First off, if you are traveling to Kona for the Hawaii 70.3, this unit is located very close to the Fairmont(very easy walk). So for the race, the location is hard to beat.
The property itself was fine. Straightforward 2 bedroom (with bedrooms upstairs...more on that in a second).
Here are the pros/cons we experienced:
Pro:
- Location (particularly for race)
- Beach club access- super nice perk (even when crowded we could get covered chairs). Restaurant at the beach was great as well. (not walkable but there is decent parking).
- Cooking accessories & supplies. We were pleased that the unit had all the basics we needed to cook from spices to pans, plates, and utensils. Maybe most importantly cleaning supplies, trash bags, and even sunscreen (and aloe vera for sunburns).
- Wifi- I had to work while there and found the wifi strong and very user friendly (simple thing but significant for me).
Cons (or really just things I would have liked to know before renting)-
- A/C- This was really the only big disappointment for us. The A/C cannot go lower than 74 and worse, you have to watch it or it jumps to 79. I get that when not in the unit, turning the A/C up is reasonable, but it was a pain having to constantly go turn it down...including throughout the night. More problematic was that at 74 it never cooled the upstairs and especially the front bedroom. The master was tolerable with the fan on full blast, but the front bedroom was not. I'm sure this may not be an issue at other times of the year, but in June it was for us. In fact, to get a good night sleep on race day, I paid to stay at the Fairmont and cranked the AC down to where I normally sleep (expensive 1 night fix but was worth it for me...family stayed in unit and fought through it!)
- Wear of unit items- for the most part, things were fine, but little things like TVs and remotes not being coordinated, bedding being old, sofa having major dips, etc. were just less than ideal. Again, all were fine and livable, but not what we expected for the price paid.
- Garage- pics showed garage, but it is not useable by guests. Again, not a huge deal, but something I would have liked to know before renting.
- Pool hours- There is a very nice pool close to the unit (yeah!), but it is adult only until 12p and it closes at 7p. Again, fine but would have been good to know in advance, especially with kiddos.
Overall- Unit is fine, just set expectations accordingly going in.