My family of four stayed here for almost a week after also spending a week in the other side of the island at a resort. For our first time visiting Hawaii, we wanted to get a variety of experiences and see several aspects of the big island.
This house was a great place to stay to experience the more remote side of the island. The views were absolutely perfect, and the house felt so private. The home was spacious and well stocked with anything you might need. It was very clean and tastefully decorated. The window air conditioning units kept the bedrooms very comfortable for sleeping, and the rest of the house stayed comfortable enough as well. The lanai was a great place to just hang out and read, journal, or visit. I had been concerned about bugs considering we’re in the rainforest, but they weren’t a problem at all: probably because of all the geckos! We loved the brightly colored little guys everywhere, and they are probably what kept the bug population down!
This house is far from good beaches and half an hour from shopping/ restaurants, so be prepared to drive if you want to do activities/ sight seeing. But if you want to just chill and hang out with beautiful views, this is the perfect place. My son and husband preferred this side of the island and the rental house to the resort on the other side, while I preferred the convenience of the resort location a bit better, mostly for the beaches. The rental house was great for touring the rainforests (even just driving around is lovely), seeing waterfalls, and half an hour from Hilo (downtown is a fun place to check out, especially on Wednesday or Saturday when the farmers market has the most vendors). If you do want to check out the beaches, Onekahakaha was about half an hour away, and we found that one enjoyable for kids. And the nice west side beaches are only an hour. We went to Hapuna and it was totally worth the drive.
I would certainly stay here again, and the hosts are very friendly, honest, and easy to communicate with.