We have rented several AirBnBs and have owned one as a superhost.
We will never rent from a property management company again. This company manages over 80 properties and you’d think they would be very good at their job, but it was the complete opposite.
Pros:
Location was good. You are about a block from the harbor and Waikiki beach.
The beds were clean thankfully and the mattress comfort was ok, not hotel quality, but ok.
The staff of the Condo was accommodating and nice. The pool, gym and other areas were well maintained.
The gym was also a nice surprise, because it was recently updated.
The maintenance guy was great in fixing some broken things in the property.
When I did ask a question on messenger, Tia was very responsive.
Security was around and present.
Overall the building and location are nice.
Cons:
Before our arrival we got an email welcoming us and assuring us that someone would meet us at the property, tour us around the building and let us into the rental. When we got there around 4:00pm, we waited about 20 minutes outside baking in the sun. After that, we managed to bypass the gate and smuggle ourselves into the air conditioned lobby where we waited. After waiting almost an hour and 6 phone calls later, a security guard presented us with an envelope and said “I was told to give this to you”. We never got a tour of the place and never met Jonathan the property manager, the guy that was supposed to meet us there.
We got in the room and the first thing I noticed is that the living room furniture looked nothing like what they showed on their listing. It had protective covers on it because the sofa had stains. So instead of having it professionally cleaned, this was their solution. It frankly looked like something you’d see in a kids college dorm. On a positive note, all the other pictures of the rooms were accurate.
Starter set included (2) paper towels, (4) toilet paper rolls, shampoo, lotion, bath soap for your first night. It wasn’t enough for the month of stay. They only provided 5 kitchen trash bags and asked us to take the trash out every night for a whole month of stay. We asked the cleaning crew if we only got 5 bags for the whole month, and they said yes. They only provided 5 dishwashing pellets also.
We also started to realize the floors were filthy and many areas were not cleaned or even wiped down.
When I contacted the property manager named Jonathan about these issues, one of his first responses I got from him was “Well, you got a good deal on the place”. This made me livid, and I began thinking what else may be wrong with the place. BTW,we did not get a ‘good deal’ on the place. We paid what was listed.
My wife vacuumed the place on day 2, and we filled the dirt container from ¼ -½ full. We didn’t even do all the rooms. They offered to send their cleaning staff to mop the floors, and we watched them clean the floors basically with a swiffer mop with a solution of basically water. They went fast and frankly made more progress on damaging the properties owners baseboards from wacking the swifter around than actually cleaning the floor. We didn’t even bother to ask the cleaning staff for anything further after witnessing that. Our socks still picked up lots of dirt during our stay. The floors needed to be thoroughly vacuumed and mopped with an actual wood cleaner. The furniture was not dusted. My wife had to dust all the areas. There was a thick settlement of dust. The cabinets and baseboards had splatters of food and other stains. We got a pack of anti-viral sheets to wipe down all the surfaces. It was brown/black with dirt and stains. We wiped every week, and there was still residual dirt.
We ate out a lot, because there were no spices and other condiments typically provided by airbnb hosts. We bought all the basics like cooking oil, salt/pepper, condiments, tin foil, plastic wrap, ziplock bags, laundry detergent and dryer sheets. We donated all the dry goods to a food bank and left refrigerated condiments like Ketchup and mustard.
What they do provide is literally the cheapest thing money can buy. Think about the cheapest toilet paper, appliances, and cheapest beach chairs.
We were concerned about the electrical use because it says: (“A credit of $150 is provided for electricity usage. Any overage will be paid by the guest. This is to ensure reasonable AC usage for this condo.”)
We found out later that the condo's HOA maintenance fee covers all electricity, so I don’t know why they are trying to charge people extra for that. We used AC for less than an hour a day. Some days, we never used it.
Also the property location is inaccurate. They have this location mapped as being off Ala Moana Blvd. It's off of Hobron Ln and is around 3 blocks back from the beach.
This is the first time I have left a bad review. You will not get close to the personal touch that good Airbnbs are known for.
During our stay later that month, no one checked in on us or even thanked us for staying with them at the end. This is why they are getting a one star rating from a 2 star rating.