Location, Location, Location
We landed in Honolulu in the evening and made a quick stop to the Costco before coming to Mark's place. Honolulu is unlike the other islands we visited (Maui and Big Island) and was very crowded with sky scrappers and traffic jams. We reached quite late and the guest host was in the lobby to welcome us. I called them from the airport, the number is an answering service who forward the call. Our guest host called us right back and gave his direct number. The check-in process was easy and quick. He showed us to the apartment on the 18th floor, explained the rules, gave us the parking pass. We drove to the parking garage (which is $30 per day but included in the appt) and took the elevator to the 18th floor.
We had both ocean view on the left and mountain view on the right. Its a small balcony with 2 chairs and a round table. They have beach toys, chairs, mats and an inflatable on the balcony corner. All very useful for the beach which was one block from the building.
All the restaurants are nearby and the highway is 2-3 miles (which is always clogged). You can enjoy the sunset from the balcony but would recommend walking one block to the beach for an unobstructed view.
One issue we had was about getting in touch with them after check-in. They forgot to provide us the bedding for the sofa bed (which is drooping and not comfortable at all) and it took them a while to get them to us at night. But with all the positives about this place we did not let one bad experience ruin our vacation.
Another thing we loved was the community area on the 6th floor with coin operated BBQ (which don't work as well as the gas ones - takes a while to heat), pool, hot tub and basketball court. Our kids loved this place and was relaxing to hangout after the days activities.
The convenience store was very expensive but there are a lot of grocery stores near-by. One thing I realized was even short distances take a long time due to the traffic so we usually parked the car and walked or took Uber/trolly. Try eating from the Food Vans which are delicious and not very expensive.
Overall I will rate this place high due to the location, free parking, and the amenities.