We loved Marlene's rental. It's right in downtown Hilo, and there's a daily farmer's market a block away, restaurants and art shops around the corner- it's extremely convenient for lazy days near the rental.
Despite it being downtown, it's not too noisy- we stayed over the weekend, and there was a little noise, but nothing that was disturbing. And we had a 5, 3, and 1 yr old with us. Everyone slept very soundly!
The rental is about 40 minutes to Volcanoes Nat'l Park, and about 40 minutes to Mauna Kea, and both are scenic drives.
The place was spotless when we arrived, and Marlene went out of her way to make sure we were comfortable. There was a motion sensor spotlight on the stairs leading up to the apartment, and it went off all night on our first night there (curtains were sheer). I messaged Marlene about how I could prevent the light from going off every few minutes. She quickly messaged me back, but in the morning she stopped by and fixed the light. It didn't go off at all the rest of our time. Coming to personally fix it was definitely going above and beyond.
Look no further- you won't find anything better in Hilo. Great location, great host, great price!