Bob is a fantastic host and his place is amazing. We went in with high expectations and everything was even better than we expected. The home was beautiful and very clean. We stayed there while I attended a conference at the Fairmont Orchid hotel and a few days beyond the conference on a combined conference/vacation trip.
First off, the location is very quiet and safe within a gated neighborhood of the Muana Lani Resort. This resort consists of an outdoor dining/shopping area with grocery store, a beach club, the main Muana Lani resort, the Fairmont Orchid hotel, a gated community of homes [where we stayed], and a Petroglyphs area along the beach. The home is walking distance to the Fairmont Orchid [~0.9 mile walk along the shoulder of a 25 MPH resort road that a number of people use for walking and jogging], though my husband kindly dropped me off most days. Bob also offered to let me use one of his bicycles, which would have made it very fast.
Within then neighborhood, Bob is very close to the neighborhood pool/hot tub and the shopping/dining area. We actually parked at the pool because it was so close to Bob's house. Also, we walked to the grocery store and dining area almost every time we went because the plaza was also incredible close. At the plaza, we frequented a sushi place twice and went to Chris Ruth's once for happy hour (5-7pm). We also bought flippers from a surf shop in the plaza and briefly stopped in the comedy club; if we had stayed longer, we would have caught a show at Kozy's Comedy Club [which is a BYOB club] because we really enjoyed our brief conversation with Kozy. The grocery store was a huge money saver; we bought Poki bowls on 3 occasions from their fish department and also cooked a few meals at Bob's house. We also saved money on breakfast, as Bob provided an assortment of muffins, croissants, bagels, cereal, juice, and make-your-own-eggs.
Since the island is so beautiful, we extended our stay beyond the conference to enjoy other aspects of the island. I highly recommend Hapuna beach for boogie boarding; it was only a 12 minute drive and parking was only $5. The waves were perfect for boogie boarding and the park was very nice. Bob let us use his boogie boards, beach chairs, and beach umbrellas, which were perfect for the beach. It was so good that we went there 4 times. My husband took a 2 hour surf lesson through Kona Town Surf Adventures (about an hour south), which he also booked via AirBNB and enjoyed. We took a self-directed tour of the island on our drive to the Volcano National Park, which was a little under 2 hours away; we took a slightly longer route coming back so that we could see the south part of the island. I also recommend Hawaiian Style Cafe (30 min away and well worth the drive) and Hale I'a Da Fish House if you want to buy raw, fresh fish to cook. If you happen to be a Costco member, it has one of the closest gas stations to the Kona airport; just be aware that they do lock down the parking lot after Costco closes.
Bob was a very accommodating host. He offered many solid recommendations for places to visit, was very accommodating when we cooked, he showed us how to prepare some delicious Pina Coladas, and he went of his way to make sure that we had a great visit! We hope to return sometime!