-
October 2024 by Jim Carducci
Our stay at Puakea Ranch in the Miles Away cottage was really nice. Very peaceful and secluded with views of the ocean, sunsets, and neighboring meadows. Close to Hawi Town too which is a nice "old Hawaii" type town with neat places to explore, hike, and some great places to eat!
-
October 2024 by Kekai Boshard
As a wedding filmmaker here on Big Island, this is a stunning location and the perfect place to have your wedding ceremony!
-
August 2024 by Bob Kuhn
This ranch is incredible. The property is very scenic and chill. It is away from the hustle/bustle of Kona but easy to get to everything you want. Nice outdoor pool built into the landscape. The ranch history is unique and would make a great movie. We stayed at the Miles Away cabin and wish we could have stayed longer. Hope go back someday!
-
August 2024 by Angel García
Very good place, really. I really liked the landscape and the attention, really a 10/10?
-
August 2024 by ELLIE SAVEE
As a family who has been visiting Puakea Ranch since 2011, we can honestly say this is the best lodging experience and our home away from home on the big island. These 33 acres are absolutely stunning! Our kids love swimming, feeding the animals and roaming around. We love coming to the ranch to unwind and slow down in the serene setting. The homes all are very private, well kept, and clean. Christie, thank you for another wonderful stay!
-
June 2024 by John Araki
Miles Away...we lucked into having the entire property to ourselves. Beautiful 1930s cottage, horses in the field, peacocks and a surprise boar visit in the morning.
-
November 2023 by kou s
There are such wonderful places in the world.
Historic buildings, beautiful nature and animals. Each of the trees is very beautiful.
In the morning, with the sunrise, the air is very refreshing, and I recommend taking a walk around the area before it gets too hot.
During the day, you can relax by reading or drinking while enjoying the pool and nature.
Sunset and sea in the evening,
Enjoy the wonderful starry sky and moon at night.
What a wonderful day! I breathed a sigh of happiness many times.
The rooms have a clean feel that doesn't feel old and are equipped with a variety of amenities, as well as goods that can be used for self-cooking, such as BBQ, for a high-quality experience.
The bathroom may also depend on the room, but I can say that the stylish bathtub and the stylish and cool bathroom are better than the average hotel.
-
October 2023 by Benjamin Kastenbauer
Wonderful ranch. Secluded area. Not ideal for big tourist agendas but wonderful if you just want to get away from everything and relaxRooms: Older buildings with some aging issues but overall well cared for facilities. Newer bathrooms that are beautifulNearby activities: A few small beaches and small town shops (eg coffee shop, restaurants and small grocery store) nearby. Really no major tourist spots nearbyWalkability: Unfortunately limited/no walkability to any other amenities
-
June 2023 by Rachel Strutt
We had my daughter's wedding here. Rented out the entire ranch, and family stayed in all the cottages. If you are holding an event, you do have to bring in all your own vendors, but that was fine with us. It gave us more creative control. The venue is beautiful and quiet, the perfect backdrop for the wedding. Christie is communicative and helpful. We would love to come back and just enjoy the peace and beauty of the ranch one day!
-
June 2023 by Ken Ross
As Angelenos for more than 2 decades, our family has visited Hawaii scores of times, and we love the state, its people and its culture. While each of the islands is unique & alluring, the massive scale & pure drama of the Big Island always calls us back – and in early May, we spent 6 days at Puakea Ranch (my wife and I, our two grown sons & my still-adventurous 95-year-old mother). The ranch was a great discovery stumbled upon in an old issue of Sunset magazine, and for all of us, Puakea was a truly distinctive & memorable experience.We stayed in Yoshi's House, which sits atop the slope of the ranch with sweeping views west to the Pacific and, across the channel, the island of Maui. Each night, sunsets from Yoshi's spacious & perfectly weathered lanai were cinematic events, with splashes of red, orange, pink & deep blue painting the evening sky. At these moments, we couldn't imagine being anywhere else in the world. Eggs fresh from Puakea’s henhouse and a vegetable & herb garden from which we picked green onions, purple basil, cherry tomatoes, baby squash & sunflowers for the house simply added to the organic feel of the ranch.Our bungalow was well appointed: with comfortable bedrooms, a well-stocked kitchen, an airy living room with folding doors that brought in the ocean breeze, and a splendid, outdoor bathhouse with copper tub & rain shower. The cottage is lived in, befitting its history as the 1940s home of the ranch's foreman. And the property surrounding Yoshi's is full of flowering trees – plumeria & hibiscus – as well as mango & other fruit. Puakea Ranch is a world apart from the polished resorts of South Kohala 30 minutes away, and its location – a few miles from the town of Hawi, an eclectic blend of galleries, cafes, restaurants and the convenient Nakahara Grocery – is a perfect, unplugged getaway.For us, mornings began with strong local coffee and stunning oceanside hikes. Two musts are the nearby Upolu Airport Trail (a 4-mile out-and-back that hugs the rugged coastline and ascends to the vast, sacred ruins of the ancient Mo’okini Heiau) and the steep, switch-backed Pololῡ Valley Trail (down nearly 1 mile to the iconic black sand beach and the ocean’s crashing waves). Lounging around Yoshi’s private, black lava swimming pool after lunches of fresh Foodland poke was the perfect segue into early evening and the nightly technicolor show to the west.For a great alternative to the manicured and, yes, quite beautiful Big Island resorts (like the Four Seasons, Mauna Kea, Mauna Lani & Hapuna Beach), Puakea Ranch is a singularly special & transportive experience. Thank you, Christie C. We look forward to our next visit.
-
May 2023 by Aditya Agrawal
This place is amazing. We stayed in Miles Away cottage which was very private and had an incredible view of the ocean. The entire property is very peaceful, and if you’re looking for this away from the tourist crowds, this is the right place for you. The cottage itself is very comfortable and the Japanese bath is great. Warm winds, sunset, and the pool - all incredible here.Would highly recommend this Puakea Ranch. The staff are also very responsive.
-
May 2023 by Danielle Lambert
Love this location. The ranch dogs were so friendly and greeted me every morning. They would even accompany me to collect eggs and Mac nuts in the morning before breakfast. At night sitting on the swing while my husband bbq and watching the sunset...just amazing!
-
May 2023 by Blaire Woodall
Our family and friends stayed in 3 of the adorable homes at Puakea and we all loved the whole experience! My husband and I stayed in Miles away. I love this little cottage. The bed was comfy and we slept with windows open and the fresh breeze coming in was heavenly.My sister, husband and her two high school boys stayed in Yoshi's house, and our friends with their two high school daughters stayed in Cowboy House. It was so fun to walk over to each other's cottages and make dinners, play music/dance and have game nights in a different location for a whole new environment.The furnishings are so personal, no bulk buying here as everything is unique to each home. The detached bathhouses - the bathtubs, what? Create your own spa day! The hot tub at Cowboy House is like one I've never been in, it's wood - love that - surrounded by the secluded garden with the open sky up above. Had a little rain shower when I was in there, it was like the heavens were speaking to me! The open concept kitchens with lush garden, treetop and ocean views, open windows, amazing for meal prep/cooking, and came with personal touches such as fresh eggs and honey from there off the property. The homes are steeped in history and I was feeling honored to share the spaces with the people that had been there before. Tons of personal touches everywhere from the books inside, to the fruit trees and vegetable gardens outside.Nearby excursions happened on the daily. I loved the day trip drive through the darling town of Waimea (breakfast, cute shops) over to Hilo, and coastal drive north of Hilo on the way back. Talk about views - stunning! The kids loved the beach days, the beaches are incredible, so many Hawaiian trees to camp out under while they just walked into the water with a snorkel and saw amazing things right there! We couldn't even get to everything we wanted to do in the full week that we were there. Loved the little town of Hawi, get to their little Hawaiian farmer's market if you can! But I also wanted to just spend quite time at the ranch - relaxing, reading, taking walks, checking in with the animals & the bee hives, gathering eggs and fresh herbs from the garden, hanging by the pool, pizza night at the outdoor pizza oven under the stars by a fire, something new around every corner. The whole trip was my dream of a vacation. I could go on and on, and I can't wait to go back. Thanks to Christie and all the staff at Puakea for a very memorable experience.
-
February 2023 by Carrigan Curtis
We absolutely love Puakea Ranch. It’s an amazingly unique and unforgettable vacation location. We’ve come and stayed at Yoshi’s house on the property year after year because, for us, it’s the best place on the Big Island.Yoshi’s house had everything we needed to feel like it’s our home away from home during our time there. Luxury linens, fully equipped kitchen, and all the fun toys for the beach and pool which is just a few steps away from the house. A dawn chorus of birds greeted us every morning while the Puakea peacocks played on decks and roofs around the property. The vegetable garden was abundant with salad and dinner fixings. In the evenings, the sunsets exceeded expectations with brilliant glowing colors.Puakea Ranch is located near the charming small town of Hawi with so many cute small shops, local produce and great coffee! Only 20 minutes away is Mauna Kea Resort and Hapuna Beach, one of the most beautiful long white sands beaches on the Island. We always had plenty of fun adventures waiting for us.Puakea Ranch is indeed a one-of-a-kind magical location, a perfect get away to escape from the hustle and bustle of city life and find the real Hawaii right in your backyard.
-
February 2023 by Bridget Johnston
The site is beautiful and very private, no doubt about that. Great for an event, but not so great for a personal vacation. There is no centralized communication (they are using personal gmail accounts) so I got bounced around between different people, including to one guy who wasn't even in the country and couldn't help. Massages didn't get scheduled, the pool was a WRECK and couldn't be used (even though I warned them that it would be a critical part of our visit), and the house is definitely neglected. At night the wind rattles all the ill-fitting doors and windows so you can't sleep. One dead tree fell down but luckily didn't hit the house.This place was probably awesome at one point and it can be again, but it desperately needs some TLC. Staff are friendly but they are being set up for failure by (presumably) the negligent owner. They did issue me a small credit for the unusable pool, but it was difficult to recover and find other activities at the last minute so I was rather disappointed.
