We liked the place for what we paid. Wei was a good host and it worked out for our family of seven. Like any AirBNB, there are good and bad things. I’ll start with the good.
The place was very clean. The appliances are practically new. The condo has been recently remodeled and looks nice. The beds and pillows were very comfortable (although we had a child sleeping on a blow-up mattress rather than the fold-out bed, so I can’t comment on the fold-out’s comfort). Check-in was easy. Joy was very responsive when we had questions and she quickly took care of a problem with the stove (a repair person was sent the next day to fix it). The kitchen was adequately stocked and there was enough bedding and towels for our large family. Joy’s description of the place is fair and accurate.
Now some things to keep in mind. The windows are not solid panes of glass--they’re the slatted, crank-style you sometimes see in hot climates (jalousie). This means they don’t block out all the sound. And you’re surrounded by busy streets. It is very loud and noisy at night. Street parking is not realistic other than for dropping people off and picking them up. There is a parking garage around the corner that costs $40/day ($35/day if you pay for multiple days in advance). This was not a surprise. But it is a downside. The place is small. Seven people is a squeeze. It wasn’t a big deal for us since we spent little time in our “home base.” But it’s tight. The washer and dryer situation is not great. There’s one paid washer and dryer for each floor. Fortunately, they’re very near this particular unit. Unfortunately for us, the machines were being swapped out the week we were there and weren’t available. We had to go to a nearby laundry mat, which was on the sketchy side. Cigarette smoke wafted into the unit from the outside a couple days (you couldn’t keep it out because of the jalousie windows). While the kitchen was adequately stocked, it would have been nice to have more stuff. For example, there were only five bowls and there was no spatula. I also wish there were more places to hang towels. Given that we were going to the beach most days, we had a hard time finding room to hang both beach and bath towels for seven. Lastly, you will encounter a number of homeless people around the area. I think that’s pretty routine in Waikiki except for maybe the ritziest parts.
Overall, like I said, the place was good and a good value. We would do it again.