Overall, this place is amazing! We spent Thanksgiving week there with our extended family (total of 10 people: 5 adults, 5 kids). Hector & Ginger are a wonderful host couple who live just down the street. They welcomed us and even provided a case of bottled water to get us started, plus some cute Hawaiian gifts for us to remind us of our trip to the island.
What you are paying for is a wonderful large house, with unbeatable views of the ocean. Private large yard with long driveway away from the road (which isn't busy anyway, this area of Waialua on the north shore is wonderful and very quiet), beach and ocean access for swimming, snorkeling just steps from the house. We loved sitting on the 2nd floor lanai with our fresh pineapple and other tropical fruits (from local farmer's market) and watching the kids play on the beach or swim in the ocean or in the pool.
You can beat falling asleep to the sound of the waves crashing on the beach, or waking up to the beautiful sunrise through the coconut palm trees beaming in the windows and feeling the tropical ocean breeze blow in the windows. Yes, even in winter it is warm in the evenings so the windows stayed open and ceiling fans on. We loved the layout of the house and all of us had our own space if needing privacy. The media room was a nice touch for watching some late night movies with the kids. The beds were comfy and enough bathrooms for all of us to have our area. The vaulted ceilings are wonderful as well. Oh and having an extra washer and dryer and extra frig downstairs was a plus.
We had a few small issues come up, but Hector and Ginger were always available and quickly took care of all the minor issues.
Some fun additions were a few tiki torches to add to our evening BBQ dinners by the outdoor eating area by the pool. The 6 new lounge chairs by the pool plus the ones looking towards the beach always were being used. My favorite spot was on the 2nd-floor lanai outdoor couch, eating my breakfast or taking an afternoon or sunset nap.
Like I said the location was perfect for us, as we spent most of our days around the north shore. Close enough to all the activities we wanted: Snorkeling at Shark's Cove, watching the sunset at the famous Sunset Beach crooked palm tree, having a Dream bowl at the Sunrise Shack, horseback riding on the beach at the nearby Polo club, visiting the Polynesian Cultural Center, eating from shrimp trucks (Try Jenny's and avoid the busy lines at the others), eating shave ice at Matsumoto's or a pineapple whip at the Dole Plantation.
We are already missing our little slice of tropical paradise there. But dreaming of returning someday in the future. Thanks for the memories!