Thomas and Melissa are friendly, helpful and very approachable hosts!! Thomas greeted us upon arrival and the first thing our boys (10 and 12) did was run off to their secluded neighborhood beach (and we saw a green sea turtle on our first day! Plus many more on during the rest of our visit.) Thomas led our sons around his yard to find exotic fruits for them to eat. He even showed them how to cut them properly. Thomas is frequently on site and available to provide guidance to local sights, as well as resolve any issues that might come up. The house is clean and well maintained and our stay came with generous loans of snorkeling gear, boogie boards, beach umbrellas and chairs.
A couple of gems of Waianea were the Westside Pillbox hike at sunset (just be sure to bring a flashlight for the way down), Army beach, Ka'aha'aina Cafe (it's actually a cafe at the health center but has absolutely amazing views and food!) and of course, the beach just steps away from their house. In fact, that is where we had the best snorkeling of our entire trip!
We loved staying at Thomas and Melissa's house, but the location was challenging for us at times because our plans often involved travel to the Windward side of the island, Pearl Harbor, Honolulu, and other destinations outside of Waianae. For any meaningful travel, traffic to/from Waianae (and across Oahu in general) can be crippling during rush hour and virtually any time of the day and night. We visited over the Christmas holidays, and some locals said the traffic was worse, whereas others said the traffic is regularly that bad.
Despite the Oahu traffic, coming home to their guest house every night was so welcoming with their yard lit up with lights and when we brought steaks home to grill for our Christmas dinner Thomas lit tiki torches and helped us wheel out his BBQ grill. They truly are spectacular hosts!