Ka Hale Mala Bed & Breakfast - Kaunakakai, Hawaii

katbakay

My husband and I spent a week at Ka Hale Mala B&B and had a wonderful experience! Our hostess Cheryl went above and beyond to ensure our stay was comfortable and enjoyable. She made us spectacular breakfasts every morning (my mouth is still watering thinking about the fresh sunrise papaya) and told us stories about local way of life, local attractions, history of the island and so much more. Cheryl was a wonderful resource for questions about our itinerary. We also very much appreciated her flexibility as she accommodated our change of plans for departure. Ka Hale Mala itself is a cozy ground floor apartment with a separate entrance and large amount of space for 2 people. We used kitchen for cooking dinners and enjoyed a glass of wine on the lanai in the evening. We slept well with the fan running and windows open as it was enough to cool the entire place down. The island of Molokai is a special place and we truly felt taken back in time as there are no resorts, no traffic, and very laid back atmosphere. This is the island perfect for those who want to get away from it all, explore untouched beauty, be willing to slow down and welcome local aloha. Staying with Cheryl added to our experience. Her B&B is centrally located on the south shore of the island which makes it easy to explore in all directions. Highly recommend staying here!

heather young

What a gorgeous Polynesian pole house with native Hawaiian plants and palms in the garden. My husband and I absolutely loved our stay. Our experience on Moloka’i was amazing and it wouldn’t have been the same without Cheryl’s (our host) valuable information. We ate breakfast two days and it was lovely with fresh fruit from the garden. We will definitely stay here again on our next trip to Moloka’i.

Kathy Fish

Very nice accommodation. Cheryl was amazing. We enjoyed our conversations as well as her knowledge of the island. Breakfast each morning consisted of a variety of local foods wonderfully prepared.
Would highly recommend and plan to stay again. Thank you Cheryl for all you did.

Matthew C

My travel partner and I spent three nights at the Ka Hale Mala in June, 2014. The room occupied the first floor of the house, so it's spacious. Breakfast was a delight every morning. The B&B is well located for access to town, though every place is fairly close in Molokai.||||Cheryl has a forceful personality and I can see how some guests might be uncomfortable about that. While breakfasts were tasty and enjoyable for us, Cheryl was right there and this allowed little privacy around the table. But after breakfast we enjoyed as much privacy as we wanted, and she was an interesting person to listen to.||||I spent five weeks in Hawaii, staying on four islands and at nine accommodations. I think this one was my favorite, partly because of Molokai--it was really nice to get away from the crowds and traffic of Oahu and Maui--and also because of the size of our accommodation and the setting.

Jonathan Phi

My girlfriend and I stayed here this summer for four nights. We were extremely excited to stay at a local place rather than at the hotel on the island. We opted to do the $10 extra charge for breakfast in the morning.

We did not get into Molokai until the evening and checked in around 7 or 8. We were greeted by Cheryl as soon as we pulled in. She then gave us the tour of our floor and proceeded to talk to us for the next hour complaining about previous tenants and the mistakes that were made by them during their visit.

From the first night we felt that the guest rooms were dirty. The floor was filthy, there was hair on the toilet seat, and dust caking both the ceiling fan and the standing fan. Neither of us wanted to take a shower or freshen up because the shower was not clean. The light-colored towels were stained (which Cheryl blamed on previous guests) and other towels had an unpleasant odor. We are in no way clean freaks- we just expect reasonable cleanliness at an accommodation we are paying for.

We booked a BNB with a kitchen with the intention of using the kitchen and saving some money on eating out. The kitchen and cookware were dirty, including the sponge at the sink, to the point that we ate every single meal out.

The breakfast experience took an even worse turn. My girlfriend has some food intolerances, and Cheryl advertises that she can accommodate food preferences. My girlfriend mentioned just one of her preferences/intolerances and Cheryl became flustered and upset that she would not be able to cook anything to accommodate my girlfriend. My girlfriend ended up just letting it go and telling Cheryl that it was okay.

The meals in and of themselves were good. The fruit selection was nice, and the hot breakfasts were good. However, we couldn’t enjoy them because the plates, silverware, and mugs were absolutely caked with cat hair. We have a cat, so we don’t mind a few hairs here and there. Cheryl’s cat hair situation was entirely over the top and out of control. The food was rendered inedible by the cat hair. She advertises that she keeps the cats separate to accommodate people with allergies, so be forewarned if you suffer from cat allergies- you will suffer here.

During breakfast, Cheryl also sits with you and tries to make small talk. Any silence longer than 5 seconds was filled by Cheryl. This resulted in an unpleasant and awkward experience. If you like quiet mornings, I can assure you that will not be achieved at this BNB. I wanted a romantic getaway with my girlfriend, and instead, I had breakfast with Cheryl.

There is a stairwell from Cheryl’s area into the guests area (inside) that she utilizes each day to come into your space. I understand the need to take out trash daily in a tropical environment, but Cheryl would also go into the bedroom and move things around. Clearly she is not a clean freak, so I am not sure what the purpose behind rearranging our items was. The indoor stairwell was utilized by Cheryl, as evidenced by the door handle being left ajar, and it was unnerving to think that Cheryl could potentially enter the space whenever. It feels inconsiderate to guests’ privacy. We would’ve been happy to leave the trash by the door or simply ask for more towels if we needed them, instead of her coming into the room on a daily basis for no clear cleaning purpose.

The BNB is located very centrally on the island, and the island is beautiful. There are plenty of beaches and things to see. However, Cheryl advertises a beach just across the street which is not the case. You will have to drive a minimum of about 10 miles for a decent beach.

I would not recommend this place and I definitely will not be back. On the next visit, we will be staying at the hotel.

Natalie H

Staying at Ka Hale Mala was a pleasure for both my young son and I. Cheryl was a fabulous host who prepared a wonderful breakfast every morning as well as provided helpful insight into Molokai, Hawaiian life and culture. Cheryl made us feel safe and welcomed! I would consider coming back to stay with Cheryl if we return to the peaceful island of Molokai.

Marcella Rees

Loved our early morning breakfasts with Cheryl at Ka Hale Mala. She wisely sent us on a tour of an original home-visit with Gene his cousin and Uncle. They welcomed us into their traditional and sustainable home sharing the verbal and pictorial history of Molokai from their family viewpoint reaching back in time to the early 1930’s in their own father/uncle’s experience. Mahalo.

kathrin81

Gute Lage in einem ruhigen Wohngebiet. Cheryll war wirklich sehr nett und hat uns vom Flughafen abgeholt. Außerdem gab es täglich ein super leckeres Frühstück und wir haben uns dabei immer viel unterhalten und so einiges über die Kultur und die Menschen auf Molokai erfahren. Die Wohnung ist gross und geräumig und verfügt über einen Internetanschluss, Computer und Drucker. Der einzige Nachteil: die Wohnung war nicht sehr sauber. Insbesondere die Küche war sehr dreckig. Wenn wir nicht häufiger gekocht hätten, wäre das sicherlich nicht so sehr aufgefallen aber so war das einfach nicht in Ordnung. Dennoch nett, aber mit einigen Abstrichen.