Ciro provided a spacious, convenient place in a lush setting that worked well for our trip with two couples. This unit is the downstairs unit, Welcome to the Jungle II, of a duplex. (The upstairs unit, Welcome to the Jungle, has been on AirBnB longer and has more reviews.)
The location worked well for us. It is within easy range of Hawaii Volcanos National Park, Hilo, and beaches in the Puna region. It’s also 45 minutes from Akaka Falls. There is a market about 10 minutes away in Kurtistown, and restaurants 10 minutes away in the fun small town of Pahoa (don’t miss Pele’s Kitchen, which was fabulous) or 20-30 minutes away in Hilo (depending on traffic). There was also sometimes fresh ahi for sale from a truck down Paradise Street or on Hawaii 130. There's a lovely farm stand on 130 just a few minutes away, though hours seemed to vary.
The place is quite large, with two ample bedrooms with queen sized beds and a large open kitchen/dining/living room area, along with a small bathroom. (One of the bedrooms could only be accessed by going through the bathroom or the other bedroom, which was a bit inconvenient.) The kitchen had the basics, and Ciro came through quickly when we asked for a couple of things. It is an older unit only partially fixed up, and that showed in places (the shower could use a re-do, as one reviewer noted, though the water worked fine). But it was clean and a good value for the money. There is a washer and dryer in the unit, which worked fine except that the dryer squeaked loudly until it warmed up.
It was nice and breezy with the windows/doors open (there are good screens). There were fans in every room. We had no problem with bugs other than the inevitable tiny ants if you leave the smallest crumbs out or even water spilled in the kitchen. (We found those ants in other AirBnBs as well; unless you are in a sterile, sealed off hotel, they are hard to avoid.) There is a nice lanai under the deck of the upper unit and a smaller patio off to the side.
The unit is surrounded by a lush canopy of trees and bushes, some flowering, and the sound of coqui frogs at night really did make you feel like you were in the jungle. It is in a neighborhood but the lots are fairly fair apart. We felt very safe there.
The beds were quite comfortable. We did hear the upstairs guest walking around if they were up later than we did, and at times the water pump was jarring when it kicked on briefly.
If you don’t need the two queen beds, you might try to get the upper unit (which has one queen and one room with two twins), as it has a nicer deck and won’t have the upstairs noise.
There are no beaches close by. You can get to the rocky coast 10 minutes down the road, but the better beaches are at Richardsons (great snorkeling) or other Hilo beachs, 30 minutes away. In the other direction, we also loved Kehena (small black sand beach under a cliff) and Punalu’u (the best place to see sea turtles), further away around the Puna coast.
Ciro provided a nice list of recommended beaches, restaurants and other services, and was quickly responsive whenever we reached out for something.