Tips To Make Your Stay On The Big Island Perfect
You have arrived at the Kona Airport and your adventure begins! Hopefully you have either a reservation with Speedi Shuttle (see www.speedishuttle.com) or made Car Rental arrangements (see www.leftcoastcrime.org/2009 for Avis Left Coast Crime 2009 rates) and you are on your away along the beautiful Kona coast road.
You have arrived at the Waikoloa Marriottt Resort, checked in and admired your lovely room. Now you are hungry you say. Okay, your choices are overwhelming.
There are several restaurants in the Hotel so you can choose a quick lunch seated at the Hawaii Calls Restaurant or be served poolside. Dinner can be enjoyed at the Royal Luau where your selection of Hawaiian food is enhanced by Polynesian entertainment (www.marriott.com).
You can walk across the street, 3 minutes away (I timed it) to the Kings Shops and enjoy dinner at Roy’s Waikoloa Bar and Grill. Here you will find a culinary experience with the flavors textures and colors in Roy’s Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. Combining the freshest local ingredients with European sauces and bold Asian spices, each creation leaves you with the feeling that you’ve just found paradise (see www.roysrestaurant.com).
Also across the street, is Merriman’s Market Café open for lunch and dinner. Another opportunity at Merriman’s to enjoy fresh Hawaiian organic produce and Hawaiian Fusion Cuisine. A casual atmosphere combined with friendly service enhances your dinning experience. About a 30 minute drive uphill from Waikoloa to Waimea is the famous Merriman’s Restaurant with a lunch, dinner and even a children’s menu. A more formal and expensive atmosphere with the same seasonal, fresh fish and produce as the Café Market, it is worth the drive to Waimea.
On your way to Waimea, about 15 minutes from Waikoloa at the Kawaihae shopping Centers is Café Pesto a long time favorite of our family. There are Asian inspired pizza and pasta selections as well as fresh fish. Always busy but the service is excellent.
So what’s closer to the Marriott Waikoloa Resort? As you walk out the door, turn right and into Queens Marketplace, the newest shopping center on the Island. After passing shops calling for your attention, pass the Gazebo and at the very end of the Market is the Sansei Seafood and Sushi Bar. We ate there twice and would have eaten at Sansei every day, lunch and dinner, because the sushi and other Asian specialties were luscious.
Finally, there are the Hilton Hotel offerings. Take the shuttle to the Hilton to avoid the parking hassle and go into the lobby, hop on the boat or train for a fun ride through to Donatoni’s. The romantic setting combined with excellent Italian food such as gnocchi’s, ossobuccco, lamb and fresh seafood is a treat for dinner. See http://waikoloabeachresort.com/big-island-dining/247/donatonis for a quick trip through the restaurants discussed above.