TLDR: Great location + terrible ant problems = OK stay.
Pros:
-Private entrance: the listing shows this as a "private room" and we had reservations before arrival. This was like a motel-style room with its own keylock sliding door in a quiet, safe neighborhood.
-Location: 20min south of the airport, within 10min of downtown area, and about ~1.5-2hr drive to other touristy spots around the island (Volcanoes Park, Hilo, waterfalls on the north side).
-View: the sunsets in Hawaii are so beautiful and the view from this room is magnificent. The hammock swings were my fav way to enjoy this!
-Hosts: Michael and Shawna are friendly and very responsive to our messages.
Cons:
-ANTS: The whole time we were there, ants were the biggest issue. They're super tiny and blend in with the carpet and rugs. In order to see them better, I had to turn the flashlight on my phone and crouch down, staring at the carpet. They were around the fridge, in the armoire (where mugs/keurig/microwave/kitchen stuff is stored), nightstand, the walls, and the bathroom (pretty much everywhere except the closet and bed). Shawna was responsive in placing traps and using spray, but the ants were still active, from the first to last day.
Because of the length of our stay (9 nights), we had planned on getting food to keep in the room so we weren't eating out all the time. However, with the ants, we ended up keeping all food in the mini-fridge and in the trunk of our car. The ants were not only annoying, but an extreme inconvenience as we were constantly worried about them getting into our food and personal belongings.
-Cleanliness: carpet and rug seemed like they needed a good deep cleaning. Behind and underneath the bed, there were dead bugs that looked like they'd been there for awhile...
Other notes:
-Brita filter: it was really nice to have, but it was hard to fill up in the sink, because of it's bulky size. We were able to rearrange the shelves to keep it in the fridge, but once again, with the size, it took up like half the fridge!
-TV: this is listed as an amenity, however, it was not plugged in and the power cord was hidden somewhere in the armoire.
-Bathroom: no fan. Has two windows, however when opened, anyone walking in the back can see inside. Also, the light doesn't reach the shower, so when taking showers at night, it's hard to see with the curtain drawn.
-No one was in the neighboring suite the whole time we were there, so can't speak to the noise level between the shared wall. Towards the end of our trip, I wondered why the host didn't offer the other room as a consolation to the ant issue?
This was a hard review to write, as my boyfriend and I are generally pretty easygoing and don't like to be negative. We decided to create a pros/cons list with the facts, as we felt this was something that needed to be shared, especially after staying for 9 nights.