What a beautiful and unique place!
The pictures don't quite do this house justice - the living room area is huge, with tall vaulted ceilings and a wall of windows. The outdoor patios/lanais are large, breezy, and so peaceful, with lovely serene windchimes.
What we loved:
- The house is spacious and there is lots of room for everyone. We were only 4 people, but you could easily fit much more. The two master bedrooms are terrific, and each has a private balcony as well.
- The house is secluded. There is a large lawn and beautiful forest and nature surrounding it. We would wake up every morning to the sound of birds and just marvel at the beauty of everything. You can also catch some beautiful sunsets from the balconies.
- Speaking of birds, there are lots of animals around! Geckos, chickens, turkeys, even some wild pigs.
- The kitchen is very well-equipped. Aside from general pots and pans, we found everything else we needed - toaster, blender, hand mixer, etc. And it's a very nice kitchen to cook in, with a well-placed island, gas stove, and two (!) sinks.
- The hosts have been so thoughtful about equipping the house with things guests might need. There are snorkels, fins, beach chairs, and an abundance of towels. This was so convenient and truly added to the joy of our trip!
Things to keep in mind:
- As noted above, the house is secluded. This means that to get anywhere (a grocery store, beach, etc., you're looking at a minimum of a 15-20 min drive, and usually more). This level of seclusion felt nice to us during covid, but in normal times I think I would prefer a place with easier access to points of interest.
- You can't always drink the rain catchment tap water (while we were there, it was too acidic due to volcanic activity). So we bought water at the grocery store. Not a huge problem, just something you have to plan for (since, as noted above, the nearest store is a little ways away)
- While overall the house and kitchen had most of what we needed, some things do need a little maintenance. For example, the dishwasher works poorly and you need to thoroughly rinse the dishes beforehand (and sometimes after as well). The dryer does NOT work - i.e., it runs, but things don't get dry - but luckily it is sunny enough most days to dry your laundry outside (and also more environmentally friendly!)
- Probably our biggest issue was the internet. Overall the wifi works okay for most purposes, but struggles with high-bandwidth activities like video calls. It will also periodically shut off for a few minutes at a time. Additionally, the router will sometimes kick your device off and not let you join back in. If this happens, just reset the router (using the circuit breaker) and usually that fixes things. We had to rely a lot on our phone hotspots to make things work (note: Verizon has okay-ish coverage in this area, AT&T almost none) and that can eat up your data allowance pretty fast. Plan accordingly!
Overall we had a fantastic time here and on Big Island. Hope to come back someday soon!