ALTE COCKER TRAVELS
  • Welcome to My Website
  • How To Do a Home Exchange
    • Doing the Logistics of a Back to Back Home Exchange Trip
    • Preparing for a Home Exchange >
      • Home Exchange Problems >
        • The Ticket Dance
        • Homeexchange.com: Too Much Hype, Poor Management
        • The Nasty Side of Home Exchanging
        • Why Home Exchangers Can Drive You Nuts
      • Going Crazy Before A Home Exchange--Tossing Stuff
      • Last Minute Departure on a Home Exchange
      • Shit Hits the Fan before Home Exchanges
    • Retirement the AlteCocker Way
    • Trip Drill for AlteCockers
    • When You Want to Home Exchange for a Long Time
    • Home Exchange vs. House Sitting
  • Australia-New Zealand 2018
    • Perth Australia June 15-July 27, 2018
    • Broome Australia Outback Tour
    • Darwin Australia August 2018
    • Great Barrier Reef Australia August 2018
    • Melbourne Australia August 2018
    • Wellington New Zealand September 2018
  • Asia
    • Taiwan October-November 2015
    • Southeast Asia 2015-2016 >
      • Chiang Mai Thailand January-February 2016
      • Surin Elephant Round Up, Surin, Thailand, November 2015
      • Bangkok February 2016
      • 12 Days in Malaysia January 2016 >
        • Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, January 2016
        • Borneo, Malaysia, January 2016
      • Singapore: December 12-17
  • AlteCocker in Southeast Asia November 2014-January 2015
    • Chiang Mai >
      • Loy Krathong in Chiang Mai
      • Farang Lantern Release Chiang Mai
      • Puppet Festival Chiang Mai
      • Day Trips Outside Chiang Mai >
        • Whitewater Rafting on the Mae Taeng with Siam River Adventures
        • Chiang Rai and Mekong Day Trip
        • Baan Chang Elephant Park
        • Lampang Elephant Conservation Center and FAE Elephant Hospital
        • Bhuphing Palace
        • Queen Sirikit Botanical Gardens
        • Royal Park Rajapruek
      • Living the Expat Life in Chiang Mai
    • January 1-6, 2015: Chiang Mai, Thailand
    • AlteCocker in Bangkok, Thailand
    • Photos from Thailand November 2014-January 2015 >
      • Bangkok >
        • Jim Thompson House Bangkok
        • Grand Palace Bangkok
        • Kanchanaburi/Bridge on the River Kwai Day Trip
        • Flower Market Bangkok
        • The Lowdown on Mobile Passport
        • Evening Chao Praya Cruise Bangkok
        • Other Bangkok Sightseeing
    • Kayak Trip to the Andaman Sea
    • AlteCocker in Siem Reap (Angkor Wat), Cambodia >
      • Photos from Cambodia December 2014 >
        • Angkor Wat
        • Ta Prohm
        • Banteay Srei
        • Beng Mealea
        • Floating Village Outside Siem Reap, Cambodia
        • Other Non Temple Sites Siem Riep, Cambodia
    • AlteCocker in Yangon, Burma >
      • How to Get a Myanmar (Burmese) Visa from Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • Photos from Myanmar (Burma) January 2015 >
        • Shewdagon Pagoda Yangon
        • Karaweik Evening Entertainment Yangon
    • Final Thoughts on Planning a Trip to Southeast Asia
    • AlteCocker in Phuket, Thailand (Kayak Trip)
  • You Are What? Going to Australia Again?
    • Fiji to Sleep? 3 days 2008 (with photos)
    • Sydney, Australia, 2008
    • Kawana Waters Queensland, Australia, 2008
    • Brisbane 2008
  • Europe
    • 2014 Grand European Haj: Poland, Belarus, Turkey, Sweden >
      • Part 1: Poland and Belarus >
        • Krakow Home Hospitality Returned 2014
        • Warsaw Home Exchange 2014
        • Belarus--Brest & Minsk--A Visit to the Ancestors 2014 >
          • Getting a Visa for Belarus
    • France >
      • Bordeaux France 2013 >
        • Photos from Bordeaux 2013 >
          • St. Emilion
          • La Bataille de Castillon
          • Sightseeing Bordeaux City
          • Touring Vineyards Outside Bordeaux
      • Martinique Home Exchange May-June 2015 >
        • May 25-27, 2015: Two Days in Dominica
      • Paris France >
        • How to Eat at the Pre Catalan in Paris
      • Paris for a Week July-August 2015 >
        • Paris 2015 Photos
        • Pere Lachaise Cemetery
      • Toulouse France 2013
      • Scandinavian Adventures >
        • Photos from Toulouse Home Exchange >
          • Cordes sur Ciel Medieval Festival
          • Albi
          • Grotte de Niaux
          • Carcassonne
          • Day Trip to Greenland July 31, 2016
          • D'Artagnan's Home Town: Auch >
            • Loire Valley France >
              • Amboise: Leonardo da Vinci & a Mass Beheading
              • Chenonceau: A Mistress, A Queen, A Transvestite Ball
              • No Baguettes Here: Eating Whole Grain Bread in Tours, France
          • Colomiers France Home Exchange July 2013
    • Germany >
      • Total Eclipse? Well, Not Exactly
      • A Day out from Hamburg: Wedel and the Blankenese
    • Great Britain >
      • Museum of London: Not for History Nuts Only
      • Leicester Square Ticket Booth London--Nah!
      • Westminster Abbey--Do Not Miss Evensong!
      • Bergen, Norway
      • From Bergen to Oslo by Boat and Train
      • The Palpable Presence of Death: Verdun
      • Fredrikstad, Norway, 2012
      • A Day out in Yorkshire: Rieveaulx Abbey
      • Edinburgh: Doin' The Fringe
      • Doin' The Tattoo in Edinburgh
    • Iceland and Italy Summer 2016 >
      • Iceland July 12,-August 2, 2016
      • Lake Como August 3-August 30, 2016 >
        • Verona Opera Festival August 8-10, 2016
        • Corsica
      • Venice August 30-September 2, 2016
      • Florence September 2-11, 2016
    • Spain >
      • Barcelona August 2015 >
        • Bella Italia >
          • The Shopping Tour to Italy: Oops!
          • When a Vacation Turns Into a Disaster
        • Photos from Barcelona August 2015 >
          • Sagrada Familia August 2015
          • Park Guell August 2015
          • Casa Batllo August 2015
          • Casa Pedrera (Casa Mila) August 2015
          • A Short Exchange in New Orleans
          • Girona and Dali Museum
      • Salamanca Spain 2013 >
        • Salamanca Sightseeing >
          • Salamanca Cathedral
          • Plaza Mayor Salamanca Spain
        • El Corazon de las arribes
        • Ciudad Rodriego and Siega Verde
        • Through Portugal to Santiago de Compostella
        • Pena de Francia
      • Madrid Spain 2013 >
        • Art Galleries Madrid
        • Ambling around Madrid
        • Madrid Bullfight Ventas
        • Escorial and Aranjuez
        • Segovia
      • Salou, Spain, Home Exchange August 2015 >
        • Cistercian Route, Catalonia, 2015
        • Photos from Salou, Spain, Home Exchange, August 2015 >
          • Tarragona, Spain 2015 >
            • Castels (Human Towers) in Tarragona
            • Sant Magi Heads
          • Valencia Day Trip
          • Montserrat Catalonia 2015
    • Part 3: A Second Home Exchange in Stockholm 2014 >
      • Sweden Photos 2014
      • Mariehamn, Åland Islands, Finland >
        • Photos Mariehamn, Aland Islands, 2014
  • Costa Rica November-December 2013
    • Costa Rica Begins. AlteCocker Makes New Friends
    • Capuchin Monkeys on Kayak Trip Quepos
    • Sloth Sanctuary Near Limon
    • Costa Rican Hummingbirds Savegre
    • A Vist to Famous Matt & Jen in Puerto Viejo
    • Tortuguero, Costa Rica
    • Costa Rican Flowers/Lankester Gardens (Cartago)
  • Turkey: The Best Home Exchange Ever!
    • Off the Coast of Istanbul in the Sea of Marmara: The Princes' Islands
    • To Eat in Istanbul Try "Istanbul Eats"
    • A Day at the Topkapi Palace with Photos
    • My Home Exchange Neighborhood in Istanbul, Cevezli
    • Cappadocia, Turkey, the Adventure Begins >
      • Alte Cocker in Cappadocia, July 2011 (Photo Gallery)
    • Why Edirne? >
      • Alte Cocker in Edirne, July 2011 (Photo Gallery)
    • Part 2: A Second Home Exchange in Istanbul 2014 >
      • Canakkale, Gallipoli and Troy
      • Three Days in Selcuk (Ephesus, Pamukkale) >
        • Istanbul Photos 2014
        • Photos from Selcuk Turkey 2014 >
          • Ephesus: Photos
          • Pamukkale and Hierapolis: Photos
          • Selcuk: Photos
      • Some Final Thoughts on Turkey
  • New Zealand North Island 2008
    • Auckland, New Zealand
    • Rotorura, Waitomo Caves, Lake Taupo, Tongariro Volcano
    • Cape Reinga
    • Bay of Islands
    • Kamo, NI, NZ Home Exchange
  • Miscellaneous Pearls of Wisdom from AlteCocker
    • So You Don't Speak the Language, Get Pimsleur!
    • Be Careful Whom You Travel With
    • Jewish Mormons? Only in America
    • Driving in Europe
  • Drumheller, Alberta: Land of the Dinosaurs
  • How to Get the Most out of Your European Trip Part 1
    • How to Get the Most out of Your European Trip, Part 2
    • A Modest Proposal to Solve Museum Overcrowding in Europe
    • Washington DC >
      • The 4th of July Fireworks in DC: NO!
      • How to Do the Smithsonian without Killing Yourself
      • How Not To Do a Tour of Washington DC >
        • A Short Exchange in New Orleans
    • How the Other Half Lives: The Hilton Waikaloa on the Big Island
    • Salzburg Marionette Theater: Not to Be Missed!
  • Theme Parks in Europe
  • United States
    • Sonora California March 17-April 2, 2017
    • Wolf Trap Farm Park: Theater under the Stars
    • Eclipse 2017
  • Kalispell, Montana, Home Exchange October-November 2017
    • Dog Sledding at Base Camp, Big Fork, MT

How The Other Half Lives: The Hilton Waikaloa on the Big Island

Well, AlteCocker usually stays in budget digs when she travels. In fact, she is so cheap when the subject of hotels is raised, that she generally home exchanges to avoid paying for hotels at all. AlteCocker usually doesn't spend much time in the room anyway, as she's busy schlepping around to all the sites.

She did, however, make an exception to her budget policy many years ago when she received a nice check after one of her law cases finished. AlteCocker decided to spend some of the extra cash on a trip to the Big Island of Hawaii. She and SonKvetch stayed at the Hilton Waikaloa Village, if not the most expensive resort on the Big Island, certainly up there with the big guns.

Now, this Hilton ain't just any Hilton. This is as deluxe as it gets. YentaKvetch got a package for her and SonCocker, but certainly, even at the package price, the room was well over her normal budget. AlteCocker did not ask for a price breakdown. Had she known how much it really cost, she probably would have had a heart attack.

When she entered the lobby, which is open to the oudoors, AlteCocker's jaw immediately dropped open. It did not shut for the 6 days she was there.

One does not schlep one's luggage to one's room at the Waikaloa. One takes a monorail or a boat. Now, this type of atmosphere got AlteCocker to kvelling right away. As for SonCocker, he had died and gone to heaven.

SonCocker was perfectly content to amuse himself on the property by himself, and being of the age to be safely left, AlteCocker ditched him and went to see some of the sites herself. This feature alone was worth the price of admission.

As some of you may know, this hotel offers the opportunity to swim with the dolphins. SonCocker was offered the opportunity to enter the lottery for the swim by AlteCocker, but it was not guaranteed that he would get a slot and SonCocker decided to pass it up. Slots are more easily obtainable for young children, something that they do not tell you about before you go. It is also possible to enter the lottery, or register children for the dolphin swim if you are not staying at the hotel.

Children (and TeenCockers like SonCocker) will enjoy two tastefully landscaped pools on the property with waterfalls, slides, and tasteful Hawaiian decor. They will also enjoy the presence of other TeenCocker and entertain themselves running in and out of the pool and checking out hotel guests of the opposite sex. There are areas for YoungCockers as well.

When ChildCockers get bored jumping in and out of the pool (and spending money in the overpriced snack bar), there is the tidal pool. There AllCockers can snorkel and observe the turtles in the area. AdultCockers can often be found there sleeping in hammocks or reading.

There is a pool reserved for adults as well.

The Waikaloa really has no good beach, but it has so many other amenities that the Cockers did not miss its absence. Additionally, very good snorkeling is not to be found on the property. For that you have to take a day trip--either organized through the hotel or out of Kona.

There is golf on the property as well as lots of golf courses all over the Kohala Coast area, and many golfers go from course to course during their stay. Since AlteCocker does not golf, she has no idea of the quality of the golf courses. They all, however, are located amidst some of the most spectacular and bizarre scenery AlteCocker has ever seen. The Big Island was, after all, formed as a result of volcanic eruptions.

Insofar as food at the Waikaloa is concerned, it is spectacular--but so are the prices. The Cockers did not want the deluxe buffet breakfast (at deluxe captive audience prices) every day. So, they did sneak out to an adjacent shopping area which had some cheaper options. In fact, the place was full of refugees from the Waikaloa at breakfast.

If you want to avoid the high prices in the Waikaloa restaurants, you really do need a car to drive to Kona--which is what the Cockers often did. Many people, however, never left the resort. It was AlteCocker's first trip to the Big Island, and she felt obliged to see most of the sites that were on her "must do" list. If she ever stays at the Waikaloa again, she resolves to spend more time just relaxing on the property with perhaps another stay at the Volcano House near Madame Pele's fireworks.

Further information can be found on the Hilton Waikaloa here.

Hmm.  Might be a nice stop if AlteCocker ever goes to Australia again--if someone else is paying.
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