Sheraton Expo Hawaii Living and Design

Seemed like a good place to explore yesterday was the Sheraton Expo Hawaii Island Living and Design, sponsored by the Kona Kahala Chamber of Commerce. The Sheraton Kona Resort and Spa is located in Keauhou Bay, which is about 10 minutes down the Queen K from Kona. I have never stayed at this resort, not like almost every other resort up the northern coast. It’s a bit isolated, there is no direct beach, and Sheraton is not in my top list for hotels.

Well, smack my snobby face, this is a rather nice hotel. Instead of walking directly into the Sheraton expo by going up the driveway, my friend and I walked around the entire resort.

Altogether, there were probably 50+ vendors at this small space. Fortunately, I am finished with our Kona kitchen remodel. But my friend is planning to remodel her kitchen, and she is inspired by the blue cabinets in the Great British Baking Show.

We found cabinet makers at the show, but they seemed to be reps for a product line and did not have an office yet. Although, not everybody needs an office, I would hate to see my friend get involved with a vendor who works out of a storage unit, like I started with. But they seemed OK, and she might end up ordering cabinets from them.

They say she can pick any Sherwin Williams paint color and they will paint the cabinets. The warranty, though, on that paint job, is an unknown at this point. What bugged me a bit was the reps were so salesman-y. Apologizing for doing this or saying that, humbling themselves before us. Ick! That kind of behavior always makes me wonder why can’t they just talk to us like regular human beings? Don’t employ such obvious sales talk. You can sell without a script, and I would certainly know that as a Sacramento Realtor who believes in letting my authenticity be my guide.

This display won “Best in Show” at the Sheraton Expo. I’m not sure what you get for winning an award. Probably your name in the West Hawaii Today, alongside a photograph of the owner holding that coveted ribbon.

We stopped to talk with these guys, too. They have a Kona office but work out of Hilo, Honsador Building Products. When I asked if they could give me a price for two French doors with louvers to replace icky bypass doors on our hall closet, they said sure, it would be about $500. Usually you don’t hear that kind of direct answer at an Expo.

What a view, yes? This is Ray’s on the Bay, a restaurant and cocktail lounge in the Sheraton. I don’t know why I’ve never gone here for dinner, again, probably due to my preconceived idea of the Sheraton brand, but this place is lovely. You don’t get much closer to the ocean and, with tourism down in Kona, probably not too difficult to get a reservation.

All it takes is one lousy little exploding volcano and tourists back off. Our air is so clean, and the volcano is no longer erupting. Kona is too far away from Kilauea to worry about hot lava, but vog was a concern earlier this spring and summer. However, there are so many sales promotions now, it’s a really good time to visit Kailua-Kona!

Ah, I have saved the best photo for last. This is a photo of Keauhou Bay. Way to the right, inside the calmer waters of the bay, is where I first tried out my Lahui Kai paddle board. There is talk now of re-doing Keauhou Bay, and that would be such a shame. It has retained its wild and pristine force in nature for so long, one of the last places like it. It doesn’t seem pono to disturb the setting when there is nothing wrong with it.