The resort was a great place for our family vacation. The pools were nice and the slide kept the kids busy for hours each day. Snorkeling in front of the resort was pretty good as well once you get out about 50 yards.
We stayed in unit 345, which is conveniently located around the corner from the elevator. The elevator broke during our check-out time but other than that it worked great. The Unit has a good view and there was plenty of room for the 7 of us. having the pack and play already there was nice for our 9-month-old.
The only negative thing I have to say is the reluctance of the property management, Fereshteh, to address the broken refrigerator and the way it was handled.
We arrived with the refrigerator being on and set per the instructed temperatures. We put our groceries away and went to the pools. When we came back to the condo the refrigerator was still warm, the inside walls and shelves were warm and the freezer had beads of water on the inside. I was told by Fereshteh that the refrigerator must have been left open by the cleaning people and that it normally takes a few hours to cool down. I thought to myself if people had just checked out today, which I was told they did, how would the refrigerator get so warm so fast. Nevertheless, I said “okay”, and we went on with our evening. Eventually, I heard the ice maker drop some ice. I thought, “awesome it is working”. Wrong. I woke up in the morning and opened the freezer to check the progress. As I opened the freezer water dumped on the floor. I checked the ice I heard it make the night before and it was melted. While going back and forth with Fereshteh trying to get the refrigerator fixed, it went through several freeze-thaw cycles. I spent quite a bit of time first texting and then per Fereshteh’s request messaging on Airbnb about the refrigerator and some other questions and concerns reporting items as they came up as instructed in the owner’s “grey” book Section 2.2 states "please report ANY damage to the property and furnishing immediately to the property managers."
These issues only seemed to irritate Fereshteh as she told me multiple times that the guest prior to our arrival did not have any problems. She offered to cancel our reservation and refund the unused days as we seemed unsatisfied with the accommodations. I told her that we do not wish to cancel the reservation as there was not another unit available at the resort and that I am just asking that the refrigerator be repaired so all our food and breast milk does not go bad.
Based on the other reviews of this unit and the property management, I would have thought a solution other than canceling the reservation, when we are already in Hawaii, would have been offered.
We were in no way trying to be difficult. We simply expected by staying in a condo to have a functional kitchen with a properly working refrigerator to keep our food and breast milk for our 9-month-old cold/frozen.
It was only after I specifically asked for a service call that one was offered. But I was told “If there is a problem with the refrigerator, of course we will have it repaired. If there is nothing wrong other than the temperature being adjusted manually, the ice maker locked manually, or the ice container not put back properly, I will charge for the service call.” This, combined with the offer to cancel the reservation seemed to be an attempt to bully or intimidate me into backing off and not asking for things to be fixed.
The cleanliness of the unit was good if you didn’t look under the dresser the TV sits on in the living room or the other furniture as it appeared the cleaning crew does not sweep or vacuum under furniture. This was found while we were sweeping during our stay. I was assured by Fereshteh that everything is clean as a manager inspects the unit after it is cleaned and she also has a third-party inspector inspect her units prior to guest arrival…
Despite these issues, the unit was nice, and the resort was great, we would go back. Next time we would try booking through the actual resort instead. In the Airbnb listing, I do not recall reading that the unit is not associated with the pool cabana or that the front desk cannot help you with anything as the unit is rented through third-party property management. Lessons learned.