This cottage is a perfect vacation rental if you like to feel the unique qualities of the community…read moreyou're visiting. HMBC's openness lets you enjoy the warmth, the wetness, and the beauty of Hanalei Bay in a low-key way that lets you feel like you really live there.
Maybe I am reacting to our trip to the Princeville St. Regis hotel for sunset cocktails. That beautiful resort felt like placeless luxury. The views were Hawaiian, but the grand style of the rooms, plentiful central air conditioning, upper-class airs, and property layout were suitable for anywhere from the Caribbean to Mexico to wherever... My preference is to stay where the local touch is celebrated.
So..., HMBC is not endlessly elegant, it's a beach cottage. But, it is definitely my type of place!
HMBC's front lawn leads directly to a very swimmable, less crowded area of Hanalei Bay. We walked 4 miles roundtrip on the Bay every morning, crossing the two local rivers coming into the sea at different places each day as the sands shifted. We took our first swim of the day on our pre-brekfast treks, and decided that the placement of the cottage was enough to ensure a wonderful vacation.
The building is smartly designed with a large picture window in the living room. You can sit on the couch or one of the two reclining chairs, and watch the water, surfers, and swimmers go by. Moreover, the furniture and decorations feel well-designed, thought-out, sturdy and in excellent shape. Nothing is beachy, sticky, or falling apart.
Suzanne, the owner, knows how to add touches to the property let us feel even more comfortable and able to relax. The building is well maintained and clean, which is not unique but noteworthy because those basic qualities are not universal in Hanalei! There are also nice, if somewhat common extras like a reasonable selection of pots and pans, microwave, toaster-oven, a charcoal BBQ, wide-screen TVs, full-size new refrigerator, comfortable chairs, washing soap, beach towels, extra towels of all types, and other reassuring amenities. We also liked the lock-box on the porch. That arrangement was new to us, but it let us lock up, swim, and not worry about losing the key on the beach.
The books, games, and beach-gazing telescope in the living room were truly above-and-beyond treats. So was assortment of beach toys and mats and chairs that were in excellent shape and felt clean. We even appreciated the unique photographs on the walls and the other artwork that was unique and felt just right.
We traveled with friends who rented a cottage across the grass from us. Their place is owned by a different member of the extended family that owns 5 adjacent waterfront units (and more elsewhere in the country). We felt lucky to have chosen HMBC because our owners seemed to understand what boosts a vacation.
Our cottage had a gas stove, which I much prefer over the electric one our friends had. Adding gas must be costly, but it let us enjoy cooking more. Plus, there is a washing machine and gas clothes drier at the cottage which was both handy and free ... our friends had to pay several dollars to dry their clothes at an underpowered electric drier. (Come on owners of the other cottages... you're charging $400+ a night and then you make your guests put in quarters to wash and dry their clothes?? I am sure glad HMBC's washing and drying were not nickel and dime annoying extras. I mean, do you want to carry a bag full of quarters from the mainland in case you need to do laundry? Geeze!)
Another special at HMBC is its lovely, hot-water plumbed, outdoor shower. We also appreciated that our kitchen was stocked with matches (our friends had none) and lighter fluid (again, they had none). Our friends even had to ask the housekeepers cleaning other cottages for more toilet paper.
You're given the owner's telephone number is case of any problems. We had an incident: the clothes drier started smoking with an electrical smell as soon as we turned it on one morning. Suzanne had someone check the problem that afternoon and, when it turned out the motor had burned out, had a new drier installed the next morning. She was very, very responsive, came out herself to make sure we were okay, and ensured that the minor problem was solved. That visit, by the way, is when we discovered how delightful and friendly Suzanne is!
Overall, in our opinion HMBC is excellently laid out, well taken care of, and, well..., as good as it gets.