Hugh and Elvira are great hosts. Very warm and friendly. Hugh was especially concerned about our arriving late in the evening from the Kona side and still met us as we pulled in very late. We started talking with Elvira on the day we were supposed to leave and were enjoying ourselves so much we almost missed our flight! They're both just very nice and fun people.

At first, when we got to the avocado tree house we were a little like, "This is crazy. We're staying in an avocado tree house!" We quickly got over that and became very fond of the place. We loved showering outside with views of the trees. The view from the kitchen is fantastic. We spent very slow mornings there, up at 7 and not really leaving to do anything until noon. It's on a farm so be prepared for roosters and a lot of light, but we liked this. We got back into our natural circadian rhythms. Hugh and Elvira brought over some great breakfasts that they made themselves, like a chocolate yogurt smoothie and goat cheese on bread, from their own goat! It was also awesome to have the kitchen stocked and fresh fruit brought to us.

You're in Hawaii and in the jungle so be prepared for bugs. But the geckos were great and we appreciated them eating all the bugs for us! Plus they and the Coqui frogs made cool jungle noises at night. They sound so much like birds! It's interesting!

All the rooms are decorated with fun artwork and designs. The reflection room also has an amazing view higher up so you can see the ocean horizon. They also have great literature for you to read if you forgot a book, as well as some snorkeling gear and boogie boards.

Warning: If you're in the reflection room and the sun is setting, you may want to turn off the lights. The bugs are attracted to the lights and there are no screens up there to keep them from coming in. (It's understandable because screens would ruin the great view.)

Both Hugh and Elvira were very helpful about everything, and they provided a great map of all the best local things to check out. We didn't really have a plan for our trip, and I feel like they gave us a lot of great options to check out.

Everything is close by! There's snorkeling nearby, and surfing, the volcano, volcano tree park, the tropical gardens, Akaka falls. You can go see a movie in the Hilo old-time theater. Pahoa is even closer with cool good restaurants. Get some great food at the farmers market on Sunday. Seriously, even though we didn't leave until noon to do stuff, it didn't matter because we were so close to stuff.

Oh and if you're feeling lonely, the dogs will come say hello! And they had clothes lines to dry your clothes. We had a great time and would definitely go back!