This rental was both utterly magical and wonderful but it also had some snags. First the magical stuff. The condo literally sits right on the ocean and we spent so much time sitting out on the lanai looking at the waves and sky and watching the majestic and fiery sunsets. The sound of the waves crashing on the lava rocks and the sight of the beautiful sky were highlights of our stay. The swimming pool right outside the front door is a nice addition as well. We also saved a lot of money on restaurants because we just didn’t want to eat anywhere else other than that lanai with the beautiful view! It is also very conveniently located to a LOT of great adventures and restaurants. The unit was quiet and peaceful. Altogether a fun and memorable experience!
And the snags... I tried to reserve this condo for three days during my trip and my request was accepted. When I saw that it was accepted I rented another unit for the other days during my trip to have a little variety.That request was accepted as well. But then I heard back from Kathie that although it was accepted she was going to cancel it because embedded in the house rules that said that we needed to reserve it for six days straight because of the holidays. So I canceled the other reservation and they gave me a full refund but Airbnb kept their fee so I lost some money there. I just wish that she had told me that I needed to rent it for longer before accepting my request for rental. Also, when we arrived we were never given instructions on how to enter the unit. Something just fell through and that email was never sent so we arrived after 11 hours of traveling and we could not get in the front door. We tried calling Kathie and every single person on the list of contacts that she listed in the house manual but it was Christmas day and people were not answering the phone. Finally her old house cleaner answered and gave us the code. We finally got in only to find that the unit had not been cleaned (not that it had been cleaned poorly but that it had not even been touched since the last people left). A mistake on somebody’s part. So I had to clean the toilet and all the surfaces with antiseptic wipes (COVID times). Kathie did reimburse us the amount of the Hawaiian tax fee because she felt horrible that it hadn’t been cleaned. She was also very kind and set us up with lots of recommendations for our trip. She stayed up late to make sure the cleaning would be taken care of the next day. She did find someone to come over and change the sheets that night while we sat and waited but it was not actually cleaned until the next day.
Also, I have to say that the photos made it look a bit better than it actually was. Except for the outside. The beach right outside the front door was amazing.
And another thing to note is that there were no beach towels. Pack your own.
But despite the rocky start it ended up being awesome and I’m glad we stayed there. In the end the stuff we loved about the rental outweighed the rocky start.