Tour an Enchanted Cottage in the Hawaiian Rainforest!

Hello Huckleberries, welcome to a very exciting
video. I’m coming to you from the Volcano Rainforest Retreat Bed and Breakfast, on the
Big Island of Hawaii. I’ve spent the last 2 nights here and I’m so excited to give you
a little tour of the Guest Cottage where we have been staying. Come on over! This is the Guest Cottage. This actually houses
up to 6 adults so it is their largest cabin on property. They have 4 cabins total, which
I will be showing you guys in a little bit. Here we have the front lanai, it is the perfect
place to start your day with some tea and coffee. Let’s go inside! The first place that you enter is the dining
area and kitchen. This is a bed and breakfast, so they are providing breakfast daily with
pastries, fresh fruit, anything you could really imagine. As you can see, it is a fully
functioning kitchenette. Another really special thing about the food that they’re providing
is the plethora of local options. This is locally made granola, they even have locally
made sugar and honey. Behind me, we have extra storage. And they even provide custom made
Volcano Retreat robes – one of my favorite things about this place. Next stop is our
living and sleeping spaces, come on over. So this is our main living space. This futon
couch does pull out into another bed. It’s quite cozy with these beautiful bay windows
looking out over the rainforest. And another one of my favorite things about this unit
as well as multiple units on the property is this amazing fireplace. We are at about
4000 feet elevation so the evenings and the mornings can get quite cool, which is so refreshing
while you’re in Hawaii. Before I show you the loft area, let’s go
to the bathroom. I love this bathroom. As you can see, this bathroom is the most immersive
room as far as being a part of nature. This is an epic view. Let’s go up to the loft. Welcome to the loft! This is where I have
gotten to sleep the last 2 nights. The second I wake up, I usually crack open this back
window, let a little breeze in, looking out at the bamboo forest behind me. Everything
about it up here just gives you that really nice homey, cozy kind of feeling. This unit also features a covered carport
as well as one other additional parking spot and access to a private hot tub. Now that
I’ve shown you guys the Guest Cottage, I’d love to show you the rest of the properties
at the Volcano Rainforest Retreat Bed and Breakfast. This bed and breakfast featured 4 secluded
cottages located just outside of Volcano Village and Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. With the
Guest Cottage being the properties largest rental unit and the most suitable for families,
the other 3 cottages might be considered even more serene than the first. The Sanctuary Cottage is their most intimate
unit. With windows on every wall, it creates a complete immersion into the surrounding
rainforest. With an outdoor shower and Japanese soaking tub, this is the perfect getaway to
declutter the mind, body, and spirit. The next unit is called the Forest House.
Offering the same intimate connection to nature with a few extra conveniences, including access
to a private jacuzzi. And for visitors seeking a premium experience,
there is the Bamboo House. Embellished with stained glass, etchings, sculptures, and paintings
– all made by local craftsmen and artists – this unit can house up to 6 people, or it
makes for a romantic and upscale retreat. The rainforest is a feature in and of itself.
At 4000 feet elevation and rain coming unpredictably, this bed and breakfast promote a cozy atmosphere
for rest, romance, and relaxation. This is the best place in Hawaii to snuggle up by
the fire or go for a heated soak at night or in the morning. Hawaiian elders came to bless the land and
each cottage on the property as they were built to ask the garden spirits for protection
as well as to honor native Hawaiian tradition. Being in business for 24 years, the Volcano
Rainforest Retreat Bed and Breakfast has become a staple in the quaint artist’s community
of Volcano Village. This is undoubtedly a very special place. I wanted to take a moment and introduce you
to one of the owners of the bed and breakfast. This is Kathleen. Thank you so much for letting
us come here. Can you explain a little bit about how this
place came to be, with all of these little structures tucked away throughout a forest? We wake up every day and we go, “we live here?
we did this? what came over us?” Basically, we fell in love with the native rainforest
and the national park. We didn’t have a lot of resources at that time so we took our time
and lived off the land. About 3 years later, I wanted to build a small structure for my
counseling work, because I’m a marriage and family counselor. I think the beauty of this
forest inspired me, I decided I wanted a roundhouse and I wanted a place where I could do my counseling
work, my meditation, and do my healing practices. And then something told Peter he wanted to
build again, so he bought the next 1/2 acre and we built the 12-sided roundhouse where
we live. So then we had that extra cottage and we thought, “we’ll rent it to travelers
going to the national park as a bed and breakfast.” So that’s what happened, and Frommer’s Guide
came out to write us up in their guidebook and they saw the Sanctuary – my counseling
space – and they put in the book if you beg the Golden’s they might rent it to you. So
all of a sudden, we had 2 cottages, and we hadn’t planned it that way, it just happened.
I think it’s part of some bigger scheme, this forest wanted to use us and to share the beauty
of this place with people from all over the world. And that’s what’s happened, so it all
organically grew up over time. We would really be delighted if people came here and saw that
people can live in harmony with nature – to build small and live in relationship to the
natural environment all around. We would be delighted if people came here and were enchanted
by that and inspired to go back into their own lives and love nature, respect it, live
in relationship to it, and learn from it. We don’t just live in isolation to nature,
near a national park, we have a beautiful community. It’s not overdeveloped, a lot of
places by the national parks – the gateway communities – are so overun by commercialism.
But this place is in the native rainforest, so it’s been protected from that. What we
love is a blend of scientists and artists that live here. Scientists who study the botany
and the geology of the magnificence of the park and the volcano, and the artists who
are inspired by it. If you guys are interested in learning more
about this bed and breakfast as well as the town of Volcano, I could not recommend it
more, I will be linking everything down below for you guys to check out. Thank you, Kathleen, thank you so much for
giving us the time and showing me this amazing place. This has been one of the best weekend
I’ve ever had. Thank you for bringing all of your aloha. Of course, we have a little bit. Thank you guys so much for watching, if you
enjoyed this video don’t forget to share it, give it a thumbs up. I love you guys so much, thank you so much for watching, peace! Aloha