I REALLY didn't want to write a negative review for this place. I really wanted to like it.
First off, the good stuff: The owner, Hazel, is lovely. She was very communicative and kind. The location was perfect. The condo has a neighborhood quality while being in paradise and close to good food. It was ideal.
The problem was that the condo was crazy expensive for the actual value. I am detailing the issues below, but my friend Airbnb'ed an updated unit in the same complex and she was paying $90/night (!). With taxes and fees, I paid almost double that. The management company is out of Colorado. They are called EVOLVE (not Hazel, the sweet and responsive owner) and I have been really disappointed with their service, communication, and lack of follow through.
Most of the issues with the rental were very cheap fixes done over time:
There is water damage in multiple places on the floor so the floor has the "bubbled" look throughout, the bathroom had cheap sticky tiles(like linoleum) that they glued on top of a wood floor. The tiles were coming up, showing the wood floor beneath. There were cockroaches and ants, which to be honest I expect a few in Hawaii, but in one night I found 3 cockroaches in an hour. That indicates a problem, not an outlier. There was a prominent and musty mold smell, so I needed to leave the house open all day when I was gone. On the upside, the complex felt super safe, so I felt safe doing that. The mattress for the bed was covered in a cheap plastic cover that made a noise every time I moved. The furniture and rugs did not look like they had been cleaned in a while. The screen door was riddled with holes and the roll-up shade screen that covered the balcony wouldn't roll back up. In addition, the bathroom, had some weird and negligent fixes.
I honestly would have left after the first night, but EVERYTHING was booked up. I really didn't have another place to go, so I made it work, but I would not recommend this place.
I contacted the owner first. She told me that Evolve would be contacting me. Instead of contacting me, I received a negligible refund of $136. Not only was that not sufficient, but it was irritating that I have needed to message EVOLVE on airbnb and, separately, request a refund through another channel on Airbnb.
2 weeks later, Evolve has only asked me to resend the pictures. Most of their communication has been auto-generated and I wonder if a human has even reviewed my case.