After hearing so many great things about Cook's Discoveries Waimea Suite (in Frommer's and The Lonely Planet, in various news articles, and online) I was anxious to book it for the the second half of our stay on the Big Island. Much to my surprise, it was actually somewhat of a disappointment.

First, let me say that the owner, Patti Cook, was kind enough to meet us in the evening after we'd spent a long day traveling from Kona.
This, during a time that I know she was very busy with the Christmas parade and other activities. Yet she offered (and we accepted) to do a load of laundry for us that evening, and it was ready and warm the next morning. So there is no doubt that Patti knows how to be a good host.

Second, she employed exquisite taste in decorating the Waimea Suite. It has a modern, yet vintage-y feel to it, and there are all kinds of cool books all over the place.

However, the two things that really spoiled our stay there were 1) the overpowering... more