We had really hoped this experience would have started off our ten-day Big Island vacation on the right foot. The views are great, floor to ceiling windows of lush rainforest surround you. The bed and the bathroom are well decorated and make you feel like you're IN the rainforest.
However, we found german cockroaches and another type of cockroach in the listing during our stay. They were crawling all over the floor as we entered the listing after our first day of exploring. We saw them around our luggage, I even stepped on two in panic, but they headed into the kitchen and behind the fridge while other german roaches hugged the corner of the walls. I understand bugs live in rainforests, but vermin/bugs/roaches in the listing are unacceptable under any circumstance. When we immediately contacted the host she responded with an "oh dear" and did share that they spray for bugs after we provided multiple images of the multiple roach species in the listing. We expected more surprise or shock, hoping this was a new incident, but it seemed like the host was well aware of the german roach issue and didn't seem too phased. German cockroaches are extremely aggressive and hard to get rid of. We have been told by another Airbnb host that large sewer roaches are common in homes in Hawaii; however, in another listing, we only found dead sewer roaches - not alive german roaches crawling over the floors and potentially our stuff.
We ended up having to drive over half an hour to a hotel in Hilo during the middle of a Volcano tropical rainstorm on top of spending four-hours painstakingly combing through our luggage for any german roaches. It was an extremely unpleasant and stressful time and literally on the first day of our ten-day trip.
If you're considering staying in Volcano or Hilo, we recommend booking through HotelTonight (an Airbnb company) and staying at the Grand Naniloa in Hilo.