I stayed with my family for 7 nights including Christmas 2020. There is a lot to love about this house. It's in a nice, convenient, and safe neighborhood. The pool and spa are wonderful, plus you can enjoy the very nice community pools and fitness area, plus a beautiful semi-private beach. Instead of just closing the fitness room due to COVID, I appreciate that they had a sign up sheet so only a single family could use it at a time. The house was nice and well-equipped, and the outdoor shower was wonderful. I used it every day! It was an easy walk to a nice Foodland grocery store, Tommy Bahama restaurant, a smoothie shop, cafe, etc. The walk to the ocean (especially the private beach club) was long enough that we generally drove. I like that bikes were included, though they were all kids bikes so I felt a little rediculous riding them. My kids enjoyed some of the other included beach equipment too. As far as location, I personally enjoyed our stays further south in Kailua-Kona better than Mauna Lani. Kona is more of a "real city", while Mauna Lani is more of a ritzy secluded resort feel. But my wife liked Mauna Lani better, so it's very subjective.
That being said, I'm deducting two stars due to one major problem. The day before we checked in, they suddenly sent a message saying the dorms have an alarm in case they are left open for more than 6 seconds. I thought "surely that can't include the giant sliding walls of glass which create the indoor-outdoor space which is a primary listed feature? To make sure, I called them immediately (no answer) and left a voicemail which they never returned. When we checked in the next day, we found alarms on all of those sliding glass doors. If you forget to press the button before opening, they emit an immediate ear-piercing shriek jolting the whole household. And even if you do remember to push the button, you better darn-well hurry to get these big doors closed in time or it shreaks again. And of course keeping the nanawalls open (which is the whole point of them) is out of the question. Paradise in Hawaii was no help. They claim the alarms are "required by code" and "can't be disabled". Well fine, then disclose it in the listing. Instead the main listing photo and many of the other photos show those doors open. After paying $11,335 (plus damage deposit) for 7 nights here, I felt mislead. I would have also expected better communication with hosts at that price point.