Oh boy, where to begin. First, I'm not sure what was recently "upgraded" except maybe the futon?? Our first night of a 31 night stay, we found we had an ant infestation in the bathroom. Although Kristina responded immediately and offered bait and sprays, it wasn't under control until after an exterminator sprayed thirteen days later. (I found old bait stations in kitchen cabinetry, so I'm guessing it's an on-going issue.)
The place was dusty/grimy dirty from top to bottom except for the higher traffic areas and had a mildew smell as a whole, especially in all of the very old and dated cabinetry. I doubt furniture has been moved or areas cleaned thoroughly for many, many months given the build up. This includes all fans (ceiling, vent and free standing.) I cleaned mold out of the shower stall at the end of week one and again at the end of week three because my cleaning apparently lasted longer. There are permanent "mold stains" in the grout. I decided to leave the mold growing in the crevices of the rubber strip around the refrigerator and freezer. There were no cleaning supplies in the apartment, although, I did later find a few things in the laundry room.
The kitchenette had chipped, cracked and generally "nasty" dishware and contents. I had to thoroughly clean anything I decided to use upon arrival, especially cookware, and settled on using the best of what was available, which wasn't much. I had to ask for a liquid measuring cup. The two hot plates worked marginally well, but are well used. We had to unplug the microwave to use the hotplate on the left side of the kitchen, which was the larger countertop area, because one plug was taped over with a note not to use it. The outlet on the right side had both plugs available. We didn't touch the very dirty toaster oven sitting on top of the refrigerator and there were no cooking implements to put into it anyway. The two slice toaster would fail to brown, brown, or burn bread depending upon the day. Some of the glassware appeared relatively new, as did two large soup/salad bowls. It should speak volumes that I point those out as a bright spot!
There is a foam topper that is the wrong size for the king bed in the bedroom and as a result, the blue (not white, so never bleached) sheets, are ill-fitting and kept coming off. We both developed an apparent heat rash, which we believe may have been a result of the topper because we had been on the island for three weeks prior to staying here and had no issue with the high humidity.
Overall, I would call this a poorly maintained and severely neglected accommodation. I would NOT describe this as being located in a quiet neighborhood. Maybe there are times in the year when it is, but I honestly have no idea how. Because of the louver glass windows, you do not have much of a barrier to outside noise and disturbances. The holidays were particularly noisy and the fireworks and carrying on of the neighbors over New Year's Eve with a final volley of fireworks at 5am was less than great.
Aside from that, the location was good for catching the bus just a couple blocks away. It is located centrally to have a short walk to Kailua Town one way and Kailua Beach the other way. We walk a lot and don't mind going a few miles each way to get somewhere, so for us, getting to Lanikai Beach and various hiking options was also great.
I never received a response through AirBnB from Kristina or Brandyn when I asked a question or tried to connect; however, when I called the number listed, I always got Kristina and she gave me her cell number. After that, texting was answered promptly and she followed up initially after the ant issue to find out if the bait and spray was helping. One other renter told me she had ants and bugs in her accommodation as well and washed her bedsheets upon arrival because they did not smell clean. She also did not have a well appointed kitchen area.
So, the bottom line is if the only thing you care about is the location, this may be the perfect place for you. If you have any expectations at all about cleanliness or quality, this is not the place for you. Go somewhere else. If we return, we definitely will NOT rent anything from them again. I'm shocked that there were no recent reviews that described the state of this location. I can only assume that because Kristina is nice that no one wanted to say anything negative. We travel a lot and I feel compelled to say something and hope that issues are addressed or expectations lowered for potential renters.