Pros: Really Spacious condo in quiet community with huge balcony. Beautiful community pool and hot tub. Very clean (apart from the insides of kitchen cabinets & drawers, which do need attention). Newer front loading washer & dryer and refrigerator (with ice maker!) than is shown in listing photos. Well furnished, plenty of closet and dresser space. Plenty of towels. Kitchen is very well equipped. No problems with ants! Location: Close proximity (17 min walk or 3 min drive) to local shops & restaurants. 5 minute drive to ‘A bay’ beach. Other ‘best beaches’ (Hapuna, Mauna Kea, Spencer) all within 20 minutes drive.
Cons: Host (Vacasa) not helpful about remedying the damaged chaise loungers on the balcony. The mesh fabric had totally perished on one of them - a large 8 inch tear where you would, but couldn’t, sit down and the other was starting to go in the same spot, so we couldn’t use them which was a real shame, since the huge balcony with beautiful views of the sunset was what led us to book this unit over another property.
When we booked, the listing and photos also showed a grill/BBQ on the balcony which was missing on our arrival.
The in-room safe was not useable and had a Vacasa ‘out of order’ sign on it. This was a problem since the dryer vent was scheduled to be cleaned by a maintenance company during our stay (we were only informed about this maintenance work 9 days before our arrival). Additionally, during our stay, Vacasa sent their own maintenance personnel into our unit with only 10 minutes notice, whilst we were out for the day, to replace the many ‘dead’ lightbulbs and the completely useless, damaged screen door between the living area and the balcony large which had large gaping holes between the mesh and the frame in several places. I would have been much more comfortable if we had been able to secure our valuables in the safe, before any maintenance personnel entered our unit.
The beach gear (noted by previous guests in their reviews) is actually gear that was bought and left behind by previous guests. There are only two well worn beach chairs (we were a family of four) and a broken beach umbrella. When I queried getting a replacement beach umbrella with Vacasa, they told me that those items were not part of the unit’s amenities and therefore they were not obliged to replace them! There were two nice, thick newer beach towels and 6 really thin, old ones.
The kitchen is so well equipped, that there was no spare cabinet space for the ‘pantry’ groceries we bought for breakfasts and picnic lunches for our beach trips. It’s a small kitchen and our only option was to store those items on the small island next to the sink.
I’m not certain how much of the kitchen/bath supplies were provided by Vacasa, versus what was left behind by previous guests, there was plenty of ziplock bags (all sizes), foil, clingwrap, lots of ‘Tupperware’ (great for our beach picnics), 2 rolls of paper towel, 4 toilet rolls. There were full bottles of ‘Mrs Myers’ hand soap at every sink with refill bottles in the cabinets below. There was a full bottle of multi purpose kitchen cleaning spray, Chlorox/Lysol disinfecting wipes, Windex. Vacasa did provide (in their own labelled plastic tubs) ~7 laundry detergent pods, but only 4 dishwasher detergent pods (for our 7 night stay?!), a tiny travel size bottle of dish soap and an empty box that was labelled ‘dryer sheets’! So maybe bring extras from home, because literally everything is twice the price and you will end up leaving the surplus behind.
Probably best to assess what there is and isn’t in the unit, before you do your first ‘supplies shop’. The Island Gourmet Market nearby is actually an ABC store with groceries and the prices and choice were comparable to KTA in Waikoloa Village. There is Target, Costco, Walmart in Kona - 40 minutes drive away.
We had a great vacation here, despite the minor annoyances, which were due to Vacasa’s lack of attention to the detail and just simple maintenance.