Beachfront Cottage on North Shore Oahu, Sleeps 4, $140/Night

• Beauty and the Beach

  Beauty and the Beach

  • Guest Greg-in-Austin
  • Date of stay 01/25/13
  • Review Submitted 03/23/13
  This was our second year staying at this lovely cottage. The location is ideal with waves breaking ashore less than twenty feet from your lanai - the view is phenomenal. The beach is unspoiled and you rarely have to share it with anyone other than a few sea turtles. On this trip we saw whales breaching offshore and had visits by several monk seals sunning themselves nearby. If you desire a wonderful, tranquil vacation hideaway, this is the place.

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

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Don't Tell Anyone!

  Don't Tell Anyone!

  • Guest Jeff
  • Date of stay 02/23/12
  • Review Submitted 02/06/13
  I hesitate to write a glowing review because I would really like to keep this place a secret. Our daughter lives on the North Shore and we have been renting vacation condos there for over 10 years. This year, we were having difficulty finding a place in Haleiwa and expanded our search to the surrounding areas. We found this jewel and will never stay anywhere else again. It's right on the beach - any closer and you'd be wet. Sitting on the patio you can watch the whales passing by during migrating seasons. It's quiet and perfect for two people. The owner even met us at the airport when we arrived. Not sure if he does that all the time, but it was a very nice touch. If you are looking for night life and crowded beaches, bars and restaurants - this is not the place.

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway.

  Owner response: Thanks!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Relaxing Vacation

  Relaxing Vacation

  • Guest Nick
  • Date of stay 03/24/12
  • Review Submitted 04/09/12
  This location made for a quiet, private and comfortable vacation spot. We enjoyed the surf and nice clean sandy beach right outside our door. We met other guests and learned to gather for the ‘sunset table’ at the end of the day. We cooked the majority of our meals and always found what we needed in the kitchen. The guys did a one day fishing trip (Foxy Lady out of Haleiwa) which supplied us with some wonderful mahi-mahi. The grounds were well maintained with a variety of tropical flowers in bloom. From our cottage we saw sea turtles feeding as they swam from west to east. Amazingly we also saw a whale breach the last day. This was a treat as we understand it was late in the season. We read lots of books and reveled in a very relaxing vacation. We will recommend this property. The owner was easy to work with.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, romantic getaway, families with young children, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Just what I had in mind

  Just what I had in mind

  • Guest Gerey
  • Date of stay 03/14/12
  • Review Submitted 03/23/12
  This was my first time renting from both VRBO, and this property, so I was slightly apprehensive. I was also a little concerned over the negative review submitted previously, but after some e-mail correspondence with the owner, we committed to the renting cottage for a week. And I am pleased to share, that the cottage is just as described, with one exception: The pictures and description do not do the location, views, sunrises, sunsets, justice. We wanted to stay at a place on the island that was more tranquil and natural (not the commercial tourist traps) and this place fit the bill. As some of the reviews stated the interior is a little dated, but almost lends itself to the charm, and quite frankly with what the outside had to offer, who wants to spend time inside anyway? I have already recommended this cottage to friends and family, and would rent the cottage again if I ever return to O'ahu.

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, romantic getaway, sightseeing.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Picture-Perfect Postcard Views and a Great Value on the North Shore

  Picture-Perfect Postcard Views and a Great Value on the North Shore

  • Guest Greg-in-Austin
  • Date of stay 01/21/12
  • Review Submitted 02/19/12
  I gave this a 5-star rating because the cottage was exactly as described. It is an ideal getaway, and a great value. My wife and I have been vacationing on the North Shore of Oahu for 18 years, and generally stay with an old friend who lives there, but decided to rent this cottage for two weeks on this trip. We prefer the relaxed, laid-back lifestyle of the North Shore to the hectic, “touristy” Waikiki atmosphere. We corresponded with the owner via email on multiple occasions, and he always replied promptly. The lanai is twenty feet from the seawall with a picture-perfect postcard view of the Pacific. You’ll always hear the waves, as the cottage is designed for flow-through ventilation. There’s no air conditioning, but we never felt that we needed it. The cottage, while dated, is clean and comfortable. The grounds are well-kept, and the beach is not crowded. We cooked a number of meals in the small, but well-appointed kitchen. There’s a Costo near Mililani where one can purchase food at a fraction of the Hawaiian grocery store prices. While it affords a very relaxing lifestyle (we really enjoyed watching the humpbacks breaching while sipping cocktails on the lanai), one can always find adventures not far away from skydiving, soaring, and powered hang gliders at nearby Dillingham, to hiking, mountain biking, as well as tennis, golf and numerous water sports not too far away. We highly recommend this for a couple or small family seeking this type of accommodation. I would not recommend it to someone wanting a more luxurious, resort-like facility with restaurants and activities on the property. The resorts at Ko Olina and Turtle Bay can provide these, but they do come with a price premium. And if you seek the night life, stay in Waikiki.

  Recommended for: Adventure seekers, age 55+, romantic getaway, families with young children.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• New Years on the North Shore

  New Years on the North Shore

  • Guest Rissa
  • Date of stay 12/28/11
  • Review Submitted 01/12/12
  We had a wonderful time staying at your place! What a very special place it is. Watching the full moon rise and then set was spectacular. Being right on the waterfront was fabulous. Enjoyed the friendly folks that were also at the Colony. We'll certainly miss our daily beach walks with hardly a soul around. . Thanks!

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 1/1

• The perfect vacation

  The perfect vacation

  • Guest Wendy
  • Date of stay 11/29/11
  • Review Submitted 12/20/11
  We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at the Mokuleia beach colony in this cottage. The ocean was literally outside our door, and we enjoyed waking up every morning and seeing it from the bed. The cottage itself was perfectly clean, well laid out and a little bigger than it appears in the pictures. There was a bonus area in front of the kitchen which made the whole space sufficiently accommodate a small family. The kitchen was a little bigger than it appears and we had no problem cooking with all the great items that were already provided. Contrary to a write up below, the kitchen was perfectly clean and the dishwasher worked great and looked new. The cottage comes complete with items like games, boogie boards, books, barbecues and beach mats. The grounds are beautifully manicured and pool and tennis court are a great bonus. Anyone can make this the vacation they are dreaming of. If you are looking for a quite and relaxing holiday, you can’t go wrong. Thank you to Peter, the owner, who was very accommodating and made our “first” family vacation something that we will never forget.

  Recommended for: Age 55+, families with young children.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

• We left our hearts in Mokuleia

  We left our hearts in Mokuleia

  • Guest A Piece of Heaven
  • Date of stay 11/15/10
  • Review Submitted 06/18/11
  Fabulous.

  Recommended for: Romantic getaway.

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 0/0

• Great place, greatly dissapointed by owner's poor handling of small complaint in the end.

  Great place, greatly dissapointed by owner's poor handling of small complaint in the end.

  • Guest NoBama4Me
  • Date of stay 01/21/11
  • Review Submitted 02/05/11
  Great location, adequate accommodations. Although unit is in dire need of a post 1968 face-lift, it had a great ocean-front lanai and even a functional charcoal Weber BBQ. Every area of the unit was spotless, except the kitchen which was FILTHY which also changed our original plans of buying groceries and eating most meals in-house (the whole point of this sort of rental) causing us to eat all but one BBQ'd meal out at increased hassle & expense. Part of that was a cockroach problem in the cupboards and daily mouse-droppings on stove, which was more of a mental issue for my wife, but the dishes and utensils were beyond disgusting. I quickly determined that the dishwasher was broken (I believe this was not known to the owner) and whomever the owner had cleaning the unit was simply unloading the dishes back into the cupboards, somehow missing the obvious lack of cleanliness (food chunks on most everything) which would have been challenging to not notice. We thanked the owner profusely for the enjoyable rental and made him aware of the kitchen issues to which he seemed appreciative. When I learned that my wife had been charged a decent amount for the unit's cleaning as part of the rental, I suggested to the owner that the cleaning fee be refunded for obvious reasons. Owner has never responded to this more than reasonable request/suggestion. In a nutshell; great place, wish we stay there again, but owner's customer service failure at the end is mind-boggling. No matter what you do, be sure to take a glider ride at Dillingham Field just a few hundred yards to the west.

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

  Owner response: Wow, this is a terrible review for such a solvable situation. Dang it. 1) Kitchen Shelves: We a heart-to-heart chat with our house-cleaners and they promised to make sure the kitchen shelves are super clean in the future. 2) Dishwasher has been fixed. 3) My visitors did not clearly communicate that they wanted a refund on the cleaning fee; I'm guessing they backed away from harsh words and only vaguely hinted at a refund. If they had candidly asked me for a refund we would have given them a refund without any hesitation! I'd blame poor communication because we're not unreasonable folks!

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 4/4

• Quiet, ocean, light, landscaping, night sky

  Quiet, ocean, light, landscaping, night sky

  • Guest ELnLA
  • Date of stay 12/25/10
  • Review Submitted 01/17/11
  An excellent choice for two people in late Dec. 2010. Very quiet, very low-key, lots of windows/screens on three sides, directly on a North Shore beach, excellent landscaping. Relax, slow down. This is not Turtle Bay, Kailua, Waikiki. Loved the quiet, the ocean, the light, the night sky (little light pollution), the green plants outside. Mokuleia Beach Colony is a gated complex of about 20 one-story duplexes. Landscaping, facilities very well maintained & very green grounds. Excellent pool. Well more than half of the units are full-time or weekend owner/occupied. This unit seems to be one of few that are in a rental pool. The unit: A workable, simple kitchen, full appliances & jalousie doorway opening to beach. Open dining/living room. A very nice & private outdoor shower outside the bathroom. Excellent internet connection (cable), small TV (never turned it on). Furnishings are simple, comfortable, well maintained. Communication with owner: Responsive, professional. Accurate vbro.com description of unit. Excellent email communication, Provided local phone numbers (never used them).

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

  Did you find this review helpful? Yes | No Helpful votes: 2/2

$140/night, + a one-time cleaning fee of $100, + 14.462% taxes.
Four-night minimum stay.

Note: Until confirmed, rates are subject to change without notice.