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In February, we took a holiday to Hawaii. We opted, as we normally do, to rent a house
using Airbnb because we enjoy having an entire house rather than staying at a
hotel. We have never had any major issues using Airbnb
in the past.
Selecting a house for this trip was more onerous
because we had to look for something that was not carpeted and particularly
clean due to dust allergies. Finally, the perfect house in Honolulu was secured,
or so we thought.
Review of The House
I was first attracted to his house because of
how it was decorated, soft lighting, wood artifacts, and Buddha statues
everywhere. The yard had beautiful fruit trees. As a meditator this really
appealed to me. It is a bit of an oasis in the middle of the city of Honolulu and would
have been perfect save for the traffic noise. The host was very accommodating
and responsive to our needs. They provided us with two beautiful papayas, some
coconuts, bottled water, and local beer as a welcoming gift. Which was very
much appreciated.
However, there were a few issues with the house
and its location. To begin with it is situated
on a corner of a busy intersection and at times the traffic was very
noisy. We had assumed, wrongly, that we
were closer to the ocean. It is actually a few minutes walk to the beach, which
by the way is not a swimming beach. There are other beaches in the area but not
in walking distance.
There is a comfortable outdoor living room with
a TV, which sounds lovely. However, anyone could just walk off the street onto
it because there is no gate. In fact, someone did come into the house looking
for the owners to pick up a key. In the
evening, there were mosquitoes making it uncomfortable for sitting outside. I believe that problem could have been alleviated
if they emptied the two stagnant water containers with plants just in front of
the steps. The washer and dryer, though, just off this area, were great!
The kitchen was spacious and fully stocked. As
a vegetarian with other dietary needs much of it was wasted on us. Unfortunately,
the appliances were rather dated. The dishwasher was not working nor was the
reverse osmosis system for drinking water.
The fridge’s alarm kept going off and had to be continually
disabled. The freezer part of the fridge
was not working at all but another fridge was located outside.
There was no real dining room to accommodate six
people to enjoy a meal together when we had family visiting. In addition, if
you enjoy direct sunshine into your living area, this house does not provide
that.
The bed was comfortable. The ensuite bathroom was adequate, although
there was no shower curtain, making showering somewhat awkward trying to minimize
water going on the floors. The shower curtain in the other bathroom fell on my
head when I pushed the curtain aside to get into it. The linen and towels were nice, though the
beach towels were nowhere to be found.
There was plenty of bath soap and shampoo, a blow dryer was available but
it was broken and held together with an elastic band.
The Wi-Fi was inconsistent and not very
reliable. Overall I give them a rating of 2.5 out of 5. I think if I didn’t
have high expectations of the house it would have not been as disappointing. Everything in the advertising of the house
lead me to believe it was a luxury house, even the name “Executive BalineseHome”. But at the end of the day, it simply fell short of an executive style house. It is in need of new appliances, some TLC and
attention to detail to upgrade this house.
The last Airbnb we stayed at in the same area
was half the price, had a pool, was across from an actual swimming beach, and
all the appliances worked. Sometimes
paying more does not mean better. I really do wish I could have written a more positive review of the house.