If you want to be away from the hustle and bustle of Waikiki this is the place for you. HOWEVER, be…read moreprepared to deal with an abundance of homeless, and just plain filth. You can find much better places for the same price, if not cheaper on nicer areas of the island.
I'll break my review down by catagories.
UNIT:
The unit itself is family owned by my friend that I traveled with. It's beautifully decorated, well kept, and fully stocked (boogie boards, snorkel gear, beach towels, coolers, beach bags, toiletries, spices, sugar, coffee). I could go on and on. You literally just need to bring your clothes and groceries. But check the cupboards before you go shopping, you'd be surprised at what it's stocked with, we sure were. Unfortunately, this building/unit is directly adjacent to one of the many parks that contain homeless camps, which are viewable from the unit.
SECURITY:
* Friendly, but don't do much else. They sit in a booth at entrance, look up and wave. The only time we stopped at the security office was to check in.
*Although the entire complex is surrounded by fencing, and keyed entries, we watched people come & go as they pleased. Some security gates were not locked, and at times people on the inside just opened the gates to people on the outside. DO NOT GET A FALSE SENSE OF SECURITY.
*We had to move parking spots 3 times as they kept putting us in reserved spots.
*We had an issue with our neighbor directly across the hall on our second night. Partying, loud music, loud voices from midnight to 3:30am. Called security at 2:30am but nothing was done.
BUILDING:
Its an older building, but overall it's decently maintained. It could use a good pressure washing.
SWIMMING POOLS:
Both pools are well taken care of. Plenty of chairs, and tables available. Never overly crowded.
RESIDENTS:
We encountered both extremely rude/racist comments towards "tourists", and some that were incredibly nice. Beyond the condos, out in the community everyone was pleasant.
OFFICE:
Hoku is the office manager, she was pleasant enough, but the office phone is rarely answered. If you need assistance, you'll have to walk down to the office. I saw zero enforcement of the MANY rules.
LANDSCAPING:
The front and back are beautifully landscaped with lots of plumeria trees. **The exception to this is the far West end of building A from about A-XX1 to A-X14 looks like a catchall for anything that has fallen off the buildings such as gutters, garbage, landscaping debris, etc.
PETS:
Regardless of what the rules say, there are numerous tenants that have dogs, and cats. I saw cats roaming the grounds. And tenants walking their dogs on the public beach area to do their business and NOT pick up after it.
BEACH:
Although the beach directly out back is convenient, it is NOT a private beach. It gets very crowded during the day with locals, and homeless who can get very loud until late into the evening. And typically leave their trash. One group even left their huge BBQ, never to return to pick it up.
AREA/LOCATION: *Located on the most SW part of the island. It's approximately 45 min to an hour drive from Waikiki, depending on traffic.
*Very congested.
*Its the dirtiest, low income part of the island, and I've been over every inch of the island.
*Lots of homeless camps at the parks/beaches even thought it posted "no overnight camping". No one is enforcing it.
*Lots of trash everywhere.
*The only positive thing I can say about the area is that there is a heavy police presence DURING THE WEEK, over the weekend we saw none.
*There are loads of fast food restaurants, only a couple sit-down restaurants, and numerous grocery stores.
*I'd recommend steering clear of the beaches due to the homeless population.