This is a great place in a quiet area of locals, not in a major hotel district. We loved being on the windward (wet, lush) side of the island, not far from Hilo.
My highlights/favorites:
- kitchen has a good range of pans, dishes, spices, and tupperware for making and storing our own meals (we did breakfast and dinners at home most days). Similarly, I love that they really had sufficient dishes, cups, and utensils for 8 people.
- Our kids loved having king size beds (since they had to share) which were roomier than the standard queen size beds.
- In addition to the pictured kayak, there was a large tote with boogey boards, snorkeling gear and life vests (mostly in kid sizes) which were open for our use, and which came in handy.
- The host warned the water might not be to our liking, but we thought it tasted great.
- The house was clean, well organized, and comfortably apportioned.
- The home is perfectly situated between Volcano National Park and Hilo.
(We did not need to contact the host during our stay.)
Quirks:
- There is no centralized ventilation in the house, just breezes through windows. Given the humidity, wet clothes hung up have difficulty drying unless you use the dryer.
- The frogs are fairly loud at night, but after the first night, we had become accustomed and it did not disturb our sleep. (Frogs will probably be loud anywhere on the west aide of the island.)
Overall, we would gladly stay there again! We had a wonderful time!