Richard greeted me at the agreed-upon time, welcomed me to the apartment, and gave me a little tour of the premises. He made me feel very at ease, and repeatedly mentioned that he was there if I needed anything at all, but otherwise let me do my own thing. I was traveling solo and the apartment felt like a light, airy escape -- I suspect it'd have felt the same even if I were with one other person -- and pretty perfectly matched the listing. Two lanais (one with midday sun if you want to lay out), lots of natural light, and an ocean view from above -- it was a great place to spend my Hawaiian vacation.

The neighborhood was perfect. I'm used to walking, since I live in New York, and pretty much all of Waikiki is accessible via walking. I was able to walk all the way to the top of Diamond Head and make it back in time for lunch one morning. Being a tourist destination, Waikiki was lively in the evenings, but it was because of all the great restaurants and bars in the area. The beach was only a few blocks away and surprisingly less crowded than I had expected.

Richard was helpful when it came to small details such as bag storage the day I left, basic transportation around the island, and other recommendations. He definitely facilitated the whole experience without being intrusive. If I come back to Oahu anytime soon I'll definitely be looking up his properties again!