I just can't say enough positive things about staying at Dawn's property in Kona or about Dawn herself as a host. Even before we arrived she sent us a huge list of recommendations on food, experiences, etc that were immensely helpful when we were planning our trip. Her communication was extremely prompt, incredibly clear, friendly, and helpful.
There were wonderful touches all over the apartment when we arrived: flowers accenting every corner of the room, chocolates and a personalized note for us, and she quickly dropped by to introduce herself, give us even more incredible recommendations based on our interests and to let us know she was nearby if we needed her for anything (side note, one morning we woke to find she had left us two beautiful papayas on our door for us to enjoy). She anticipated our needs completely and had wonderful amenities at our disposal (beach umbrella, new beach chairs, a cooler, boogie boards) not to mention beach towels and a ton of the softest bath towels we've ever used. In terms of cleanliness, everything was spotless.
We enjoyed just how private the balcony felt and noticed that the property as a whole was much more quiet than we had anticipated, which was wonderful. You never know when visiting a new community, especially one with such a lovely pool/hot tub right next to the beach, if it's going to be loud and overrun with people, but at least during our stay in early June that wasn't the case at all. The property as a whole felt very peaceful and that it attracted people who respected it and the other people who were staying there. We also loved that the property felt like older Hawaii (tons of character) but that it had been shown a lot of love and care over the years so that it still felt clean and beautiful. Really the best of both worlds.
You're right in the heart of Kona here, it honestly couldn't be in a better location. One block from the beach and you can easily walk everywhere. There are two parking lots for the building and two more on the main street in front of the property. Usually we had zero issue finding a spot but when we came home later in the day it was a bit harder. Even if all of the lots are filled, there is another lot you can park in overnight just two or three blocks away and again, because it's right in the hart of town and on the beach the walk back to the property is safe, well lit, and truly lovely. Also one or two blocks from the wonderful farmers market where we bought all of our fruit (the overflow lot I was just mentioning is the lot for the farmers market).
If we every return to Kona this is the only property at which we'll want to stay and Dawn is the first person we're contacting to host us - fingers crossed she'll have a property available! If you couldn't already tell, we really loved our experience and couldn't recommend Dawn or her properties any more highly.