We highly recommend staying at Karen’s place. She was a wonderful host and the cottage was lovely! If we had any questions or problems Karen was there to help us and give us tips on places to go. The space itself is adorable and had everything we needed. Cooking outside and the outdoor jacuzzi was fantastic! We found the cottage to be in a perfect location for exploring the entire island. The amazing green sand beach is only about 20 minutes away (plus a hike in or you can pay people to drive you). It was easy to get into Kona or Hilo from there and the Volcanoes National Park is only about 30 minutes away. As for noise and bugs, we brought ear plugs on other people’s recommendations for the noise from the frogs at night but it really isn’t that bad. I stopped noticing after the first couple of nights. Yes, there are a few bugs..it’s Hawaii, there are bugs everywhere. We didn’t notice an excessive amount of bugs at the cottage and there are bug screens and a net for the bed. It is such a beautiful, serene space. We really can’t say enough great things about this place and Karen. We would absolutely stay here again.