We stayed at Craig and Tammy's place for 12 nights and there was plenty of space for our family of five. The photos made the condo look smaller and darker than it actually is. We were surprised at how efficient the layout of the apartment was. Here are the things we loved:
- walking distance to the beach where you can snorkel with turtles
- community pool and hot tub
- condo looks updated, with nice bathrooms/kitchen
- complimentary beach essentials
- comfortable beds and two bathrooms
- AC and fans
- TVs in both bedrooms plus in the living room
A few negatives:
- there is major construction going on right next door. Looks like they are building either a hotel or another condominium. We weren't aware of that when we booked, so every morning (at 6 or so AM, we would wake up from the sound of loud machinery). I wish it was disclosed to us in advance. Usually the rates are lower if there is construction at or near the rental because of inconvenience.
- the very next day after our arrival, the same construction apparently broke some water pipes for the whole complex where we stayed and we were left without any water till late afternoon.
- the master bedroom has only one window, which faces the staircase, which is often travelled by families with excited kids super early in the mornings, like 5-6am. This unfortunately prevented us from sleeping in on any of the days we stayed.
- while the listing mentions that it provides essentials, such as soap and shampoo, those essentials are toy-sized, so plan on buying your own upon arrival unless the previous guests left some behind. Also, I recommend packing your own spices with you, since there was no salt even at the condo.
- check-out times are super early (10am) and check-in time is super late (4pm). We were lucky that the hosts let us check in a bit earlier (at 2pm).
- while there were many complimentary items in the condo, a lot of them seemed old, broken, or missing pieces. E.g. the board games had seen better days, the beach umbrella angling mechanism was broken and had a missing sharp end to insert it in the sand, the main TV remote was broken (we let the host know, so hopefully that will be replaced soon for future guests), many provided flippers, masks and snorkeling gear were broken or missing a pair.
- there were some small ants in the kitchen, so make sure to always hide your food and don't leave anything on the counters. I think the insects are kind of common in Hawaii though, so we were not too bothered by them.