To preface, we are very meticulous about picking places to stay, especially for our relatively rare "long-distance" vacations. As we whittled the many Kona-side choices down, our top three remaining were either Donna's place, a gorgeous remote jungle setting (without a TV), and a place in Kona proper that had all the amenities, but was smaller and closer to the hustle and bustle.
In the end, we chose Donna's place and it was an absolute perfect mesh of what we wanted! The cottage is up in the hills with an incredible view of the ocean to wake up to and has all the amenities we could want. You have the option of soaking in the sights and sounds of the jungle or plopping down on the couch (or king bed) to watch anything you want on the smart TV's. Up to you. We spent the days exploring and then would return to our jungle oasis to wind down and relax.
We were greeted by a bag of home-grown coffee beans, mandarins fresh off the tree, other treats, along with hand sanitizer and masks. Really kind and thoughtful touches. The only things we had to get used to was the Coqui frogs (not a big deal for us, they were pretty active the first night but settled down after that), and the king bed mattress was a bit soft for our tastes. We got a couple of visits from Meli, the sweet dog that hangs around the property, a gecko, and a few glimpses of the elusive cats--it should be said that all animal visits were outside the house. :)
With amenities somewhat out of the way, we have to mention the cleanliness and condition of the place, it's immaculate. Given the lack of reviews and the fact that the beach chairs and umbrella had not been used before, I'm going to make an assumption and say that this place is newly renovated. The cottage feels fresh, super well thought-out, and nicely decorated. We loved the little details, the cool living room lamp, the palm tree drawing on the roll up door, and the really helpful Big Island guidebook. The tea selection was also very much welcomed and appreciated! There are ceiling fans in every room and screens on every door and window, the place never got hot (we were out during the day anyway). The climate in the higher elevation keeps the temperature at a seemingly constant refreshing level the four nights we stayed.
I wish we could have stayed here two weeks instead. We would 100% stay here again, thank you Donna and Robbie!