This review will be insightful and honest based on our overall experience as well as the condition and location of the house. First, this property is a multi-million dollar property, probably because of it's size but mostly because of it's location; it is literally an oceanfront property on Ali'i Drive in Kailua-Kona. This is where you want to be. The views from the property are amazing, from the wide open expanse of the Pacific Ocean to the beautiful sunsets to the sounds of the waves crashing on the rocks. The location is truly amazing, however, the location only get you so far and the property itself is what I/we would compare to a cabin on the ocean.
The Good:
The location and view is amazing! We cannot take anything away from that.
The home itself is large and spacious at 2,600 square feet so no one is on top of each other. There were six adults and two children in our party. The kitchen is wide open and well stocked with supplies and there are two separate family seating areas as well along with a full bathroom downstairs. Upstairs, there are four separate bedrooms: two primary bedrooms that bookend two smaller bedrooms. The two primary bedrooms both have ensuite bathrooms and there is also a full bathroom in the hallway for the other two smaller bedrooms. The primary bedroom has an expansive walkout lanai, but that lanai is shared with one of the smaller bedrooms. The other two bedrooms each has a private lanai. Space was not an issue at this home and the garage has a washer and dryer along with almost everything you and your family would need for a day at the beach. Additionally, there is small wading pool and hot tub which is a bonus as we used both most of the trip. The wading pool and hot tub are not oceanfront and sit at the rear of the house on Ali'i Drive.
The Bad:
Where to start. As initially mentioned, I would describe the property as an oceanfront cabin, and here's why. While the home was modestly clean, it was not clean clean and the home is extremely, extremely dated. In fact, the photographs used for advertising are not exactly accurate as the furniture and cleanliness illustrated are not what you get when you arrive. When I say the home was not clean clean, sure the floors, kitchen and bathrooms were clean, but the windows were not clean, windowsills and baseboards were dirty and dusty, the ceiling fans were caked with dust, and in the primary bedroom, where me and my husband stayed, there was lint and dust balls caked to the wall above the head of the bed (we took photos), in plain sight. That was a tad disgusting. The interior walls of the house are extremely dirty, banged up and in desperate need of a fresh coat of paint. There were missing sliding screen doors throughout, and the sliding screen doors that were there were either hard to open, dirty, or both hard to open and dirty. The second bedroom, the small bedroom to the right of the primary bedroom, had a sliding screen door that was stuck and would not open. The retractable rolling window shades were also extremely dirty and/or in some places were missing. There were also two vertical sliding windows in the kitchen in which one would not stay up when opened and the other was not secure in the windowsill: it tilted forward (photos and video taken). The furniture, all of the furniture, is extremely dated and if the photos are to be believed, and we did our research after the fact, the furniture is probably 20 years old as you can look at redfin or realtor (dot com) and see the old photos from when the house was previously sold, a long time ago. Some of the bedding sheets also had what looked to be rust colored type stains on them: both primary bedroom sheet sets had this.
Upon arrival, there is an instruction book on a table right as you enter the front of the house. Missing from the book was the Wifi information and instructions on how to operate the jacuzzi. We had to call the owner/property manager, Wayne, to get this information. He answered when we called which was a plus, but this information should just be provided so guests can seamlessly check-in.
Lets also speak about the bugs. Our advice, it is okay to leave the windows and doors open from sun up to sun down, but I would highly encourage anyone staying here to close all windows and doors as soon as the sun goes down unless you want to be inundated with flying nats.
Lastly, on the second night of our stay, one of the kids was taking a shower in the upstairs hall bathroom while the adults were downstairs making dinner, when water started pouring out of a can light in the ceiling directly above the stove which is embedded in the kitchen island. First and foremost folks, water and electricity do not mix and my husband is a retired first responder. My husband immediately called Wayne. Wayne apologized and said this has been an ongoing issue that he has had fixed at least three separate times before, which is evidenced by the large two-foot by three-foot drywall patch on the ceiling where the can light is. Wayne then informed us not to use the upstairs shower bath or turn on those specific lights. This is a safety issue as well as an inconvenience and should have been disclosed prior to our stay and/or there should have been a discount provided; neither occurred. The next morning, we burnt bacon and noticed there was no alarm from the smoke detectors. Well, there were no smoke detectors located anywhere on the first floor of this home (photos and video taken). This is a huge safety issue especially due to the size of