Lanikai Studios was about as expected. My 13 year old son and I stayed in the upstairs unit facing a very busy one way street. I'd been to all Hawaiian islands (residing in Paia, Maui for three years) over 20 times since age five and it was my son's first time in Hawaii as my recently deceased S. African husband preferred SE Asia. I notice most of the reviews are from those residing in the rear studios and I'd guess that would be the place to stay for peace and quiet, as it was extremely noisy in our upstairs unit facing the street. (We were offered earplugs by Mary but declined.) We indeed were only three homes away from beach access; however, at high tide it is necessary to walk slightly farther as the steps to the beach are eroded and without a railing. Lanikai Beach was crowded (as was Kailua) during the week and over-crowded on the weekends. After reading the reviews and requests by locals to subdue the traffic, I opted not to rent a car and I do think that was a mistake. There is one steak house and one market within a twenty plus minute walk but the prices were exorbitant and the selection limited (lack of options as lifetime vegetarians - not cost). The supposedly upscale neighborhood was loud but for the middle of the night and the houses are very close together. The hours of 2-4AM were the calmest otherwise we were awoken by a neighbor or passing car often. I've spent my entire life traveling and especially favor beaches. I would not consider Lanikai to be in my top 20. The water temp was not warm (to my standards) and unless I was out almost before the sun or wading out in the water, it was difficult to capture a pic without strangers in it. The air temp was quite pleasant and I never did have occasion to use sunscreen for my son nor myself, nor did we ever use the small A/C unit provided. I should have reminded myself that indeed this was a vacation as taking out the garbage, doing our dishes and attempting to be eco-friendly by using only one towel and the same linens for our five night stay was right at the border of too long. I'm aware Mary would have given us fresh linens yet again adhering to the rules was of interest to me. We'd rented condos and other homes in Hawaii and in other countries before and we had in room laundry facilities that were beneficial. When I'm on vacation I just enjoy our privacy above all. In all if I could make a suggestion or two it would be to rent a car or perhaps offer to bring guests into town at least once to shop and make the linen change a shorter duration. I also think the street facing units should have a lesser fee as the noise is tremendous. I don't have...