This was my first time in the Big Island and I didn’t have a clear picture of what to expect. Hopefully my review will help those who are figuring out what to do with their stay.
- This place is in a very remote location. The closest village is 20-min drive away and Hilo is 45-min drive away. It's not bad to be away from everything, but it just means you'll have some challenges when things go wrong. The fridge was broken during our stay, and while Leith ordered a new fridge when we got there, it didn't arrive until after we left (we stayed for 9 nights). While Leith was very communicative and tried to get us ice every 2 days, it's a risk that people should be aware of.
- Wifi + cell signals: you'll most likely lose signal on the drive up to the house. AT&T works the best, followed by Verizon and T-mobile. Also note that the house wifi is very slow. Everyone had a difficult time loading any websites once we got home let alone stream anything. If you are considering working remotely, this is something that you should consider.
- Kitchen: the kitchen is more of a kitchenette - 2 electric stove + outdoor charcoal grill + toaster oven + microwave. We stayed during Thanksgiving with a plan to make a fancy Thanksgiving dinner. At the end of the day, we were able to make everything work out, but there was a lot of juggling of tasks happening. FYI. The microwave is very strong.
- Bed: I am not very sensitive to mattress firmness, but the beds here are very soft (group consensus)
- Black sand beach close by: Kehena beach is a nice little nook that you should all visit. However, the waves are pretty strong. so go in with caution. There is a Froot guy, who was the highlight for our trip.
- For divers: we found out that Hilo doesn't have great dive sites and you'd want to stay in Kona for scuba diving. Also there is no way to cross the island without going 2000ft above sea level, so we had to stay an extra night in Kona before coming over to this place. Nothing about the place, but sharing in the review so less people make the rookie mistake that I made!
Overall we had a nice time, but I don't think we'll be coming back here.