We had a wonderful stay at Tina's north shore cottage. The hustle/bustle of the big city (Honolulu) or resorts (Waikiki; Ko Olina) are not really our pace. Tina's rental was absolutely perfect. It was clean and quiet. The beds were comfortable. There were thoughtful touches like beach towels, beach toys, access to laundry. We enjoyed fresh mango, star fruit, guava and macademia nuts daily.
For us, this location was perfect. Close to Hale'iwa we ended up there daily for dinner, water play, and poking around the cute little shops. We also did our own "circle tours" and took in all parts of the island - 40 min to the airport; 45min to Ko Olina for a luau and snorkel tour, 15 min from Dole Plantation, 30 min from Turtle Bay, etc...
We made friends with the resident pups and the property resident, Jake (?), was friendly and informative - telling us about what fruits were on the property and telling us about the Noni fruit outside our door.
All-in-all, we thoroughly enjoyed this stay and highly recommend.