Charles and Kathy's guest house is a great place to stay if you're looking for a middle ground between Hilo and Volcano National Park. Foodland, a grocery store, is less than 15 minutes away in Kea'au. Their guest house is spacious and beautifully decorated (including Charles' photography). It is very updated and has most basic amenities you would need. We were centrally located in Kona before moving to the other side of the Big Island, so having to drive into town did take a bit of getting used to. Charles was very responsive as well. One tip: try to arrive before sundown to check in because it can be hard to see where to turn from the larger street to arrive to the house or to locate the house if you are used to living in the city (no residential lights). However, it is doable with Google Map, so not a big deal if you don't; we arrived around 9:00pm and were fine. I'd recommend staying here!