Described as “spacious, airy, and clean,” it is actually cramped, hot, and bug-infested. It is not a freestanding cottage, but a 1 bedroom apartment split off a house. It only has windows on two adjacent sides, so no cross breezes and limited natural light. Even at night, when it was cool outside, the unit remained extremely hot, and the two fans (one very small, one very weak, both covered in grime) were totally inadequate. What is described in the ad as a portable AC unit is an evaporative cooler, which works best in arid climates – which Hawaii is not.
When we told Annastacia we were very hot and uncomfortable, she sent over an additional fan. However, the next day, the fan was needed for guests in another unit, so THEY TOOK IT AWAY FROM US. Annastacia said they were going to get us a new one, but a day and a half later with no new fan we decided to leave and find another place to stay.
As for clean, we did find the unit to be clean when we arrived, save the gigantic dead roach in the kitchen which was being devoured by a horde of ants. There were ants everywhere, and we killed several roaches over the course of our stay. When we raised the issue of the pests, Annastacia emphasized that they don’t use pesticides – which is great, but if I had known that the place would therefore be infested with ants and roaches, I might have made a different choice about where to say. Also, if they are as concerned about the environment as they claim, they should recycle!
The ad says that there is laundry for guests who stay at least 7 days. A few days before arrival, we received a list of rules, which outlined many restrictions around doing laundry. First, you can only do ONE load per 7 day stay, and any additional loads are $10 each. You can only do laundry during certain hours, only use cold water, etc.
The ad says that the futon and the bed are comfortable - I found both very uncomfortable.
We stayed in several vacation rentals during our trip, and this was our only bad experience. We were told by Annastacia that it was a "heat wave" and that "everyone in Hawaii was uncomfortable" but somehow, we regained comfort as soon as we left this place.
Annastacia responded to the concerns we raised by making sure we understood that everything was our own fault. No apology for anything, which would have gone a long way - just excuses/blaming us. I'm sure she will do the same thing in her response to this review, so you can see for yourself.