Oceanfront Home, Halfway Between Lihue & Hanalei!

Reviews

• Trip

  5/5

  Good place to stay. We enjoyed the spot.

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo

• Very comfortable home

  4/5

  We really enjoyed the home! It comfortably housed our family and had many extras that made it easy to feel right at home. We also enjoyed watching the sunrise from the porch. We were a bit disappointed to see the home did not have a beach, rather a sea wall with ocean water 3’ high. From the pictures we expected to be able to easily access the beach from the backyard. Perhaps this was seasonal as we were there the end of October, however it would have been better to have this expectation going into our stay.

  Everything else was completely wonderful and comfortable!

• Great location and Lovely, Clean House

  5/5

  We had a wonderful three-day visit. The walk to the beach was easy and lovely (during our stay, there was no beach in front of the house, but that was fine, as a beautiful beach is a short walk away). The house was clean, comfortable, well-equipped and a joy to stay in. The beach was fabulous for snorkeling, with gorgeous coral and fish. Lots of shady spots on the nearly deserted beach from which to enjoy the amazing view. We were delighted!

• Not quite as good as advertised

  3/5

  The house was very clean but is certainly very worn, with things like rusted fixtures, hole in screen, peeling paint, etc. . . There is also somewhat of an odd layout in the sense that the master bedroom upstairs has a sitting area between the bed and the beach, and the result is that if the air conditioner in the bedroom is on, you cannot hear the waves which is certainly one of the desired aspects of staying right on the oceanfront. If you sleep on the pull out couch in the sitting room area, I couldn't figure out any way to not have the light on while the ceiling fan was on, so options were either no ceiling fan (quite hot in August, even with air conditioning in connected bedroom) or having the ceiling fan on but also the light on. Also the aerial photo was clearly taken at low tide, as it is only within a couple of hours of low tide that there is any sand at the stairs in the picture, the rest of the time one would need to wade through water to get to the nearby beach, and near high tide one would have up to waist-high waves to walk through. Finally, we were uneasy about the safety of the area since, upon our arrival, there was a lady going house to house digging through people's garbage cans (once we got inside, the welcome binder did mention that on Sunday's a local lady may look through garbage for recyclables or valuables) and she was with a guy in a run-down truck that made my wife and daughters uneasy. Also the beach that is to the south, about 4 lots and a short bridge away, has someone living on the beach in a van with covered windows. Though homeless people staying on a beach in Hawaii is not uncommon at all, it obviously brings up safety concerns regarding mental health or drug issues that the person might have and that is disconcerting. On the other hand, the house is well-stocked with most supplies, and the beach just north of the house is great for a long beach-combing walk and in certain areas for swimming, rarely are there more than a few people along the entire beach, and those are just nearby residents or visitors, and often the beach is empty allowing a beautiful oceanside solitude on the beach. Travel to Kapaa for food and restaurants is about 15-20 minutes away. Beach side of house faces east so beautiful sunrises and at night the area is dark enough for great star-gazing and one night we saw the most incredible shooting star I have ever seen.

  Manager's Response:

  Hi Jeffrey, we want our guests to rest easy when they stay with us, and we apologize if you experienced some issues during your trip. We followed up with the homeowner after reading your feedback, and they wanted to share the following:
  - Our listing reflects the exact layout of the home. The homeowner prides themselves on being transparent and accommodating to all guests and would have been more than happy to walk you through the entire layout of the home had you inquired during the booking process.
  - Given that the house is 30 feet from the ocean, things do wear out rather quickly. We try to replace rusted items as soon as possible, as well as upkeep the screens and paint. The tides come and go twice a day. Summertime traditionally has the lowest high and low tides. We recommend watching a tide chart so guests can plan their beach and snorkeling time.
  - Even at high tide, guests are allowed to walk along the sea wall. Also, just two houses to the north, there is always a beach available, regardless of the tides. This beach is approximately 80 feet from the home and has public access. Guests can also walk north on the street, to the dead end, 4 houses down, where there is more public access to a beach that is always available, even at high tide.
  - We do include a map on our listing so that guests can see the approximate location of the home before booking, but we apologize that this caught you off guard. We provide plenty of suggestions in the listing description of nearby attractions, but ultimately it’s up to the guest how they want to spend their time in the area.
  - We try our best to provide a great environment for guests, but sometimes external factors like the other people in the neighborhood, are simply out of our control. The house is on Aliomanu Beach, which has very private access, and hardly anyone is on the beach. However, if you drive past Anahola Beach on the way to our home, this is a very public beach that is often used by locals for camping.
  - We recently installed a new mini-split air conditioning system, which has the condenser located on the outside of the building so it's super quiet and only runs when necessary. The fan can be set to low, or it can be set to dehumidify, which runs even more quietly.
  - We encourage guests to reach out to their guest contact while they are in residence with any issues so that they can address any concerns quickly for a most comfortable stay. We always work with guests if issues arise.
  We truly go above and beyond for our guests, and we are confident that future guests will have a relaxing stay!

• Amazing!

  5/5

  We were so happy with our stay. The property was as advertised, management company was responsive and helpful, and the location was remote, quiet, and just what we wanted. AMAZING!

  *This review was originally posted on Vrbo