What drew me initially to this airbnb was the price. It is substantially cheaper than most places on the big island. It is also on the more real-people and poor East side of the island, as opposed to the tourist-centered and wealthier West side of the island. Ginger and Patrick are very nice people, and they will be in the house with you most likely. This room is nice, with good water pressure for showering and good hot water.
There are some things people need to understand about this place though, that have led to some of the past negative reviews, in my opinion, unjustifiably. This is not a hotel. It is a finished room upstairs in a house that is itself not finished. Because the room is surrounded by rain forest, you will be hearing loud frogs peeping all night, which we liked, since we love Nature, but some people might not. Ginger provides earplugs if the frogs are too loud for you. The kitchen is not in the house, but under the house, on gravel, with a gas stove and a fridge. So even though the room and shower are nice, you have to be prepared for roughing it in terms of cooking a bit, and understand that the rest of the house has exposed plywood etc... it is a work in progress, but might be more done when you get there. If you think of this as glamping and not a hotel or a fancy house, you will not be disappointed. Most importantly, the house has a good roof and is water proof, which is important in this part of the island where it rains almost every day, a lot, at least in December, when we were there. Since it rains so much, the whole region is damp even when it is not raining, but if your clothes or sheets feel damp, you can just put them in Ginger's dryer and washing machine, also downstairs next to the outdoors kitchen. My two daughters and I stayed in Ginger's room for 25 nights, and used it as our base to explore the whole island. My kids slept together in the big bed, and I slept on the small bed. We slept well, with the screened windows open, listening to the frogs and the rain. You will definitely need a car to get here, and will want one anyway, to explore the island. This place is several miles south of Pahoa, which is about 15 minutes away, and about 40 minutes from Hilo. There are lots of beautiful places to go locally, and on the whole island. We basically drove around and had adventures all day and only slept at Gingers each night. We slept well and had a nice time.
Here is a ranking of the best adventures we had locally, near Pahoa: Walking the Puna trail at the end of Kaloli drive to Haeni beach, especially if you go along the shore, though the trail is nice too; going to the Wed. night Luao at the end of route 130 (actually get there onto 137 and turn right)--lots of local crafts for sale and great music; going to the nearby black sand beach on 137 (turn left from 130 and go for a few miles)-- it has a drumming circle full of high and often naked hippies on Sundays; the Kaumana caves, the Botanical gardens were nice but overpriced, and you can see plants that are as beautiful at beautiful Akaka Falls north of Hilo; and finally, for local things, the waterfalls at Narnia were very beautiful, but dangerous to get to (Park near corner of Waianuenue Ave. and Akolea Road, head uphill, take first left, then walk a mile, and turn a hard right right after the second circular giant water tank). Now, at other places on the island, here are some great things we did: Manta Ray snorkeling with Hawaiian Coastline Adventures (make sure to get the discounted voucher from Livingsocial.com); drive up Moana Kea or hike it (need 4wd) which is much better than Moana Loa; snorkeling at Two-step near Captain Cook; Waipio beach is beautiful but is a hike; Pololu beach is as pretty, but an easier hike; and for playing in the waves, the best beach is just north of Kona airport- when you are on route 19, just between highway miles 88 and 89, is a road that cuts down to the best beach, with great waves and white sand; Green sand beach at the southern tip of the island is so-so as a beach, but the walk there was pretty. Then, walking the crater in the National Park near Volcano is a hit with kids.
Oh, there are two nice dogs who live there, outside. One is a very old lab named Hapa, and the other is a shy puppy named Happy. They are nice dogs and like to be petted. Of course, they might beg a bit when you are cooking downstairs.
In a nutshell, if you want to save money, and don't mind roughing it a bit, and don't mind being on the rainy side of the island, with its lush rainforest and loud frogs, this is a wonderful place. It makes for a good base of operations and adventures, but is not a place like a resort, where you would want to hang out all day doing nothing. We hope to stay there again someday. Thanks Ginger and Patrick, for your friendly hospitality.