Waimanalo Beach Family Home, 2 Bed, 2 Bath, Steps to Beach

Great place. Very close to the beach. Loved it.

The beach house is in a great location. Waimanalo beach is a beautiful beach and is only one minute walk from the house. The house is roomy and has excellent Wifi, great beds, good TV and lots of hot water. There is room for improvement in several areas, including removal of clutter around the house, poor driveway condition (with old car on site blocking parking space), second bathroom badly requires renovations, leaky taps, poorly adjusted doors/locks, uncomfortable sofa/chair in living room, jammed patio doors, no working electrical plug outside for electric BBQ, unusuable deck area, and - worst of all - cockroaches in the house!!! This house needs a lot of TLC to be up to par.

Pamela is an excellent host who is very thorough with information on the neighborhood, beach, activities, and house. She was super welcoming, accessible and responsive.

The location was perfect for us - just steps from the best beach on the island.

The house layout worked for us - 4 adults, teen, and pre-teen. There is a full kitchen with everything you need for cooking meals.

The house needs some repairs/updating. For example, roof leaked and sliding door doesn’t close (although on backside with a jungle so would be hard to enter). Pamela is aware of the issues and had plans to fix the roof.

The house comes with beach chairs, boogie boards, snorkel gear, cooler, and towels!

The area is very lush and the bird sounds are like clock work in the morning and evening.

Our family (four adults and one child) spent a week at Pamela's house over Thanksgiving. Pamela is a lovely person to work with and is very helpful. The house is attached to the main house and you enter through a carport at the end of the driveway. The best part of the house is its location in Waimanolo, just a half a block from a wonderful beach that stretches on for miles! Pamela provides beach chairs, beach toys, boogie boards, snorkel gear and a beach cart to transport everything to the beach. The house is comfortable with great beds and LOTS of towels. Everything was provided, including plastic wrap and aluminum foil! A washer and dryer came in handy as well as a clothesline outside in the carport entry for hanging towels used at the beach. The house was pretty clean, but it is older, a little worn and could use some updating, but that didn't bother us. I missed having a private yard to sit in (the back yard is all trees and bushes), but there is a table and chairs outside in the carport entryway. It was great to stay in a semi-rural neighborhood instead of a hotel high-rise. There were chickens, cats, birds in the neighborhood and we enjoyed watching them.

We joked about the "feathered alarm clock", a large flock of birds that roost in the backyard trees and synchronize their chattering at 6 a.m. sharp every morning! We wanted to get up early every morning, and their consistency didn't waver! Along with the two bedrooms, there were two twin beds in the living room. We didn't need to use them, but there is the potential for 7 people to sleep in beds as well as a Pack and Play. Big walk-in shower in the laundry room/bathroom. Not many bugs in November and Pamela supplies bug control supplies as well. There were mosquitoes, but we used repellent on ourselves to take care of that. All in all it was a pleasant stay.

We own our own VRBO so I am very honest with this review.

GOOD POINTS: Close to beach; 40 min. to airport, lots of windows, towels and bedding were of good quality. Internet and TV great, AC and fans in both bedrooms. Pamela mentioned that it was a beach home and not fancy. Told her we are perfectly fine with this as the rate was good and as long as it was clean and beds comfy we were good. Home was cluttered with personal items everywhere. Bathroom cupboards were so full we used a small shelf space for our items. Hall closet jammed with clutter; bedroom closets full of bags; old pillows and blankets. Shelves in living area were cluttered with dirty ornaments and all cupboards jammed full. MASSAGE CHAIR shown in picture does not work. Hall closet was full of personal items as well. Snorkel and beach toys cooler and wagon were over turned and full of bugs and dirt. Patio area cluttered with dirty carpets and throw pillows. We moved some items around on patio area and picked up pillows to put in storage bin (out of weather and insects) we were shocked to see bin full of moldy; insect infested newspapers (they have garbage and recycle pick up every week?) Laundry area and 2nd bathroom was falling apart; shower was in bad repair; we fixed toilet in this area. All laundry soap containers and bounce sheets were covered in gecko droppings. Pantry had old food that was not sealed up and full of small ants. Bedroom fans and dining room fans were covered in dust (thick layer; not cleaned for a very long time) Living room one did not work. We made our best with this home; cleaned light fixtures ourselves; only used fridge and freezer for food (not cupboards) continually put out ant poison and traps for other bugs around patio area. Cleaned and organized her living room area and patio area and enjoyed our vacation on the beautiful island. We were saddened with the fact that this house has good bones and could be such a great VRBO! A little elbow grease and personal items cleared out; would When I spoke to Pamela about our concerns (last day) she seemed unfazed by clutter and bugs around home. We have a duty of property owners to make these homes comfortable and clean for our guests. Refund (cleaning) was asked for and received. I FEEL WE HAVE AN OBLIGATION TO HOLD OUR HOME IN HIGH REGARD FOR GUESTS. REMOVAL OF PERSONAL ITEMS; GARBAGE REMOVAL; CLEANLINESS AND MAKING SURE ALL AREAS OF HOME ARE IN WORKING ORDER IS A MUST FOR ANY VRBO.