72 Reviews of Property 177435 in Honaunau, Hawaii

My lady and I stayed here for a week and it was everything that we wanted. If you're paranoid about total privacy than this may not be the spot for you as there are no closing windows, all the walls are screens instead, but they do have curtains that cover everything if you want. This place literally puts you in the middle of an authentic Hawaiian experience. It's a bit of a drive from downtown Kona, and seemingly everything else, but that's what we were looking for. The amenities were great! The BBQ gave us the option to not have to eat out every meal, plus there is a ton of fresh fruit on the property that is free for the taking. The hot tub and outdoor shower are great fun. They have snorkeling gear we used the whole week, and the owners gave us tips on the best beaches and even called to let us know which beach the dolphins were at one morning. We drove out there and got to swim with a "small" pod of about 30 dolphins at Hookena beach. What an experience! They have everything you need in the kitchen as well. I couldn't recommend this more for a couple who is looking for an exhilarating alternative to the condos in downtown Kailua-Kona.

We enjoyed our stay at Tropical Hideaway immensely. Its magical setting amidst lush jungle vegetation made for a unique experience, so much more enjoyable than a hotel or a traditional B&B. Screen windows allowed warm breezes to waft throughout and meant that we could hear wonderful birdsong in the morning & evening. The well-stocked, totally self-contained unit is both quiet and private. Kathy [the owner] offered us papayas, bananas and star fruit fresh-picked from her garden, and provided much gear to make our stay enjoyable – snorkels, masks, fins, wetsuits, beach umbrella & chairs. She even took me on an excursion where I got to swim with dolphins – hundreds of them! This was one of the most exciting experiences of my life, and Kathy documented the whole thing with her underwater camera, providing me with a priceless memento of the day. We also had nice connections with Katie & Phil, who were staying elsewhere on the property. Along with Kathy, they made us feel as if we were visiting with friends, even though they were great about respecting our privacy. Our only regret is that we weren’t able to stay longer!

The bay at two-step is a three minute car ride down the hill from Kathy's "Tropical Hideway," and it's one of the places where the spinner dolphins most like to hang out, play, dance on the water, and swim with the humans. The extraordinary, transformative, and sheer delight of snorkling with these amazing beings is a really unusual opportunity. Kathy has been swimming with them for years and knows both where and how to best approach them. The "tropical hideaway" is a perfect complement and base for this experience. Kathy has created a lovely, inviting, charming, and, yet non-pretentious "nest" in the midst of a beautiful and lush tropical garden. (And, if swimming with dolphins doesn't appeal, there is lots else to do in the area or just delight in relaxing!) The fresh-water pool, the outdoor, private sitting/dining area and private hot-tub, make this a place which invites deep relaxation and a spaciousness of mind and heart that is both very welcome and unusual. The blend of beauty, privacy, graciousness, and lack of pretension, makes this a wonderful place for a single person to retreat or even work or write, a couple to delight in the restfulness and spacious privacy, or a small family to feel easy and at-home. Kathy is friendly and incredibly helpful in making one's stay meet one's specific needs, knowing the area as well as she does. The relatively new Kona Cafe, a few minutes up the road, serves wonderful breakfast and lunch on their outdoor patio, and high quality dinner restaurants are also easy to find in the Kona area, IF you want a break from cooking in your own kitchen and outdoor grill! Adjoining the two-step bay is the Place of Refuge, a National Historic Park, which has its own deep Hawaiian history and amazing beauty of extensive lava rock meeting the ocean. Worth the explore! An added, and expected, delight. With no question, I would recommend Kathy's "Tropical Hideway" to anyone seeking deep relaxation, beauty, and the opportunity to experience the presence of the wild dolphins.

We stayed 3 nights on this property and were in heaven. My husband and I travel quite a bit using VRBO and Airbnb. This is our best find yet! and here's why
Privacy: Even though the owner's live on site they make a specific intention to keep a quiet relaxing environment. The pool & hot tub on site can be used anytime, and the owner's do not use it when they have VRBO guests. You really feel like you have the place to yourself.
Environment: the grounds are filled with plants, and each morning there is fresh seasonal fruit from the property laid out for you to pick from. We enjoyed papaya's, banana's and a tropical lemon while there.
Location: 30 min drive to Kona, but only 10 min to captain cook for groceries. Biggest plus is 5 mins to the best local snorkeling area where we got to swim with dolphins.
We hope to return to this magical spot again. A great place to just hang out on the property all day reading by the pool, but also with easy access to activities.

We believed we will see Hawaii then, who knows if we'll ever come back. We saw the dolphins, swam with them, were impressed by the unspoken respect for nature shown by Kathy and all those lucky ones blessed to permanently live on this big island. If you go, don't forget to ask Kathy for the DVD made by her with dolphins playing under water. Great artistic value, excellent HD quality and clarity, inspired sound track. We were pleasantly surprised that over there, you don’t need a key to your home since it’s practically wrapped in a anti bug screen. And yes, we were reminded to keep the door closed, after all it’s all jungle around and small bugs can get in. We are late with our review, but everything is still fresh in our memories. We got acquainted with the sounds of the night, especially distinguishing those short ones made by ripen passion fruits falling to the ground from the rich vines surrounding Kathy's place. Those fruits became part of our breakfast in the morning, together with the bananas, mangos, guavas, papayas and a tropical plum tree with fruits they didn't know were edible. If you want to see the dolphins coming to rest and play, you need to wake up early and you can find from Kathy in which of the 3 coves they are. The locals seem to be all friends and call each other in this regard. We have talked to so many of them without even knowing their names, and we believe they also make sure tourists are following the rules to protect the wild, and they don't attempt to touch the playing dolphins. According to some new theories dolphins may be more intelligent than the humans ....... What else can you see on the island ? 7 days was not enough for us. To say that the island inhabitants, and we mean not only Kathy, are so helpful and friendly it's an understatement. We spent the next 10 days in Maui, it was great, but our hearts beat stronger for this big island where nature is manifesting its splendor and it’s expansion is unleashed. love the place, love you Kathy, Mariana and Florin

I came here with my new wife for a combination honeymoon and friend's wedding. The owner was very good with communication in her calls and emails preparing for the trip. She was not around during our stay, but the gardener was around, and she was nice and helpful. The place certainly has it's charm. The open air of the screened-in rooms is nice. The shower is outdoors and the instructions for the hot tub state no bathing suits should be worn which I suppose means going nude. All this would be very nice for a honeymoon if it were private, but unfortunately that did not often feel like the case. There were many other people living closely on the property. They parked their cars very close to where the bed was and were heard talking and walking around often. Also a man was living right above us the whole time. He was actually helpful giving us ice since we had no freezer, but it was disconcerting to hear him walking around. He also decided to run a loud vaccuum cleaner during our stay. He also had a talkative young boy who visited him for a couple days who was loud. Also the gardener lives in the same building just several feet away. She was also very nice and helpful, getting us some items we were in need of and showing us around. There are some blockades to block most of the sightlines outside of our area, however it was difficult to feel comfortable on a honeymoon in a place that has almost no walls and so many people walking around that we could hear and who could surely easily see us. Also, as is probably inevitable in such an environment there were lots of bugs and some lizards that found their way indoors. I can tell a lot of effort was spent on trying to keep them out, but I just wanted to make note of this for anyone who might feel uncomfortable waking up with some bugs crawling on you.

I was preparing to spend the week on the Big Island for a work project, and after checking the popular hotels and resorts in and around Kona, I decided to look on VRBO. When I saw the pictures and read the description of the Tropical Hideaway, I thought it would be a much more enjoyable and authentic experience than a resort, and I booked the room for the week. I arrived around dinner time on Monday and was immediately met by Kathy, who was wonderfully gracious and showed me around the property, and then let me know she would give me my privacy unless I needed anything. The pictures on this site are a good representation of what to expect, but they really don't do the place justice. The room is screened all the way around, and I loved being able to feel the breeze and listen to the wildlife outside all day and night. The garden is beautiful and the views of the sunset and the moon over the ocean were amazing. The bed was very comfortable, and the outdoor shower was a new experience for me, but very enjoyable. I took advantage of the private hot tub as often as possible! Kathy's own original art and the mood lighting everywhere really add a nice tropical feel to the studio. The permanent residents of the home were very quiet and respectful, and the few times I met them, they were very nice. She even helped me with a great recommendation to spend Halloween evening in Kona since I couldn't be home with my kids! There are lots of great restaurants nearby, and although I didn't have time to enjoy many activities outside of work, there are lots to choose from. If you're looking at one of the big resorts with the canned artificial tourist experience, forget it and stay here instead - you'll never forget it.

Our stay at Kathy's place was a dream. We spent 5 days to start a 2 weeks stay in Hawaii for our honeymoon and we couldn't have dreamt for a better place.
The place is perfectly clean, Kathy provides everything you need from snorkeling gear, to foam boards, beach towels and basically everything you need to enjoy Big Island.
She has a great garden and gave us many fruits including papayas, lime and avocados.

She gave us great recommendations about restaurants and made herself available when needed: the perfect host !

We highly recommend this place !