When booking to stay at Denise’s property, I completely understood that it was a room with separate entrance in her home. We were on a budget for Hawaii so this seemed like the more affordable way to stay in Maui. Denise was very kind. She answered any questions we had and checking in was a breeze. She even arranged for us to check in a bit earlier than the time allowed.
The room however was not completely what I expected, and while it served its purpose, it’s not for everybody. It’s located in the mountain side Maui (Makawao) which I was aware of. Pretty close to the road to hana and close to the Haleakalā summit but about a 40min-1hr from Kihei or Lahaina (where most of the food and shops are)
The room was bit old and needs updating. The water takes a bit to heat up, and the moldings around the window had big brown stains every couple inches. The fridge top had mold on it so we didn’t really use it. Also the room gets very hot and moist, and the fan provided didn’t help too much. One hot shower and the whole room turned into a sauna.
Also please consider that because you are staying in a room in someone’s home, you can hear everything going on on the other side of the walls and they can also hear you ( not that anyone was too loud, but we were aware of people talking and walking around outside of the bedroom.)
Two nights we were awoken by a strange noise and both times found either a water bug or roach in the room (about the size of a pinky finger) That startled us a bit because we made sure not to bring food back or eat in the room. It’s understandable because like I said, the house is in the mountain side and it was out of anyone’s control. We told Denise about it and she kindly sprayed and put traps around the room for us.
This place was not a bad stay for us- because we left early in the morning and came back late at night. All we really used the room for was to shower and sleep. It was pretty much what we needed just wish it was a little more up-kept. It’s not for everyone but if you’re trying to visit Maui on a budget and you don’t mind the little things, this place is for you. If you like to spend a lot of time in the place you’re staying though, you may not find that this space is what you’re looking for.