The house was nicely appointed and a good location as mentioned by previous reviewers. There were several things that would have been minor annoyances during regular times but were a challenge during COVID. Mostly, it was the lack of response from the owner that was super frustrating, especially since she mentions that she "is one of the only real estate agents who still answers the phone" in her bio.
Wifi: One of the reasons we booked this location was the mention of high-quality wifi. As a business owner, I knew I would have to remote in a couple of times with clients during our stay and current COVID mandates in HI didn't allow for using wifi in places such as coffee houses or libraries. When we arrived, there were two wifi networks listed on the wall with the respective passwords however, neither of those networks showed up on our devices. I reset the router but the networks still didn't show up. I texted a pic of the networks asking the host for some help. At this point, a quick text to let us know that it was a new network, the network name, and where to find the password would have saved several days of aggravation. No response from the host. What we finally figured out is that the network had not been renamed after installation and still said "setup." We also tried using the "connect to network" feature in the Airbnb listing and got an message saying that the network had not been setup correctly. I requested help from the host several times with no response.
Lack of Supplies: The amount of paper and personal supplies were not sufficient for the number of people and the amount of time we were staying, which was 4 adults for 8 days/7 nights. Each bathroom only had one extra roll of toilet paper and there was a partial roll of paper towels in the kitchen. There wasn't any hand soap in the downstairs bathroom and none of the bathrooms had shampoo, which was listed as an amenity. In the laundry only a couple of detergent packs and 3 dryer sheets were available. There were large signs advising that if we got into the supply closests to restock, we would be fined. A message to the host to ask about supplies went unanswered. We had packed according to the amenities in the listing and it was frustrating to have to run to the store for stuff that should have been included.
Broken items: When we arrived, there was a broken dresser knob and part of a door opener on the dresser in the downstairs bedroom. The fan in that room only worked on high speed and it knocked against the ceiling at that speed, which seemed unstable so we weren't able to use it. The lid of the "step-on" trash in the kitchen was broken and we tried many times to fix it. We couldn't leave the lid completely off because of the bugs and the lid fits so tight, we had to pry it open with our fingers to throw stuff away, which was kind of gross.
No extra keys that worked: There was a basket of "extra" keys with a large sign saying that if we lost any, it would be a $75 charge. What we discovered is that none of the extra keys actually worked in the door and thus the front gate. When our party would split up, we had to juggle who had the one house key to make sure no one got locked out. This also caused some headaches as the pedestrian gates require a key to leave the property as well as enter. Several of our members had to rely on other guests to let them out the gates.
No printed versions of house rules: This is the first Airbnb that we've stayed at that didn't have a printed version of the rules and helpful information. In the situation where we were having trouble connecting to the wifi, referencing the Airbnb listing was sometimes challenging. It also made it difficult for our party members who did not use smartphones. There weren't any checkout guidelines in the listing so we just did a best guess of what we should do when we left.
It was a frustrating experience and having paid $2,500 for the stay, it felt like there should have been enough supplies, and the host should have responded to messages. In short, we felt unwelcome.