I've stayed at a lot of great AirBnB's, and this is the first time I'm giving a "meh" review. Overall, it was an adequate place to stay, but not any more than that. The rental company/owners seemed to be doing the bare minimum to make this a viable rental.
The location and outside of the house (ohia and hapu'u ferns totally surrounding the place so you can't even see neighbors) is fantastic. It is 5 minutes from the national park, and you can easily hike and explore all Volcano has to offer. The rain on the roof is one of my favorite sounds in the world. And the house is super affordable. All those are pluses, and worth it if you know what else to expect.
What else to expect:
The house isn't very clean. Cobwebs in ceiling corners, lackluster vacuuming under the beds. It smells like cheap air fresheners, like someone covered up having smoked in the house (could be the very smoky wood stove, but I don't think so). The "basics" are supplied, which means towels/washcloths that are tiny and sandpapery (reminds me of the rags I dust with!). One small hotel-sized bar of soap in the bathroom for both hand-washing and showering. Two pieces of firewood next to the wood stove; my dad had to crawl around under the house to get more (which was then too wet to burn). No plastic bags, coolers, or blue ices in the kitchen. Very minimal kitchen staples, which didn't bother us, but less than expected at a house that has cookware.
The dryer was broken, which was a bummer since I had three muddy kids at the end of every day.
The water wasn't potable; it's all catchment in that area of the Big Island, but part of their UV filter was broken and they were waiting on a part from the mainland. So we had to buy bottled water and/or fill up at the tap outside the bathrooms at the national park (which tasted like chlorine). And for perspective, my dad lived for years in a house with catchment water, so we all know how to conserve water and deal with UV filters. Never once was the water at his house not potable.
But honestly, the thing that upset me most was the snarky message posted in the kitchen to clean up after ourselves. "The housecleaner isn't your maid," it said. Beyond the fact that, well, frankly, a housecleaner is a maid, I can think of a hundred ways to politely remind guests to leave the kitchen clean. The sign encapsulated the whole feel of the place, which is that the folks who own/care for the home resent having paying guests. There was no welcoming spirit to the place. There were no sweet touches that signify "have a great vacation."
For the same (or better) level of cleanliness and hospitality, I would likely find a camping spot somewhere nearby.