Once you step foot into this amazing, private oasis, you won't want to leave. This is the guest cottage of an upscale home (also a vacation rental, ranked #1 by Conde Nast Traveler) in the Holualoa area of the Big Island. You access the cottage with the same driveway as the larger home, but the cottage it entirely separate and you do not even see the other home at all once within the confines of the 2 bedroom/2 bathroom cottage. The cottage is everything you want in a vacation rental—total privacy, great interior design, beautiful views, a firepit, ample outdoor seating, and a well-stocked kitchen.
A few added benefits— the property managers offer concierge services so they booked us an amazing manta ray tour where we saw numerous rays and they got within in inches of us and did flips. Totally memorable experience!! The owners provide the service (for an added fee) of stocking your kitchen with groceries of your choice for your arrival.
This property is superbly located. Note that the popular resort areas like Waikoloa and Mauni Lani are located in the northwest corner of the island that is primarily barren due to historic volcanic activity. The resorts have brought in foliage to create a tropical environment. However, once outside those resorts, you have to drive through a fair amount of barren landscape to get to some of the island's key attractions. Aolani Cottage is located in a naturally gorgeous lush foliage area of the island so you get a true natural tropical experience. It's in the heart of the coffee farm area and attractions like the Captain Cook snorkel area (the house has some snorkel equipment, but we also rented from Kona Boys which is nearby), many farmer's markets and agricultural farms (Big Island Bees is a great tour and the caramel macadamia tart is worth bringing home), and the Pu'uhonua o Honaunau National Historical Park are within 15-30 minutes. If you want to go to the restaurants in the Kailua-Kona area (a bit more touristy area), it's within 15-20 minutes away. We stayed on both sides of the island to get the best of both worlds and this was the perfect Kona-side location!!