Dustin’s place is Kona is a basic 1 bedroom flat, well located with a partial ocean view.
The flat has a main room with the queen bed and a sofa bed, a small table and a TV.
A small kitchen with a full size fridge and basic appliances. No cooking facilities, though Dustin subsequently said there was meant to be an electric hotplate (which there wasn’t and this wasn’t rectified).
Flat is old, probably built in the 70s. Doors all original. No windows, just big glass door to balcony.
Flat was clean and didn’t smell.
Nice small balcony but impossible to use for long in 30+ degrees Celsius and 100% humidity. Nice in the morning.
Air Conditioning works ok, but is an old model, and we had to have it running all night to keep the place cool and as a consequence I had to sleep with earplugs.
No smoke detectors or sprinklers. Maybe nothing ever burns on Kona.
Parking is a problem. The flat is in a block that is one of 5 or 6 blocks on the complex. Some of the other blocks have 12 or so parks outside, nowhere near enough for that block; Dustin’s unit’s block has no parking at all therefore has to use those of the next block. As a consequence, if you are back for the day after about 5 you don’t get a park. Dustin’s welcome message advises of this. On holiday you have to come back before dark to park. The alternative is park along the roadway.
We went to see the volcano one night and had to park along the roadway a long way away when we got back. Then walk to the flat in the dark along the roadway.
Everything is expensive in Kona, horrendously so, and in that sense this is value for money but compared to almost anywhere else its not – BUT, you have to pay what the area demands – and probably, all the associated costs are high. I know that hotels have to charge 100% tax (roughly). Where I come from, in a beachside holiday town you rent a 3 bedroom house with a big garage and a big yard for less than the cost of this flat. Temper that comment though remembering this is one of the cheaper ones in Kona.
Communication - we didn’t hear at all when we booked nor up to the day of checkin. Airbnb’s automated facilities were used to provide information and if we hadn’t had a few problems we likely would never have heard from the host.
Bed and Sofa bed are comfortable. Shower pressure is adequate. Watch the taps, they operate differently than you might think.
All in all, if you have to come to Kona for a couple of days to see the volcano, then this place is as good as you are going to do for the price.