Kristie's place was amazing!!! It was as idyllic and picturesque as portrayed. When arriving, be sure to follow Kristie's directions instead of google maps. GM will take you down another street, and you'll end up in the jungle, so follow what she says. Check-in was super easy and straightforward. The place itself was absolutely beautiful! Kristie did such an amazing job building and decorating it!The whole place is sustainable meaning it uses solar power and rain water, which is wonderful. She also provided recommendations for places nearby, which we found really helpful. Her place is about a 20-30 minute drive to downtown Hilo, but it's an incredibly easy drive, so her place felt much more centrally located than it may seem. We did it everyday with no issue.
Few things to note. There is no Wifi, but Kristie provides a cool gramaphone to play if you want. You are in the middle of the jungle, so at night it can get dark. Kristie had solar lights lining the path to the treehouse, but they didn't work when we were there, so we had to use the flashlights on our phones to get to the house when we returned at night. Because it uses solar energy, you really should turn off the lights when you leave or it will run out. However, she does provide a generator that you can use in that instance. There is hot water, but it takes a while to get it going. I ended up showering first and took "pretty warm" showers, but not hot. However, my boyfriend, who always showered second had a fairly hot shower, so I don't think I let it run long enough. You can take long hot showers though. The hot water didn't run out once it got going!
The shower has panels that you can open to feel like it's an outdoor shower, but they don't seal closed all the way, and the bathroom has an open panel above the door. So be aware that bugs and weather elements can get in. We went in the rainy season, and sometimes our towels would be even more wet than when we left. Still the rest of the house didn't feel too humid even though it rained almost the whole time we were there. It was cold, so we didn't experience bugs, but you are in the jungle, so mosquitoes will likely be around. Lastly, you are surrounded by just trees. It can get very dark at night, which could be a good thing! We got a bit scared because there was no moonlight either, but we loved staying there. In case you're wondering the tree house is secure. You can lock the trap door through which you enter, and you can lock one of the sliding glass doors (the other door's lock doesn't work), but you are above the ground and you should be good if you lock the trap door. Also, there are a few houses on the same road, but there really isn't anything around.
Overall, we really loved our stay at the tree house, and we definitely recommend staying here if you're visiting Hilo!!