Absolutely the BEST!

Guest: Tina from California (Vista CA USA)
Date of Stay: 01/08/11 Review Submitted: 02/02/11

Dana & Kario, Thank you SO much for offering your gorgeous home to our family! What an amazing location! The house was so comfortable, just perfect for the 7 of us. Our 17 days there were idyllic: the waves were huge, the sunsets awesome, the weather (nearly) perfect! Almost got a chance to see The Eddie Aikau, that's how big the swell was! My brother and his family said it was their best vacation ever. The surfers in the group had a blast at Velzyland and right out front. The non surfers found a nice little area to swim even with the big swell. The upstairs lanai was a perfect place to spot whales and check out the surfers being towed out to the big waves. Being dog lovers we loved meeting the local dogs like Nani, Lipoa, PJ, Rusty, Rocco, Barclay, Jake, Oso, Hapa and my personal favorite Pua. (Sure wish I could bring that dog home with me!) The picnic table is a great place for morning coffee and evening cocktails, and the kids loved the rope swing. The house was very clean (Iris does a great job!) and you haven't missed a thing to assure a comfortable stay. The decor is so fresh and happy and the beds are unbelieviably soft! The house was so perfect we didn't really go out to eat. Why when you're in the perfect spot? We did get fresh shrimp in Kahuku, fresh Mahi Mahi at the Haleiwa Outdoor market, tropical fruit at the stands along the highway (corn not so good but the bananas (fresh & fried), pineapple & passionfruit were awesome.) Pastries from Ted's-especially the coconut Danish-were SO good. Oh and we ate tons of Poke from Foodland...YUM! Had fun shopping in Haleiwa especially at Guava and Oogenesis Boutique. Make sure to check out the newly opened Clark Little Gallery...amazing photos! My brother and the kids had a blast at Ron Artis' place listening to the family perform. Other day trips included surfing on the West side, Ala Moana Shopping Mall for the Aussies and a couple of trips to Kailua to go thrift shopping! Kinda crazy but my Mom and I are addicts! The drive down the East side is beautiful. What more can I say except that you were an absolute pleasure to work with and we will definitely be recommending North Shore Ocean Front Plantation House! Aloha & Mahalo, Tina Ferguson Dallys Marechal Rex, Mandy, Chloe, Tasman & Maili Kai Marechal

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

Guest: Peter (-)
Date of Stay: 01/24/10 Review Submitted: 01/10/11

Dana: Happy New Year. Hope this year is a really good one for you and your family. We had an amazing time at your place, better than expected, and we were expecting a lot. Thank you for sharing it with us. We did about all you could do, surfed, (not at backyards, too big for my crew), we found Buttons, who helped the kids, we went to Turtle Bay for Christmas dinner, Ted’s many times, the fruit stand ditto, met your neighbours who were wonderful, had a wonderful few days at the Kahala, all in all a magic time. It’s hard to be back even tho’ the sun is out and there’s snow on the mountains. We’re telling everyone we see how much fun we had at your place, hopefully we’ll get you some future business. The bed in the master bedroom, was like sleeping on a cloud, do you happen to know the type of mattress, we need to have one, and I was going to look at the label, but forgot. If you have a minute, it would be appreciated. We’ll be back if you’ll have us. Sincerely Peter. Peter W. Phillips, FCSI

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Guest: Danielle (-)
Date of Stay: 12/01/10 Review Submitted: 01/09/11

Hey guys! Thanks so much for your email, so nice! Its been an amazing last week here, filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows really. Kierens result was amazing and shattering all at once, I have never felt so broken hearted in all of my years watching Kieren surf! He was absolutely devastated to lose in the dying minutes and its taken us a few days to get over it....at the same time we have done plenty of celebrating in honour of his 2nd place! The BBQ has had a great workout! Its raining here and we are getting ready to leave which is really sad..we have never stayed in a house on the beach here in all of our 10 yrs of coming and im not sure how I will come back next year and not stay here (a little bit like when you fly business you cant go back to ecomony!) Its been amazing and has truly felt like home for us! Ill have to get used to sleeping without the sound of the ocean now and also get used to waking up without that amazing view! Thankyou so much for your hospitality..Dana you have been nothing short of amazing in all of my dealings with you, ive never dealt with someone as happy and hospitable as you have been so THANKYOU! I feel like Ive made a friend and I hope we can continue to stay in touch (feels to strange to think I wont be emailing you anymore!). We will be back in LA in September so we should definately try to meet up then and we will of course be back in Hawaii for the Nov/Dec season here. You guys should also try to make it out to Byron Bay for holiday..you would love it and we would love to see you there! Have an amazing Christmas & NY and lets keep in touch! Lots of love Danielle

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Guest: Tobey (-)
Date of Stay: 08/18/10 Review Submitted: 09/13/10

Hi Dana! Finally getting time to let you know how much we enjoyed staying in your house! What a great experience! The house is beautiful and the location is amazing, loved my morning walks! Made guacamole almost every night with all those amazing avocadoes...will miss those! Tobey

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Guest: Kara (-)
Date of Stay: 06/06/10 Review Submitted: 07/02/10

We are all wondering over here how you talk yourselves into returning to Los Angeles. :-) This is the best place by far that we've stayed at when we come to HI. It fits our family so perfectly and listening to the waves, and looking at the stars at night... The beds are fabulous! Being able to watch the kids play on the beach while I sit up on the grass is so helpful. I am light-skinned, so I have to watch myself a bit. We bought lots of lovely fruit from the big fruit stand up the road. What a fun variety! One of their cats had kittens, so our girls were having a ball. Warmly, Kara

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Guest: Carl (-)
Date of Stay: 06/18/10 Review Submitted: 07/02/10

Hi Dana, Thinking of the wonderful time we had when I saw this cloud this morning. It was a joy dealing with you. All the best, Carl

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Guest: Helen (-)
Date of Stay: 07/02/09 Review Submitted: 04/06/10

Helen's letter to her family that she included us in:) As I mentioned previously, the house here in Hawaii is amazing. It literally sits on the beach and every window and bedroom faces the ocean. We all sleep upstairs and we were lulled to sleep by the sound of crashing waves last night. Six year old Nico has been a little stressed by the fact that we are so close to the ocean and she has been worried about a Tsunami hitting the house. She has her bag packed and takes it with her every time we leave the house. I'm happy to report that she too appears to be relaxing as demonstrated by her very spritely "performances" on the staircase this afternoon. The food here in Hawaii is so fresh and tasty. We have enjoyed grilled tuna steak burgers and wonderful fruits. Michelle and I did a huge supermarket shop last night to stock up on the basics. I was rather astounded by the whiteness of the eggs! They honestly did not look real. Suffice it to say, we bought the organic eggs which are labelled as "brown eggs" here. This morning we made french toast for breakfast using the local sweet Hawaiian bread and maple syrup. We then headed off to the Farmer's market which is held here every sunday. The children enjoyed pineapple shaved ice drinks and freshly made sweet crepes! We also stocked up on some fresh produce for the house. It is quite amazing to ponder how much food you need to feed 8 people for breakfast, lunch and dinner! After a very refreshing swim in the aquamarine water we had a wonderful lunch eating all the food we had bought earlier! It is certainly feeling rather decadent! Have to get some exercise in somewhere! Dana has some bikes here, so John and Kris took a one hour ride this morning. Michelle and I have picked up from where we left off last year with our water aerobics in the sea! I think everyone else is upstairs having a lie down at the moment to prepare themselves for the activities of the rest of the day. More beach and eating! We are also planning to go to the Polynesian Cultural Centre to watch a traditional Luau and dinner show. Pearl Harbour is also on the agenda although may be quite busy given that we are coming up to the July 4th celebrations. Aloha! Helen

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Guest: Helen (-)
Date of Stay: 07/02/09 Review Submitted: 04/06/10

Helen's letter to her family that she included us in:) As I mentioned previously, the house here in Hawaii is amazing. It literally sits on the beach and every window and bedroom faces the ocean. We all sleep upstairs and we were lulled to sleep by the sound of crashing waves last night. Six year old Nico has been a little stressed by the fact that we are so close to the ocean and she has been worried about a Tsunami hitting the house. She has her bag packed and takes it with her every time we leave the house. I'm happy to report that she too appears to be relaxing as demonstrated by her very spritely "performances" on the staircase this afternoon. The food here in Hawaii is so fresh and tasty. We have enjoyed grilled tuna steak burgers and wonderful fruits. Michelle and I did a huge supermarket shop last night to stock up on the basics. I was rather astounded by the whiteness of the eggs! They honestly did not look real. Suffice it to say, we bought the organic eggs which are labelled as "brown eggs" here. This morning we made french toast for breakfast using the local sweet Hawaiian bread and maple syrup. We then headed off to the Farmer's market which is held here every sunday. The children enjoyed pineapple shaved ice drinks and freshly made sweet crepes! We also stocked up on some fresh produce for the house. It is quite amazing to ponder how much food you need to feed 8 people for breakfast, lunch and dinner! After a very refreshing swim in the aquamarine water we had a wonderful lunch eating all the food we had bought earlier! It is certainly feeling rather decadent! Have to get some exercise in somewhere! Dana has some bikes here, so John and Kris took a one hour ride this morning. Michelle and I have picked up from where we left off last year with our water aerobics in the sea! I think everyone else is upstairs having a lie down at the moment to prepare themselves for the activities of the rest of the day. More beach and eating! We are also planning to go to the Polynesian Cultural Centre to watch a traditional Luau and dinner show. Pearl Harbour is also on the agenda although may be quite busy given that we are coming up to the July 4th celebrations. Aloha! Helen

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Guest: Bill (-)
Date of Stay: 11/27/09 Review Submitted: 04/06/10

We're back to freezing San Francisco. We had a great time. The house was perfect for us. My surfer son Mike got a bunch of good rides and was thrilled to watch the last two days of the O'Neill Classic as well as the ceremony for the Eddie Aikau. Unfortunately, at the O'Neill Classic we were rooting for my friend's son, Austin Ware, and he was eliminated, but it was still a trip. My other son Chris and his wife and two-year-old often went sightseeing, and Chris went on a couple of dives. Maxine and I mostly stayed at the house and relaxed, except for snorkeling one early morning in Hanauma Bay. We loved it! Thank you, Bill

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Guest: Lisa (-)
Date of Stay: 12/06/09 Review Submitted: 04/06/10

Aloha Dana, This was our 6th trip to Hawaii and by far, the very best! We thoroughly enjoyed staying at your home. We even got to share in some very special Hawaii moments, what with the 50 foot waves, the Triple Crown and the Eddie Aikau Memorial Surfing Tournament. All so spectacular! One evening we sat on the picnic table for 30 minutes watching 3 whales playing; we saw 4 breaches and many tail slaps and fin waves. We had brought 2 pair of the smaller binoculars, but your set brought them up close and personal! We took some pictures, but our lens wasn't nearly strong enough. All we got were some black blobs in a sea of blue. Of course, we cannot forget to mention Nani! She adopted us and made us feel like part of the "family". I was glad to hear that you are going to stay a couple of weeks this visit. I'll tell you what you told me... don't forget to just relax and do nothing! Mahalo, Lisa

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