalie are wonderful, very gracious, helpful and informative. It is a really special location, very private , being in the midst of a 10acre garden, beautiful ocean views just a few steps from the studio and a 10 minute walk into the town of Hawi. Everything works well for us here and we're happy to be back. I have and would definitely recommend this property to friends or relatives we certainly enjoy being here.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, sightseeing, romantic getaway.

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• Lokahi Gardens, North Kohala, Hawi, Hawaii

  Lokahi Gardens, North Kohala, Hawi, Hawaii

  • Guest Susanne
  • Date of stay 08/10/09
  • Review Submitted 12/02/10
  We had a wonderful time at Lokahi Garden Sanctuary. The hosts, Natalie and Richard, made us feel welcomed, at ease and were very gracious. We have stayed here twice, once in the main house and a second time in the studio cottage. The house offers a nice queen sized bed with bath down the hallway. There is a beautiful ocean view from the room and from the rest of the house. (The photos you see on this site are of the house and they accurately reflect the setting and the standard you can expect.) For more privacy, the guest cottage is nestled in the orchards. While it does not have an ocean view, it does offer its own kitchen, laundry and is surrounded by greenery. We liked that too. Lokahi Gardens is located on the dryer side of Hawi, North Kohala (which means in the winter time it is less rainy.) It is in excellent proximity to the coastline and only minutes from Hawi town. Very convenient. Lots of great shops and restaurants in Hawi town. Try Bamboo and Sushi Rock -- both very good. Overall Lokahi Gardens is very clean and well maintained. It is impressive that there is so much food being grown in the gardens here! The owners are very committed to sustainability. I have been to numerous vacation rentals and B&Bs on the Big Island and I definitely recommend this one. -- Susanne S., Author, Healing Vacations in Hawaii -- Richard D., Health Practitioner

  Recommended for: Age 55+, girls getaway, sightseeing, romantic getaway, adventure seekers.

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• Don't expect ocean views from the studio apartment

  Don't expect ocean views from the studio apartment

  • Guest cyberjoys
  • Date of stay 11/19/10
  • Review Submitted 11/26/10
  We booked the studio apartment for 4 days and left after 2. No deck to be found as well as no ocean view. It doesn't even face the ocean! None of the photos shown are taken from the studio. The WiFi failed to operate and the beds were like rocks. Plywood platform beds with VERY limited padding. We mentioned the trouble with the WiFi several times with no resolution. It was very difficult because we were organizing a move back to the mainland and had no access to the internet to contact family/friends and help organize the move. It was clean and functional with limited kitchen supplies and no washcloths to be found. They did offer some sheep skin and a sleeping bag to help soften the bed after the first night. For what you get it is extremely overpriced. We relocated to a 3 bdrm/2 1/2 bath for even less, that was much nicer! This was the only time we've been unhappy with a VRBO booking. We tried this studio because it was the closest one available to the area we needed. It was worth driving a few more miles to find more comfortable beds!

  Owner response: We have a small outdoor lanai (patio), the perfect place to drink your morning coffee and marvel at the lush tropical beauty. Our studio is located 200 feet from the main house, very private and is located in a lush tropical forest of trees and flowers. We have a newly purchased queen-size bed. We have resolved the intermittent problem with the wifi and it now works reliably. Our kitchen is fully stocked and we have ample linens for your use.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 9/9

Additional information about rental rates

$1000 deposit to confirm reservation. This deposit is then used as refundable security deposit. Full payment including cleaning fee due upon arrival. Deposit refundable up to 75 days prior to arrival. After that all payments are nonrefundable

Additional Fees and Taxes:

Hawaii State Accommodation Tax 13.41%

Refundable security deposit $1000

Cleaning Fee $150