This is a cheap option for sure, with a great potential for a unusual way to experience Oahu. Not for everybody, better have some experience in this way of travelling, be adaptative and I really wish you don’t get an emergency situation. You get used to find overnight parking, the simplest is Sandy Beach in the south and the dead end of Marconi road on the north shore. Cops kicked us out of the recommended dirt patch near Kailua boat ramp the first night.
The van could benefit from some upgrades, the car needs maintenance too, more details below. Overall a positive ending and mostly good memories.
The description is pretty accurate, the memory foam mattress is very comfortable, to have a countertop and a sink is pretty unique, the provided equipment is useful. Inverter, A/C & heater work pretty good but radio tuning is sensitive. Many power options like cruise control, the power door panels or the opening of the sunroof are disabled/broken. A more annoying one is the driver power seat doesn’t move back and forth, so the driving position is not optimal and it is more difficult to get to the storage compartment behind it.
Pickup and drop off by the park is ok and on time. Uber is around 30$, quick and a good deal for two. The bus 20 => 60 can get you there in about the double of time for 1/6 of the price.
The stove allows you to be more autonomous and have breakfast on the spot. Not much cookware, I bought a few items at Goodwill (pot, pan, plates, cups, metal utensils…) but kept most of it for the rest of my trip. Would be nice to have them provided. I left a brand new propane tank plus the last one I used but don’t expect to have much provided. The cooler is more and icebox than a fridge, as you don’t run the car long enough to generate any cooling.
The car battery must have been drained many times and doesn’t have any reserve, still ok to start the car from day to day but don’t use any accessories or radio without the engine running. We had to boost the car 3+ times in the whole trip after only a few minutes of radio or 15-20min using the inner lighting. The car runs fine once it is started and will get you all around the paved routes on the island. The boost pack is brand new now, because I bought a replacement after a car thief, see at the end.
The panel door latches are not working and very stiff, panel doesn’t stay open and closes on you. The handle ends up by breaking, and the panel door once was stuck close, unable to open it even from the inside (and unable to reach the storage!). Common problem on the Sienna.
Got to open it by accessing the mechanism under the plastic trim part but lost a few hours on that. Managed to repair the handle with metal wire to be practical but it will break again until the latches are cleaned and lubricated. I wish this will be done when you get it.
The main difficulty was to get in touch with the host when I had an emergency/robbery, hiking at Mt Ka’ala. No answer to Airbnb messages or the provided phone number for over 24h, I had to contact the Airbnb support to finally have a comeback 4h later. Glad I managed to camp around. I did a long bus ride to get the spare key and repaid for everything missing. The host only had to take 15min to meet me in the neighbourhood. Locals have been more helpful in that situation, ending to need a boost (as the boost pack got stolen) to get back on the road. This is specific to my trip.
Even without that in consideration, I cannot give a 5 stars rating mostly because of the car problems and required maintenance. I would make sure to have a direct phone number to contact the host in case of emergency too. Have a good stay on Oahu!