We liked the location on the much less touristy north of the island. It's also very convenient to have a grocery store across the street. You do need to drive 10 minutes to get to the shore and Paia, which we really liked to get coffee/brunch (check out Paia Bay Cafe!) and hang out at the beaches (big waves! If you want to swim, find the "baby beach" ;).
The cottage is nice. As other guests have noted, it was very clean (with the exception of some plates, which previous guests probably didn't wash properly). Somewhat annoying were the neighbors in the run-down house/backyard on the right side (not the other cottage). One night a woman was screaming at a dog, the other night a man was berating a woman (I've never heard anyone scream the f-word that many times). There was also a nearby alarm somewhere in the neighborhood that went off for like 10-20 seconds some of the nights (never figured out where it came from). Overall, we enjoyed our stay but it was less idyllic than what we had hoped.