The cottage was comfortable, clean and as it appears in the pics. The remote location and rustic atmosphere was what we were looking for rather than a luxurious resort. On our way over from the airport, we took a wrong turn and wound up driving many miles along the coastal neighborhood road rather than staying on the main highway until we got closer to the cottage. Andre was immediately available for us to call and reassured us as we continued down the road until we saw him standing out front waving to us. It's best to go down almost to the highway's end where the lava took over the road to enter the cottage neighborhood. Prepare to be 'unplugged' as there is very little cell phone service at the cottage nor until you get about 5 miles closer into town. Andre handed us his single sheet guide to must-see places and restaurants in the area. We had our privacy during our stay, but he was around to check on us and made extra effort to bring supplies, towels and tools to get into the fresh coconuts he gave us from the grounds. There's a nice cross breeze through the screened windows but we didn't use the lanai (porch) or keep the doors open because the mosquitoes are ravenous. The Coqui frogs chirped all night and are quite loud but it was nice 'white noise' for sleeping to us. This place has a minimal kitchen without a sink so we didn't do much cooking but the restaurants in the local town were great, especially Ning's Thai and Pahoa Fresh Fish. fyi, many restaurants in Hilo close between 2-5 pm. It's difficult to find a beach on this side of the island since the coast is mostly cliffs and sharp lava rock. The small Kehena beach across the road from the cottage is definitely a hippie hangout, drum circle, clothing optional. We couldn't figure out how to get down to the beach from the cliffs but then saw the stair step path others took and it wasn't too difficult. We hiked down in the early evening and were the only ones there at first, but know that nude bathers are to be expected to show up at any time and they did. A few highlights close to the cottage for us were snorkeling at the tide pools and looking out at the lava fields at the end of the highway. Overall it was a great pick for our place to stay and we would go back to the Sunshine Cottage again for future visits to the Big Island.