Fun, Sun and the Aloha spirit

Guest: pualani (landstuhl, germany)
Date of Stay: 07/01/09 Review Submitted: 07/21/09

Aloha Laurie, Danielle and Darla, As an island girl, born and raised on O'ahu, I was looking for a place to vacation with my ohana that was similar to a place I was raised as a little girl - near the ocean and very peaceful. I found Hale Nui and Darla! She was extremely helpful pulling together this wonderful trip home. I've been living away from the island for 5 years and felt I needed to reconnect with the island, people and culture. I was already excited from the pictures I saw on the internet and could not wait to see the place. When we arrived, we were treated to delicious island snacks and fruit I grew up with. There was even a delicious Ted's Bakery (chocolate haupia) pie waiting for us to indulge. I loved all the nice touches from the snacks to the comfortable beds. I really loved the spaciousness to BBQ, enjoy the cool air outside, walk the beach or sun bathe. I also enjoyed the decor and attention to detail. You made our visit comfortable and pleasant with your follow-up calls and another delicious pie right before we left. Mahalo nui loa for all you did to make our stay an enjoyable one and for being so willing to help us find accomodation when we could not do a late check-out. You folks really epitomize the true meaning of the aloha spirit. With fond aloha, Landsuhl, Germany and Ames, Iowa

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

Everything it said it was!!

Guest: Marcella (Albany NY)
Date of Stay: 01/27/12 Review Submitted: 02/03/12

This house was perfect for us! It lived up to its description and more. We had a party of 11 (10 adults and 1 3 YO) and it fit us very well. They had many things for the little one also...books and movies and beach toys!! They were also able to accommodate a person with special needs by bringing us a bath chair. Being right on the ocean was awesome! We slept with the window open listening to the waves. The special welcome items like coffee and chocolate covered macadamia nuts were great too.

Recommended for:People with disabilities, sightseeing, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children.

Traditional Hawaii

Guest: Gwen (Mt Vernon, WA)
Date of Stay: 04/03/11 Review Submitted: 04/19/11

Thank you Laura and Darla. Darla went out of her way to get us booked in the right Ewa Beach house. Laura took care of us during our vacation. The house was a delight. The fenced yard was great for the little ones but, being right on the beach was the best part. It was wonderful to fall asleep at night listening to the surf. There is plenty of outdoor seating and indoor seating for everyone. We appreciated using the coolers, boogie boards, and snorkel gear. The kitchen was well stocked and we were delighted with the welcome basket. This house felt like home as we came and went on our Hawaiian adventures. Laura took very good care of us and made sure everything was just perfect. Thank you for sharing this lovely home.

Recommended for:People with disabilities, sightseeing, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Stayed Nov 27-Dec 9, 2011

Guest: Travelling family (Yukon, Canada)
Date of Stay: 11/27/10 Review Submitted: 01/11/11

We had an incredible time at Hale Nuii. We booked it for the first week of our vacation and then were to move to the North Shore for the second week. We fell in love with Hale Nui and after only three days on the North Shore, called Laurie and she was gracious enough to let us come back for the rest of our trip! We travelled with our two teens and they loved having the space, the long stretch or virtually private beach and internet! They had a very relaxing time as did we. Laurie made sure we had everything we needed including a thoughtful welcome package, treated us to a dinner and was a wealth of information in terms of tours and must-sees in Oahu. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for making our trip so memorable with your incredible home. I recommend you to everyone and will definitely be back. Hope you got the package we sent form Canada, enjoy! Susan and Ron

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, people with disabilities, sightseeing, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Thomas family sept 2010

Guest: Simone (Australia)
Date of Stay: 09/20/10 Review Submitted: 10/24/10

A very welcoming home right from the start. After travelling the U.S. for 5 weeks, a week spent in this haven was a real treat before returning to Australia. The local fruits & coffee to welcome us was appreciated, as was the follow up phonecalls received from both Laurie & Darla. The service from original enquiry to follow up calls/emails to ensure we were satisfied is truly amazing. The photos depict the home very well, there is nothing that has been forgotten!! The only negatives were the bathrooms are a little old but i guess true to the character/era of the home. Also, after reading reviews describing isolation i was surprised to have close neighbours. It was a lovely surprise once we met Danielle & she was also helpful. Over all it was a very positive experience & i wish we could visit yearly. Perfect for children, the library of books & dvds was a welcomed delight. Great laundry facilities, comfy beds, lots of closet space. I think having a car would be a must, unless you plan to spend most days at the house, which is very tempting!! Magic hostesses that make you feel like family. Simply fantasic!

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Good value, spacious, fabulous beachside location

Guest: Miriam (Northern California)
Date of Stay: 05/26/10 Review Submitted: 07/11/10

I have family in Oahu and needed to be close to them and have a requirement that I only stay in vacation homes and I only stay beachside. Thankfully, this one was available and the agent and owners were very professional, timely, and responsive from first booking to after my stay. We were delighted to be greeted by fresh groceries and fruit on arrival - chocolates, cookies, Kona coffee, milk and guava juice in the fridge and a big pile of pineapple, oranges, bananas, etc. - great hospitality. Partway through the trip, Laurie left us a chocolate haupia pie from north shore! Includes all the amenities mentioned - free wifi, an a/c in each bedroom. Large spacious closets, huge living room with an extra bed so if you want to be next to the sea as you sleep, you can! Danielle is a sweet next door neighbor to you so say hi! Huge amount of usable goods - from kitchen appliances to cookware, to a whole pantry of cleaning and household maintenance refills (garbage bags, paper towels), to lots of spices and ingredients to use from previous guests. This is a GENEROUSLY stocked house, compared to others. Large amounts of towels and plenty of toilet paper, soap, etc. you really are stocked up, even in the medicine cabinets! We saw monk seals at the START of our trip and at the END - right on our beach! Foodland is 5 minutes away, as is a local Catholic and another local Lutheran church. The Foodland center has L&L, Jamba Juice, Beard Papa, Starbucks, Longs, and more. Kapolei, 10 min drive, has a movie theater, and junk food outlets, some stores (sunglasses, clothes), with a handful of restaurants and Gialuchi Day Spa, which we went to for some really good massages. Some CONS: The hospitality made up for this for us, but the bathrooms did feel dated and toward the end of their prime (the tubs). The floor was a nice cool tile but within the first day of being indoors only walking around in socks or barefoot we discovered it was not necessarily mopped or scrubbed clean. We did see a few roaches. Yes, the house book says to relax, it's common on the islands but I've stayed in several homes on Oahu and Maui and only seen roaches at 2. Be mindful to NOT leave any food out and keep it in the fridge or microwave. Cupboards aren't safe. Also, would be great if a sturdy, outdoor umbrella were installed over the deck chairs, we didn't want to try and dismantle the umbrella from the other table.

Owner response:We do our best to make sure our guests do have everything they need. We are striving for perfection but at times we may fall short just a little. We do appreciate hearing from our past guest all the encouragement as well constructive criticism. I would like to say we never get those unwanted visiting guests the "cock roach" but that would not be true. We do spray often and keep the traps around. We find our guests do love to keep the patio door open which is fine but that is how our little critter slip in occasionally. I do know when the houses our surrounded by lush vegetation and plants it is more likely to get cock roaches than a high rise condo or a place with not much trees and flowers. I found out early on after moving to Hawaii from the Midwest that there are many reasons for wearing slippers. They do make a good swatters. It is true and important to keep food put away. This does help a lot. We will address the floor issue with housekeeping. We have had several umbrellas in the past for tables that our guests tend to leave up and the trade winds come through and destroy them but we are totally open to getting new ones in the yard if this would be a blessing.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, girls getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

AWSOME HOME AND LOCATION

Guest: Brenda P. (oahu)
Date of Stay: 01/10/10 Review Submitted: 01/20/10

I had 2 friends come in from the mainland, I was able to work with Darla and Laurie to stay at the house a few days while my friends were here. I usually see the guests at Lauries home when they check in and then I clean up after them when they go home. Because I do the cleaning for Laurie. But I was able to stay at the rental home and had a wonderful time. The house was so nice and it gave all of us enough room. We loved our walks on the beach, seeing the beautiful sunsets and even got to see the sunrize the last morning we stayed their. My friends and family want to make this a regular yearly routine. I now see why the guests always seem so rested and relaxed when they go back home... Ma hoalo , Brenda

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, tourists without a car, people with disabilities, sightseeing, adventure seekers, girls getaway, age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Guest: pualani (landstuhl, germany)
Date of Stay: 07/21/09 Review Submitted: 07/21/09

Aloha Laurie, Danielle and Darla, As an island girl, born and raised on O'ahu, I was looking for a place to vacation with my ohana that was similar to a place I was raised as a little girl - near the ocean and very peaceful. I found Hale Nui and Darla! She was extremely helpful pulling together this wonderful trip home. I've been living away from the island for 5 years and felt I needed to reconnect with the island, people and culture. I was already excited from the pictures I saw on the internet and could not wait to see the place. When we arrived, we were treated to delicious island snacks and fruit I grew up with. There was even a delicious Ted's Bakery (chocolate haupia) pie waiting for us to indulge. I loved all the nice touches from the snacks to the comfortable beds. I really loved the spaciousness to BBQ, enjoy the cool air outside, walk the beach or sun bathe. I also enjoyed the decor and attention to detail. You made our visit comfortable and pleasant with your follow-up calls and another delicious pie right before we left. Mahalo nui loa for all you did to make our stay an enjoyable one and for being so willing to help us find accomodation when we could not do a late check-out. You folks really epitomize the true meaning of the aloha spirit. With fond aloha, The Iuli and Pagala Ohana

Recommended for:

Spring Break 2009

Guest: Island folks (Paso Robles, CA)
Date of Stay: 04/01/09 Review Submitted: 07/09/09

We spent our spring break at Hale Nui. It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation right from the start. We were able to escape the crowds and just enjoy the beach and the water. We loved watching the surfers during the day. We kayaked and boogie boarded right off the beach. Grocery stores were well stocked and within an easy drive. The tourist locations like Waikiki and North Shore were easy drives. The house had everything we needed to prepare dinners for 5. We look forward to going back agian soon. Thank you Darla and Laurie for having such a special place and making it so easy to go there.

Recommended for:Romantic getaway, families with young children, families with teenagers.

Guest: Island folks (Paso Robles, CA)
Date of Stay: 07/09/09 Review Submitted: 07/09/09

We spent our spring break at Hale Nui. It was a wonderfully relaxing vacation right from the start. We were able to escape the crowds and just enjoy the beach and the water. We loved watching the surfers during the day. We kayaked and boogie boarded right off the beach. Grocery stores were well stocked and within an easy drive. The tourist locations like Waikiki and North Shore were easy drives. The house had everything we needed to prepare dinners for 5. We look forward to going back agian soon. Thank you Darla and Laurie for having such a special place and making it so easy to go there.

Recommended for: