Nobody visits the Hawaii’s Big Island for anything but wide open spaces and full-on R&R. With its miles of highways, saddled with ancient black lava and rolling green-covered volcanic cinder cones, you’ll be hard up to do anything else BUT relax and enjoy the view.

Although party animals need not apply, nature lovers place take note, this place will render you speechless with its beauty. Over and over again.

This laid-back ethos influences every aspect of general life on the Big Island and even the large scale Hilton Waikoloa Village (we’ll call it the HWV  from here on), with all its numerous restaurants, canal boats and trains, ended up being a superb place to unwind.

It’s right about now that we have to admit that we were surprised.

While similar in size to its sister property, the Hilton Hawaiian Villag in Oahu, the HWV skips the Friday fireworks in exchange for rolling sea views and to-die-for sunsets.

(Their signature restaurant, Kamuela Provision Company makes the best use of these assets and is renowned across the island as much for its outlook as for its fish.)

Yes, there’s a boat and a train to carry you from one end of the resort to the other – we suspect these are to handle to mass of crowds that hit from March to April (more on that below) – but they’re charming in their excess.

Just let your inner child off the hook and ride the ferry as the sun goes down. It’ll take you beneath the colossal lobby arches of each accommodation tower and, for a major chain, it’s hard to not be impressed by the design.

Crumpler backpack in SPINNING VORTEX, Lack of Color wide-brim hat in MIDNIGHT MUSE

Ironically, staying at the HWV, with all its similarities to other big Hiltons, offers a unique experience to a huge resort anywhere else. If you ever feel fatigued by all the convenience and luxury you simply jump in your JEEP** and drive an hour to Saddle Road and get completely alone, lost and wild.

Lack of Color wide-brim hat in MIDNIGHT MUSE

All That Remains bikini in LOVEFOX, Lack of Color boater in SPENCER

The brilliance is that you get to experience two kinds of travel. One with all the extravagance you could ever need, the other with dusty, raw authenticity on your doorstep.

The HWV and the Big Island merges them together, allowing you to appreciate the value of both.

Highly recommended:

As stated above – try to avoid visiting during the peak U.S holiday periods. Those being March to April and throughout December. The final two weeks of January are PERFECT and you’ll have amazing weather and smaller crowds.

Book into a MAKAI room, which is the upscale cousin to the other more family-friendly side of the resort. Here you’ll be in prime position between the saltwater lagoon and the main pool, as well as direct access to Waikoloa Coffee (and it’s healthy WiFi connection) just underneath. The rooms have recently been renovated with soothing muted tones and were larger than anything we’ve experienced at even more expensive hotels.

Also, as cruise-ship as this sounds, this is the one place where we recommend you invest in the dining package. We say this because Waikoloa is about a 35 minute drive to the closest main town of Kona, so whether it’s your thing or not, you’ll find yourself pondering the menu at the Lagoon Grill just to save yourself a bit of a trek. Ask about it when you check in. The discount card is $30 up front but it gives you 10% off all meals and drinks in the resort.

The HWV is also in close proximity to a cluster of shops of restaurants about a 4 minute drive down the road. Kings Shops  on one side is more upscale with all the usual suspects (Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton), Queens’ Marketplace on the other with a supermarket, deli and Starbucks and a number of great places to pick up some snacks and have a meal if you need a hotel break.

And just a little warning if you’re more of an intrepid traveller – everything in the golf-loving community of Waikoloa is manicured to an inch of its life. It’s pretty and pleasant in a very surreal Truman Show kind of way and as long as you go in knowing that you’re completely submitting to the clean-cut resort life then you’ll have a brilliant time. Just chill and go with it.

We think the idea is to give your brain a little vacation from the gritty realities from regular life and in that department they more than succeed.