Michelle's place was perfect for what we needed - a great place to rest up from hiking around volcanoes and exploring Hilo! It's a nice midpoint with a large comfy bed and good shower. Everything we needed was provided and then some, including beach towels and a cooler. The unit was really clean with great toiletries provided and kept pretty cool during the day. There's a supplemental $5/day AC charge, which was worth it for the recovery sleep we needed after hiking around all day! You may see a gecko friend inside, but they help control the bugs, so we were fine with that.
The outdoor kitchenette was a little surprise (guess we didn't look closely enough at the photos!), but it makes a lot of sense for pest control. The whole unit was clean in a very pest-prone climate and I'm sure the outdoor kitchen helps with that! We mostly used the kitchenette for storing food (there's a bin provided for dry good storage inside the unit) and quick food prep before the day began. Everything worked well and was right outside the door on the patio.
Michelle is super responsive and helpful. She's got great recommendations of places to stop by across the island :) She also shared some bananas and papayas that they grew on their property that were delicious! And we got to meet her cute dogs. We wish we'd had more time to hang out and enjoy Michelle's beautiful home and lovely company. We were on the road a lot to make the most of our trip, but recommend taking some down time to hang out in the hammock on the backyard or to head to the beach that's close to the house.
Thanks for being a great host, Michelle! Unit the next time :)