It Really Is Paradise
Review Submitted: January 27, 2009
Date of Stay: January 2009
In Mid-January I visited Hale Ke'ei Lani with my husband and mother in law. We wanted to be away from the touristy areas, in a place where we could both enjoy the local culture and be at easy driving distance from most places. Hale Ke'ei Lani fit the bill perfectly, located south of Captain Cook, surrounded by nut and coffee farms, it sits at 1,000 feet on the side of Mauna Loa, overlooking the ocean. We visited the home’s website, and read some great reviews, but nothing prepared us for how wonderful it was to be there.
The owner is very pleasant and easy to work with. He answered all our questions, providing much information on the house prior to our arrival, including a very detailed, accurate set of driving directions from the airport.
We have stayed in vacation homes in Cape Cod, Puerto Rico, Lake Tahoe, Idyllwild, and Colorado. Normally, it takes a while to get used to a house. You are very aware that you are living in someone else’s place. You have to poke around, figure out where things are, what works well and what doesn’t, what you wish they had that isn’t there. You put away that vase full of dusty silk flowers, so you can enjoy the simple oak table, as you make your grocery list you add the few small things that aren’t there. You adjust yourself.
Hale Ke'ei Lani is different. From the minute we entered the house, we felt at home. Everything was right where I expected it would be. There was nothing missing, all the furnishings were of excellent quality and there were many extras right at my fingertips. Everything works. The extras were much appreciated – fresh citrus and avocado in a basket on the counter, snorkeling gear and beach chairs for our use, a wonderful sound system and excellent selection of CDs, corkscrew and wine bottle stoppers, filtered drinking water.
We sat on the lanai for hours one afternoon, deeply content, watching the late afternoon sky, enjoying the nightly procession of a flock of wild turkeys as they made their way to the trees for the night. Later, we enjoyed the night air from the living room, with a small fire in the fireplace, listening to the faraway tink of bamboo wind chimes.
We have never stayed in a place that was so meticulously arranged and yet so serene. To me, this was paradise. And I think it will be paradise for anyone who visits – whether to meditate, to luxuriate, to relax or to explore.
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