This is a great little cabin. All it needs to make it a five-star rental are some softer beds and more relaxed policies about grill and hot tub use.
PROS
- Location: It's so close to Volcanoes National Park, one could go explore the park for a few hours, zip back to the cabin for lunch, and then head back to the park for the rest of the day without spending more than 20 minutes in the car round trip.
- Peace and quiet: There are no noises other than the sounds of birds and the patter of rainfall on the roof. Waking up and sipping morning coffee on the lanai with singing birds and friendly wild pheasants is wonderful.
- Cozy: The cabin is warm and cozy – bigger than it looks from the outside – and the backyard is beautiful.
- Amenities: The fireplace and hot tub are fun extras, as is the covered lanai. The skylights are a nice touch, too.
CONS
- Smell: The cabin was spotless and thoroughly cleaned, but it was cleaned with industrial cleansers that filled the house with a strong chemical odor. It took two days of cooking and burning fires in the stove before the smell was no longer detectable.
- Beds: All three beds were way too firm for us.
- Hot tub: The hot tub is fixed at a temperature so hot that we were sweating before we even lowered ourselves all the way into the water. Changing the temp violates house rules.
- Grill: There’s a thin sheet of copper on the grill that slid all over the place when we tried to slide a spatula underneath the food we were grilling, and made the grill a hassle to use. Removing it violates house rules.
PRO TIPS
- Grab a couple bundles of seasoned firewood from the local market on your way in. Most of the supplied firewood was moist (which is probably unavoidable in a rainforest).
- Bring a knife sharpener; the provided kitchen knives were very dull.
- Bring a bar of soap. Soap was not provided so we ended up using the bathroom’s hand soap pump when showering.
- Hang a towel over the camera when you're in the hot tub for complete privacy.