Volcano Forest Inn

Wonderful
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : Perfect starting point for the Volcano Park, only 5 minutes from the entrance but literally in the forest so very quiet. Restaurants and shops within 5 minutes by car. The Lodge has a very well equipped kitchen available if you want to prepare your food by yourself. Jon the host ensures that the whole Inn is always very clean and tidy and he is also very helpful when you need anything.

Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : The room was big with our own private deck out of sight from others.
  : Sharing a kitchen with everyone else. No microwave or coffee pot in the room. Not exceptionally clean (hair in drain and mold around overflow in tub, deck!not clean). One other thing, for the host: The welcome statement that we were texted was very unfriendly, I thought. You might want to rewrite it since it is supposed to be a welcome, is it not? Instead it mentioned what not to do and ways to get fees. I was surprised to see how nice you were in person.

Good
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children

Poor
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : Well maintained road into the facility. The room was quite large. The no contact self check in and check out was nice and did give you a sense of privacy at first, but very quickly you begin to wonder if that's just because the owner simply doesn't want to deal with people. After a while, you even begin to feel like Big Brother was always watching.
  : Tons of little extra fees. Thankfully we were able to navigate them and not incur anything ridiculous. A $60 standard cleaning fee - it's BS, but I get that it's the norm in many cases. However, you'd expect to get a clean room if everyone is having to pay this extra fee - milk stains on the walls, *countless* areas of the walls that were patched and not repainted, bathroom faucets with toothpaste spittle all over, a bathroom mirror straight from a 1950s Bates Motel style room, similarly with toothpaste and other stains... But if you drag dirt into the building with you, that's an extra fee. Don't turn off the lights? Extra fee. Use a dish or the coffee maker in the shared and unkempt kitchen without cleaning the entire kitchen after? More fees. Don't lock the doors when you leave? $$$. (The door thing makes sense when you see the layout of the facility, but it adds to the overall point that I'll get to in a moment) Need to contact the owner with a problem after 8? That'll cost you. Look, I get that this isn't a hotel. I expect that there is an extra level of respect and courtesy that is required of all guests. This is a private property, after all. But when you add all of these things together, it gives you an experience like they are doing *you* a favor by letting you stay there. We felt like we were on pins and needles the entire time, and we weren't even there for 24 hours. I was afraid of throwing things away because I'd be charged a waste removal fee. I pricked my finger at one point on something sharp in my luggage and was actually terrified that I would be charged a biohazard fee because of the tissue I left in the trash with 3 drops of blood on it. And what do you get for these sacrifices? An aging, outdated building that isn't kept up with, beds from the 80s, linens from the 60s, cameras in your face at every turn, and an overwhleming sense of dread.

Very Good
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple

Wonderful
Traveller Type: Family with Young Children
  : We brought our own breakfast.

Disappointing
Traveller Type:
  : The only nice thing about this place was the beds were comfortable. I wouldn't recommend this place. It's not warm and fuzzy. It's a boarding house with little assistance from the proprietor.
  : I was very disappointed in the VFI. It was a self check in. No interaction checking in...the whole place had notes and tape everywhere with instructions such as, "don't touch this", "don't go into this drawer", "don't eat anything in the frig that's not yours". I felt like I was back in college! We ran out of tp in our room and had no idea how to get more...we called the proprietor. They in turn texted us to go to another bathroom and under the sink to get it ourselves! Furthermore, they want to charge you for everything, if you don't lock the sliding glass door, extra fee, if you forget anything and need to contact them, another fee. Not very hospitable. The building itself had a lot of deferred maintenance. Tacky mismatched paint on the walls, all kinds of dryer lint all over he front lanai. I would not recommend this place to anyone!

Pleasant
Traveller Type: Traveling as Couple
  : Great location. Huge room. Convenient full kitchen with breakfast included.
  : It was very musty, dank, weird smells. The hallways echo. It was super cold and the plug in heater took most of the night to finally heat the room.