Big Island
Hale Ohia Cottages, Volcano Village
Number of accommodations: 8
Located on the lip of the Kilauea caldera, Volcano Village feels more like a town in the Pacific Northwest than one in the tropics: cool and foggy, and rife with sugi pines, ferns, rhododendrons, and wisteria. Hale Ohia, a small cottage complex concealed down a narrow lane, delivers just the kind of leafy seclusion the setting calls for. Two of the guest rooms are in the elegant red-roofed main house; built in 1931 as a summer cottage for a sugar plantation bigwig, it more recently served as the private residence of a volcanologist and his artist wife (her stained glass graces the windows). There are four other buildings on the property, each with one to three bedrooms and all equally charming and simple—with the happily notable exception of Cottage 44. A converted redwood water tank, it has been tricked out with mahogany wainscoting, a reading nook, a fireplace—and a Jacuzzi that overlooks the grounds and forest. Alternatively, there's a communal antique Japanese soaking tub, set in a clearing that makes an ideal spot for stargazing. For breakfast, staff stealthily deliver homemade bread and juice to your doorstep (cross your fingers for a guava-passion fruit blend). When you weary of cocooning, venture out to Hawai'i Volcanoes National Park, whose entrance is just a mile away (808-967-7986; www.haleohia.com; doubles and cottages, $95-$150, with a two-night minimum; wheelchair-accessible; housekeeping; nature; value).

Horizon Guest House, Kona
Number of accommodations: 4
Staying at this mountainside retreat with sweeping views of the Kona coast is like crashing at a friend's home—a friend with good taste and plenty of room. Owner Clem Classen gives you the run of the house, from the infinity-edge pool and the barbecue next to the Jacuzzi to the media and laundry rooms. Some find the concrete floors sterile; others say chic. Odds are you'll be too busy reveling in your sea view—all guest rooms boast panoramas from their sheltered patios—to care (888-328-8301; www.horizonguesthouse.com; doubles, $250, with a two-night minimum; wheelchair-accessible; nature; swimming; view).

KAUAI

Gloria's Spouting Horn Bed and Breakfast, Poipu
Number of accommodations: 3
Poipu, on Kauai's south shore, has superb beaches. But if you didn't know better, you might think it offered nothing more in the way of accommodations than a phalanx of gargantuan hotel and condo complexes. Enter Gloria's Spouting Horn. A split-level cedar-and-glass structure with a Polynesian longhouse-style roof, it is hidden in plain sight—on a mostly residential block, fronting a rocky cove and down the road from its namesake lava tube. After Hurricane Iniki wiped out the original inn in 1992, owners Gloria and Bob Merkle rebuilt it, making sure no two (of the three) guest rooms shared a common wall and giving each a private bath, a balcony, and unimpeded views of the Pacific. The furnishings, comfortable and unpretentious, wouldn't look out of place in any of the neighboring private homes, except perhaps for those in the Love Nest, with its bed canopy of tangled willow branches. Outside, a small lap pool perches just above tidal pools. Feeling especially energetic? Snorkel amid sea turtles, monk seals, and small octopuses, or walk the half-mile to the 100-acre Allerton Garden, site of Queen Emma's nineteenth-century summer cottage and now part of the National Tropical Botanical Garden (808-742-6995; www.gloriasbedandbreakfast.com; doubles, $325, with a three-night minimum; beach; housekeeping; nature; room service; swimming; view).