Vacation Rentals by Owner

wonderful stay

Guest: kate (east hampton, ny)
Date of Stay: 03/05/12 Review Submitted: 03/27/12

Diane and Rick were excellent, helpful hosts during my three week stay at their beautiful cottage. Thank you so much. The cottage was immaculate and well appointed. The bed was very comfortable at the end of a long day on the beautiful island.

Owner response: Thank you so very much Kate, we really appreciate your review. Rick and Dianne Salyer PS Dianne just about idolizes you.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Relaxing Getaway

Guest: Brad (Akron, Ohio)
Date of Stay: 11/12/11 Review Submitted: 11/23/11

My wife and I thoroughly enjoyed our stay in the Cottage. We stayed there for eight days and Rick and Dianne went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable and give us tips about the area. The Cottage was clean and beautiful, and we loved the location being close to the little town of Kapaa. As others have said you do get nice views of several waterfalls on the nearby mountains. Thanks Again!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Husband and I had a wonderful stay!

Guest: Meghan (California)
Date of Stay: 10/26/11 Review Submitted: 11/12/11

Just wanted to say thank you to Rick and Dianne for a wonderful stay!!! The property is beautiful and any amenity you could hope for is provided!!! My husband and I did not want to stay in a hotel, and this fit the bill perfectly-we would definitely stay there again! Rick and Dianne are very knowledgeable about the area and go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable! My favorite part was being able to step outside the door and see the stunning mountains and waterfalls (they even provide binoculars)!! Do not hesitate to stay in this great place!!!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, age 55+, girls getaway, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Be sure to qualify which unit you are renting

Guest: Kevin (Dallas)
Date of Stay: 10/11/11 Review Submitted: 10/17/11

Overall the property is very nice and well kept. The owners provide beach chairs, snorkle gear, etc... Note: The owners live on property and you will be in close quarters with them (at least in my opinion... too close for me and my wife). The property sits about 4 miles away from the town of Kapa'a up near the base of the mountains. In their description they mention a cottage, a hale and a studio (a bit confusing if you ask me). After actually being there, the hale and studio are apparently the same unit. They show pictures of these units on VRBO and their website. It can be a bit confusing to figure out which picture goes with what rental for someone who has never seen it before. So let me help... the "cottage" sits directly next to the owners house (if inside the cottage and your windows were open you could see into the owners house) sharing the same two story deck between the two structures (they are separate houses). The "studio" or "hale" as they call it, sits BELOW where the owners live. It actually attaches to their garage. You are basically in their above ground basement. Thus you can sometimes hear their tv, their foot steps, and their conversations from above. The owners are very friendly, but there was apparently a miscommunication between us, as I believed that I was renting the cottage (the nicer of the two), and upon my arrival, my wife and I were assigned to the hale/studio (below the owners residence) claiming that a few girls had arrived a few days earlier and secured the cottage. When my wife talked to the husband about this, he said that his wife had booked us for the hale/studio. The funny thing is, when I was booking this trip, I had never even spoken to the wife and had booked everything through the husband. In addition, we were really looking forward to the king sized bed in the cottage, but the hale/studio only has a queen. The hale/studio smelt like smoke, my wife is pregnant, so thus we ended up leaving and not staying one night here. Deposit gone with no effort to reimburse us by the owners.

Owner response: I usually do not rent the Hale, except in cases when we are full in the Studio. My wife explained that, in the booking conversation . I always do as well. I will usually rent for longer periods, because people love the rental for an extended period of time. He told my wife he could not book for 2 weeks later when we had an opening in the Studio,and that he was to surprise his wife.The gentleman is correct. The studio is within 10 ft of our house, but it is half the house that is typically used for family visitors. And have never before been used simultaneously when we had family visitors. Once these guests checked in the wife came out and said she smelt smoke ,from the previous guests in the condo (which is brand new, full kitchen, bedroom, dining area), I found it hard to believe,because no-one has ever smoked in any of our dwellings. But I came down with a bottle Febreeze ,anyway. I tried to remedy that situation, but then she said "no that's not really it". So I came down to talk to the two of them and the husband said, "It is what it is," and went on to say" this is our first time to do a vacation rental, we're used to staying at hotels on the beach",laying by the pool.The husband then said, "They would spend one night here and then get a hotel for the other two nights." I said ok , and apologized for misunderstanding and wished there was something I could do. They left the house 2 hours later (I thought to go have dinner). Apparently he had come in quietly, and parked the car up the street where they could not be heard. He must have came back and dropped the gate opener.Left gate open. Nothing about reimbursement was ever mentioned. I assumed, they would spend the one night,like they said they would.I turned away several guests of 7-10 day stays. I have a guest book about 3 inches thick full of testimonials from previous travelers that are all to have come back year after year and refer their friends as well. We love giving people the local experience. It's called Aloha, and my friend's share Kauai's Aloha. I have had friends who take people fishing, kayaking with my kayaks, hiking to places only found on the beautiful garden island Kauai. Five years of perfect service with no complaints and one review like this, can hurt all that good service .

Recommended for:

rented unit for 8 days

Guest: Jessica from Denver, CO (Denver, Co)
Date of Stay: 10/10/11 Review Submitted: 11/11/11

Had a wonderful week staying at this lovely private residence. Hosts Rick and Diane were very helpful and gave us great tips on things to do and see depending on what we were in the mood to do. They were flexible w/ check in/check out time and even lets us use all their beach/scuba stuff. We travelled all over the island so we appreciated it's central but secluded location with amazing mountain/waterfall views. I would stay here again and I would recommend this place to family and friends who want a more authentic Kauai experience. Thanks Rick and Diane for a wonderful vacation! I am hooked on Kauai!

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, girls getaway, tourists without a car, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

Quite, Lush Views, Restfull.

Guest: JC (Sherman Oaks CA)
Date of Stay: 06/17/11 Review Submitted: 07/03/11

Really different mountain Hawaii hideaway experience,,,,,,Lush views and so quite that the bird sounds almost kept us awake. Hosts were very gracious.

Recommended for:Adventure seekers, romantic getaway.

Waterfall Cottage

Guest: Bob and Linda (Pennsylvania)
Date of Stay: 09/27/10 Review Submitted: 10/27/11

We had a great time in Kauai. Our accomidations were clean and close to all the amenities we were looking for. Beautiful gardens on the property. Definitely would and will recommend to others.

Owner response:Thank you Linda and Bob.You were the guests ,before the complaint on smoke smell in the Hale.I am sorry to bother you but can you write about that. It still does not smell anything but,fresh.As ridiculous as this thing has become,it can be very damaging to our challenge to survive this recession.Mahalo,Rick.

Recommended for:Age 55+, girls getaway, sightseeing.

Steve and Barbara Lamphere

Guest: Steve and Barbara
Date of Stay: 08/30/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

thanks for your hospitality. We really enjoyed your fresh fruit too! Comfortable bed , spacious room. Lovely grounds and views. "We'll be back"

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Mark and Leanne Schiuing from Woodstock Georgia

Guest: Mark and Leanne
Date of Stay: 08/23/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

Rick and Diane. Thank you both for making our stay a memorable one! We thoroughly enjoyed your studio and found it to be a relaxing place to unwind after a day of exploring Y'all( as Georgians say) definitely know the business of hospitality and were great hosts! We'll see you and Kauai again soon( hopefully)! Thank you! Mark and LeAnn

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Maggie and Brandon Bettger from Seqium Wash.

Guest: Maggie and Brandon
Date of Stay: 06/29/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

thank you so much for providing such a wonderful little getaway! The views are amazing and every time it rained I anticipating seeing the waterfalls are pictures won't do it justice!! Thank you for such kind hospitality, your mosquito remedy was a miracle and I really enjoyed story swapping. Even though I was sick at the beginning of our stay, this gave me a quiet place to relax and recoup. we definitely had a memorable honeymoon. Maggie and Brandon.

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Beth and Chris Barer

Guest: Beth and Chris
Date of Stay: 03/07/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

thanks Rick and Dianne for a wonderful stay in the studio. We really did consider it our home away from home for our stay here. The views are fantastic and the little Beaches everywhere really made her visit enjoyable.

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Matthew and Carolyn Calls from Denver Colorado

Guest: Matt and Carolyn
Date of Stay: 02/18/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

Thanks Dianne for a great stay and great hospitality! It was so nice to stay in a beautiful location ,that wasn't right in the middle of the busy beach-side strips. We will always remember our stay with you and hope to come back and visit again soon. Matt and Caroline.

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James and Carly Klibingat

Guest: James and Carly
Date of Stay: 01/16/09 Review Submitted: 11/10/11

thank you so much for your hospitality, Rick and Diane! We really enjoyed our stay in Kawai and in your lovely studio suite. Couldn't ask for more beautiful surroundings. We really appreciated all the little touches the count thanks again!!! Carly and James

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