I obviously had a mainlanders mentality when I first observed the towering, colonial styled ceilings in the spacious, historic Shipman House B&B Inn. I couldn’t help but keep thinking, “Isn’t it expensive to heat this place?” Barbara, one of the owners and great-granddaughter of the house’s first owners, politely explained it in terms I could understand, “It’s to keep the house cool. We don’t worry about heating here.” It was clear Seattle was far, far away.
When you first approach the Shipman House B&B, perched on a small hill with a view out to the emerald blue Pacific Ocean, the classic Victorian architecture immediately sets it apart. A wide, wrap-around porch protects the hand-rolled, curved windows of the spacious living room just beside the massive entry door. Everything about the mansion and grounds invites you to wander and take your time soaking it all in. What’s up the steps? What’s around the far corner of the porch? And where did that cat come from? Oh yeah, it helps if you like outdoor cats because there are a number of friendly felines on the grounds.
I’ve had the pleasure of staying in Bed & Breakfasts in a number of locations all over the world, and quite a few in the Pacific Northwest specifically. Like me, you may be looking for a number of things when checking out potential B&Bs for your holiday away from home; relaxing atmosphere, likeable and friendly staff, comfort, great breakfasts and an ideal location. Shipman House delivers on all these accounts and more in wonderful Hawai’ian style.
As you can see from the photo in this post, the appointments in the old mansion have plenty of wood and a softer country feel while retaining the original Victorian elegance. The master entryway has stairs leading to the guest rooms upstairs with views out to the ocean. On the right of the of stairs is a study (pictured here) While off to the left is the living room with grand piano and plenty of comfy couches to easily lose an afternoon in (personally, I wish I had more time because they were screaming, “NAP! HERE!” to me). A sun room juts further beyond the living room and is the location of daily breakfasts with copious amounts of local fruit. The back section of the house holds a dining room.
I ended up staying in the separate quarters to the side of the house with their own screened in porch and showers (not all rooms have their own bathrooms). I loved the amount of space in the room to be able to both work and relax. My laptop could sit over there, on a desk, and be blissfully ignored while I sat on the window bench and relaxed with a book until the sun went down.
Barbara and her husband Gary are your quintessentialy gracious B&B hosts without being clones. If you’ve stayed in a great B&B, you know the type of host I’m talking about; available but not in your face, full of information that you’re looking for (and not droning on about things of no interest to you!), a wealth of information on history and local culture and wonders to have in the kitchen! If you haven’t stayed in a B&B before, I’d suggest the Shipman House as a first stop so your bar for other B&Bs is set amply high. Barbara was ready with a local paper and a run down of what I could do on my last day on the island (great suggestion was Big Island Candies) when I found myself with free time. Of course, there’s always the option to JUST SIT! I didn’t do enough of that this trip, but man, that porch is just begging for a an afternoon of nothingness (right).
As a traveling photographer and writer, the Shipman House offered to cover my stay hoping I’d say something nice, but as always, I’m free to say what I think. I think I’d gladly pay to stay at the Shipman House B&B the next time I’m on the West side of the Big Island of Hawai’i. It has all I look for in a B&B with the added bonus of cute cats on the grounds. Barbara and Gary treated me no different than the other guests and made me want to return to their wonderful getaway in paradise.
If you don’t want to take my word for it, check out Uptake.com’s round up of reviews from the web.