It doesn’t have an ocean view, there’s not a palm tree in sight and instead of swimsuits, guests are likely to be dressed in sweaters. Still, Volcano House, just a quarter-mile past the entrance to Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, is one of the most talked-about hotels in Hawaii.
No other island hostelry can match its location (it’s perched on the 4,000-foot summit of Kilauea Volcano, one of the most active volcanoes in the world) or claim its long history (dating back to 1846, it’s the oldest hotel in the state).
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IF YOU GO …
VOLCANO HOUSE
» Address: 1 Crater Rim Drive, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Hawaii island
» Rates: Nightly rack rates begin at $285, single or double occupancy. Kamaaina rate is $185 per night, based on availability.
» Phone: 756-9625 on Hawaii island; toll-free 866-536-7972 from the other islands
» Email: reservations@hawaiivolcanohouse.com
» Website: www.hawaiivolcanohouse.com
» Notes: For every two nights booked with the Room and Dining Credit Package, receive a voucher for a $50 credit at The Rim restaurant and/or Uncle George’s Lounge. The package is valid through Dec. 19.
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Opened in 1941, the current structure, with 33 modest but comfortable rooms, is the fifth incarnation of Volcano House (see timeline). An extensive three-year refurbishment completed last year restored the hotel’s concrete floors and canec ceilings and replaced everything from paint, carpets and furniture to plumbing, roofing and electrical wiring.
Decor highlights include striking works by acclaimed local artists, both past and present, among them a bronze bas-relief of Pele, the Hawaiian volcano goddess, and replicas of ancient Hawaiian weapons and a feather cape and helmet.
Art aficionados will also appreciate the reproductions of whimsical Matson menu covers by Eugene Savage, circa 1938; covers of Hawaiian sheet music published in the early 1900s; and late-19th-century paintings of Kilauea eruptions by David Howard Hitchcock (the originals are on display at the Lyman Museum and Mission House in Hilo).
Thirty minutes of dramatic footage from actual 1933, 1955, 1959 and 1960 eruptions plays continuously in the Great Room, where chairs and settees surround the hotel’s original lava rock fireplace, inviting guests to linger.
In the lounge, patrons’ gazes are fixed on massive Halemaumau Crater, said to be Pele’s home, as they settle into a wicker rocker with a cocktail. On clear days a stroll around the property reveals breathtaking panoramas encompassing the crater, Mauna Loa volcano and the Thomas A. Jagger Museum.
From 1912 to 1941, Jagger, a world-renowned volcanologist, headed America’s first full-time volcano observatory where Volcano House now stands. The observatory was relocated to make way for the hotel, although a concrete mound still marks the underground vault where Jagger set up his seismic equipment.
End a day of exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park with dinner at The Rim, which presents an upscale menu featuring creative blends of local flavors: Big Island lamb rubbed with Hilo Coffee, opakapaka wrapped in white pineapple slices, avocado/mango dip served with house-made root vegetable chips.
The view beyond the restaurant’s floor-to-ceiling windows is as memorable as the meal: Against a midnight-blue sky, the glowing breath of Pele rises from Halemaumau Crater.
Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.
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WALKING TOURS
Volcano House has partnered with the nonprofit Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park to offer free 90-minute guided walks exclusively for hotel guests. Led by FHVNP volunteers, the daily walks have scenic, cultural, historical, botanical and geological themes, including Discover Rainforests, Evening Geology Exploring, and Sulphur Banks & More.
All walks start in the lobby between 5 and 5:30 p.m. Guests can sign up at the front desk up to the time the walks begin.
In addition, a Hawaii Volcanoes National Park ranger leads a free one-hour Volcano House History Walk at various times throughout the week (check the bulletin board outside Kilauea Visitor Center after 9 a.m. for details about this and other park programs). Advance reservations are not required.
The narrative is filled with anecdotes about the various incarnations of the hotel and the colorful characters associated with them. Stops include a grass structure that’s similar to the original 1846 hale, the 1877 Volcano House and the renovated 1941 Volcano House.
Historical highlights
1846: A simple, one-room 12-by-18-foot shelter made of grass and native ohia wood poles is built and later dubbed "Volcano House." The name sticks.
1866: A four-room wood frame, thatched-roof Volcano House replaces the original building. Mark Twain recounts his stay here in his book "Roughing It": "Neat, roomy, well furnished and a well kept hotel. The surprise of finding a good hotel at such an outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did."
1877: A new wooden building with six guest rooms and a parlor replaces the 1866 hotel. King Kalakaua, Louis Pasteur and Robert Louis Stevenson are among its guests.
1891: A two-story, eight-room Victorian-inspired building is added to the existing 1877 Volcano House. Guests include Princess Kaiulani, Amelia Earhart and, in 1934, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who is the first U.S. president to visit Hawaii.
1904: George "Uncle George" Lycurgus acquires controlling interest in the Kilauea Volcano House Co. His nephew Demosthenes manages the hotel from 1904 until his death in 1921, when Lycurgus sells the property.
1921: The 1877 building is moved to its present site near the Kilauea Visitors Center to make way for a new two-story, 150-room wing. Restored in the 1970s and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, the 1877 building now houses the Volcano Art Center.
1932: Lycurgus acquires sole ownership of the hotel for $300 at a Hilo auction and remains as its manager until his death in 1960.
1939: In celebration of his 75th birthday, Lycurgus donates the 1877 building to the National Park Service.
1940: A fire destroys the 1891-1921 building.
1941: NPS pays for the construction of a new 24-room wood-and-stone hotel, designed by Maui-born architect Charles W. Dickey, about 200 yards from its former site. On Nov. 8, 1941, the new Volcano House, with NPS as its owner, is unveiled with great fanfare.
1949: What was built as the administration building for NPS in 1932 is turned over to Lycurgus. He transforms it into Volcano House’s 10-room Ohia Wing.
1953: An eight-room wing is added to the hotel.
2010: Volcano House closes. NPS spends $4 million for fire and safety upgrades to the property.
2013: NPS selects Hawaii Volcanoes Lodge Co. for the 15-year management contract (HVLC puts in an additional $3 million for restoration and renovation work). Volcano House reopens June 1.
Information courtesy NPS
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