My family of two adults and one child spent a marvellous week at the Plantation House, making great memories that will last a life-time. The pool was the star feature for the 9 year old, who spent much time here. Elsewhere, the kitchen was well equipped, which made cooking there a real pleasure. We have no complaints whatsoever - but only thing to be aware of is that internet speed across a lot of Hawaii is quite slow (my partner was in Maui the week before and the house there had neither internet or mobile phone reception). Although Debra has recently upgraded the internet a the house, it is still less than 2mb per second, which is fine for streaming most things but would probably be too slow if you were downloading movies (I always download them at home before travel).
You would definitely need a rental car to stay at the house, but it is only 20 mins drive to Hilo for shopping and about the same to drive the other direction down to the hot ocean pool - which was another favourite outing for our stay at the house.
Debra will provide plenty of great ideas for things to do when you book.
We went down to the Kalipana markets on the Wednesday night and had a great time there.
Thanks to Debra for the beautiful house and a memorable stay.