Banyan Tree Guest House is located at 1100' on the western slope of Hualalai volcano on the Big Island of Hawaii. Although tucked away, Banyan Tree's location also offers easy access to the Mamalahoa Highway, which takes you to the South beaches, up North to Waimea, towards the Saddle Road from where you reach the volcanic mountains of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa or even to the Eastside of the Big Island towards Hilo.
There are over 30 different varieties of fruit, that range from avocados, bananas, mangoes and papayas, to exotics like black sapote, rollinia, surinam cherry and cacao on this beautiful Kailua-Kona property. We encourage our guests to take full advantage of the seasonal fruits we offer in the shared kitchen.
The whole property is overlooked by a majestic banyan tree which not only gave the property its name but also represents its vibrancy and calming effect. The tone for your experience is set with the sign "Place of Meditation," seen as you enter the property. All the partners meditate regularly, and follow the path of Ahimsa – do no harm. There is a saltwater chlorine-free pool, Jacuzzi, and an infrared sauna for all the guests to enjoy.
Banyan Tree Guest House has three partners and stewards of the land; Maggie Dancer, Benjamynn Marantz, and Rae H George. They have created a holistic and sustainable model of living harmoniously with the Earth, with a very light carbon footprint, and giving back as much as possible to the 'aina. They've incorporated composting, catchment, use of recycled materials, solar power, and of course recycling and reusing as many items as they can. The owners are primarily plant-based and ask all guests to adopt a mostly plant-based diet during their stay. Many guests have been so moved by their experience and the love and care that they receive, that they have become vegan!
Banyan Tree Guest House is a place to rediscover your joy, bliss, and inner sanctuary.
About Your Hosts
Maggie Dancer
Temple/Room Keeper
At a young age, Maggie Dancer embraced her knowingness of her sacred touch as she assisted her father in his recovery from a back injury. As an adult she became a certified massage therapist in California and went on to study Thai, Acupressure, Shiatsu, Lomi -Lomi, Jin Shin Jyutsu and AcroSage.
Growing up on a small farm in Virginia in a family of eight, she was given the gift of understanding what community is all about. She brings to Banyan Tree Guest House the true meaning of "Southern Hospitality", blended with the "Spirit of Aloha."
As you might imagine, Maggie grew up with a strong foundation in the Baptist faith. In her early thirties she began her journey to expand her 'remembering' about Spirituality. In the last thirty years, she has been guided to explore extensively the Unity Church, the Rosicrucians, Science of Spirituality, Self Realization Fellowship and Tibetan Buddhism.
Understanding the value of keeping her body temple physically fit and healthy, she has engaged in softball, basketball, golf, and long distance running, completing three marathons. She studied with Yogi Bhajan as a Kundalini Yoga instructor.
She has co-facilitated women's' empowerment workshops and AcroSage workshops. She is intensely (Scorpio) passionate about all relationships, sexuality, spirituality, ritual, ceremony, being in nature, dancing, diet and chanting words of truth.
She has three sisters residing in Virginia and a beautiful son Sean, daughter-in-love, Teresita, and two precious grandchildren, Russell and Eva, making their home in Santa Rosa, California.
Benjamynn
Landscape & Maintenance
Benjamynn's major accomplishment in life has been in the creation of the AcroSage technique, internationally recognized as a leading modality in the field of inversion therapy. AcroSage After a back injury in 1985, while competing with the Waikiki acrobatic troupe, he discovered that applying massage techniques with simple inverted acrobatic positions worked wonders for relieving spinal injuries. He has been practicing, teaching and organizing AcroSage workshops worldwide since 1989. His background in circus arts, competitive acrobatics and massage have evolved into what is known today as AcroSage. He has students across the U.S., Canada, Germany, Italy, Sweden, England, New Zealand, Bali & Japan. Many offshoots of AcroSage have evolved as a result of Benjamynn's teachings, including, 'AcroYoga', 'Tula Yoga', 'Body Mudras', 'Elevated Yoga' and the established 'European School of Inversion Therapy'.
In 2002 Benjamynn took a break from teaching and traveling and 'rooted' himself in Kailua Kona, establishing the Banyan Tree Sanctuary as an organic farm and place for meditation. For the past 15 years he has focused on learning sustainable living techniques and organic farming skills.
His current passion is as a songwriter and guitar player.
Benjamynn's career began in his teens as an apprentice at the PAF Playhouse (The Performing Arts Foundation in Huntington N.Y. founded by his father Clint Marantz) He later went on to study mime with the renowned mimist, Tony Montanaro, at the Celebration Mime Theatre in South Paris, Maine. There, he also began his circus arts training under Bob Berky and Fred Garbo (former teacher with the Ringling Brothers' Circus). For the next 25 years Benjamynn toured with different partners, performing vaudeville comedy from European cabarets to world class expos. In 1984 he began training with the Waikiki Acrobatic Troupe in Honolulu and in 1984 & 85 he won 2 gold, 2 silver and a bronze medal at the U.S. National Sports Acrobatic Competitions in Honolulu & New Orleans. It was with the W.A.T. that his knowledge and expertise of acrobatics flourished with the eventual birthing of the AcroSage Technique. In 1987 he and 12 other circus arts 'comrades' established Hawaii's Volcano Circus and BellyAcres, a 10 acre non-profit circus artists' community, in Puna on the Big Island of Hawaii. (Still active today with 33 members and a community performing arts center called S.P.A.C.E. )
Rae
Business Manager
Rae is the business manager at Banyan Tree Guesthouse. He has held that position for over eleven years, and is very proud to have been a part of the creation of what Banyan Tree Guesthouse is today. He was able to combine a career that spanned almost 30 years in sales and marketing, as well as a crash course in hotel management, about 12 years ago, to marry his skillset with the other gifts that Benjamin and Maggie brought to the table.
In a former life, he was a deep tissue massage therapist, and started his practice in 1983, certified at the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, CA. He will still do an occasional hot stone massage, but he has retired from this role. One of his greatest passions is helping to develop the Uganda Dream School and Nursery in Kasenge, Uganda, which he has been personally involved with for over thirteen years and is now the acting director.
Other than continuing to make Banyan Tree Guesthouse the very best vacation destination on the Big Island that he can, with the continual support of his other partners, he loves gardening, landscaping and woodworking. He also loves to prepare and cook vegan cuisine.
