We travelled with 11 people to this rental for a family vacation. We had grandparents, daughters and spouses, 2 kids and 1 toddler. We arrived at night- after dark- which is really the worst part of our stay! The property can be extremely difficult to find in the dark. It sits back from the street behind another property. But once you find it- you will never miss it!
The space offered enough room to house us all comfortably for one week. Also had enough washrooms! 3 full ones to be exact. Bedrooms were exactly as presented in the pictures. They were clean and well dressed. Each room had its own air conditioning system which allowed each family to set it the way they wanted. The internet connection was on point- with many of us online at one time.
The kitchen is fully supplied- right down to a slow cooker. The fridge having a water machine for cold water was a nice touch. We had no problems with any of the appliances. I found it a bit interesting that there was no range hood- but am noticing that it might be an island thing.
If you are travelling with children- this is a great place to stay. They have fully supplied boogie boards, snorkel equipment, beach towels, and a few family games. You are literally a 5 minute drive to the Polynesian cultural centre, some great food trucks and some tourist shops. Honolulu is about an hour drive- which isn’t too bad as it is very scenic. One thing that we didn’t know when booking is that Laie is a ‘dry town’ which means there are no liquor stores or alcohol at restaurants. If you are looking to have a beer/ wine etc. on the back porch make sure you stop before as you won’t find any in this town. Also, NOTHING is open in Laie on Sundays. This includes grocery stores and attractions. In the town just prior to Laie there is a grocery store- which sells liquor and is open on Sundays. It is walking distance- approx 5 min, but not suggested to walk with kids as there are no sidewalks.
There are a lot of flies- but like the advertisement states-if the garbage is taken out and the doors are kept closed, it helps the problem. Following these suggestions were not difficult for us to do. Remember this is a tropical place. There are chickens everywhere! The neighbourhood rooster was punctual every morning at sunrise.
The ocean is literally in your backyard. It is also a public park. The beach is clean of seaweed and the sand was soft. I would suggest water shoes, especially for kids, but I didn’t use them. We had no problem with others using the access point to the beach, nor did we have any of our personal gear taken from the back table. It actually let us meet the neighbours. Nisi and Jade were very kind and helpful.
The alarm system was added security. I suggest that you use it. It was set every time we left the home.
Overall, we would stay here again. Joesph was easy to contact and replied to my text messages promptly. The North shore and all of its attractions were never more than an hours drive.