Daryl's place was perfect for us. After staying 3 days at the Hilton Waikaloa, which takes almost half an hour to get from your room to the car, we were ready to explore the island, on-the-go style. Daryl's place was perfectly located for Hilo side exploration. It's halfway between Hilo & Pahoa, so logistically it was a great location. The room was very spacious, much more than we needed for 2 of us, but always welcome. I was happy that the room was bright and airy, and didn't have any mold or moisture issues, and the bed was nice and comfortable. It's basically a studio but you have to walk through the corner of the living room to get to your stairs, but it really feels private like you're in your own place. We were happy that after our water ran out & we weren't close to a store, that Daryl had a couple of cold water bottles in the fridge.
And Daryl himself is super cool. I enjoyed talking story with him. Perfect host. He gave us some pointers on hiking the new trail across the lava, as well as some intel on other things we were thinking about seeing.
If I come back to the Hilo/Puna side of the island again, I'll look to see if his place is available before I book anything else.