This house offered the best of both worlds. Having a large condo for our family was much easier for us- 3 large bedrooms and a great kitchen made life with kids so easy and relaxing. The community pool is great and just a quick walk around the corner. We utilized the hotel passes for Mauna Kea and Westin Hapuna Beach which I highly recommend.
I was able to order my groceries online at Kona Safeway and then picked up upon arrival. You’ll likely want to do a Costco stop as well which is close to the airport.
There aren’t many grocery stores as you head up north and the options are very limited. During Spring break week all of the hotel restaurants were often booked and had long waits... same with the restaurants off the resort. We packed up a cooler to prevent hangry kids -Highly recommend! We left one to share with future guests as well as sand toys and boogie boards (the host also had quite a few to share).
Getting a chair at the hotel pools and beaches was almost impossible over Spring Break as guests were getting towels at night and then going out at sunrise to reserve seats. We found the pools to be calm and easier to find a chair in AM. The beach crowd tends to head back to the restaurants for lunch and beach chairs start to open up in the afternoon.
This set up was one of the best we’ve had from an Airbnb experience.