Warning, this experience may transform you if you open yourself to everything that Akiko's B&B offers. From reading the reviews, we had an inclination how magical this place would be, but after our stay with Akiko for 8 days, my partner and I both felt transformed, healed and uplifted in ways we couldn't have ever imagined.
If you want to experience the TRUE Aloha of the Big Island, we hope you are lucky enough to get a room in Akiko's estate. Learning about how she built this place from scratch, her stories and history of the Big Island is something you can never get from a guidebook. This being a Buddhist B&B, you can tell everything in this place has a purpose and intention.
Whether you choose to wake up early and sit in meditation with other guests, guided by Akiko, or go for a stroll in the gardens behind the Temple to sit and read with the tropical forest around you, you can't go wrong. Communal breakfast at 8am, is nourishing for the body and soul, as this is the time when other fellow travelers and Akiko sit around to talk about their adventures from the day before, as well as share experiences of their own lives.
Having been born in Hawaii and lived on the Big Island for 25 years, Akiko's knowledge is unsurpassed only by her depth of insight and wisdom of life itself. Though B&B's may be a dime a dozen, I guarantee you won't find anything quite like Akiko's. If you are fortunate enough to make your way here, I am happy and excited for the experience that awaits you...