My wife and I rented this home for a week when we traveled to Hawaii for our honeymoon. We were looking for something simple, but comfortable. This house grabbed our attention as it had great ratings, was affordable, and had everything we needed without the extra distractions. Washer, dryer, hot water, indoor plumbing, electricity, no TV, quiet, etc. We had all these things and it was amazing...for a day. After a day of hiking to remote beaches, browsing through markets and shops in Hilo, and a full day of adventures, we were looking forward to returning and taking a much needed shower. We returned to our quaint little home to find to our dismay, there was no power. No problem, candle light is romantic. However, the water ran off of an electric pump. No shower, no running tap water, no flushing toilet. This lasted for three and a half days as we and Matt, the truly amazing manager of the property, worked on the generator, the solar panels, and the battery system trying to restore power and running water to our home. 3 1/2 days of evenings by candle light, taking sponge baths and flushing the toilet with gallons of water we would fill on our adventures during the day. When we contacted Sara, the owner, the second day of having no power or water she stated, "It is part of off grid living, you'll just have to make the best of it", then proceeded to blame our situation on the one time use of the advertised washing machine (the dryer was out of commission with a broken belt). She stated, "all the updates to the advertisement are written in the welcome guide", which we were unable to find until the third day as it was buried under magazines and travel guides (It's an unmarked photo album if you are looking). When we attempted to speak with her about alternative options for in case power was not returned, she refused to speak on the subject and quickly ended the conversation.
The power and water returned on day 5 of our trip, thanks to Matt's efforts, and we greatly enjoyed the rest of our stay in Pahoa. As we both grew up in rural eastern Oregon, we are accustomed to "off grid" living and did not have a great deal of trouble adjusting to make the most of our trip. Running the generator, ensuring safe drinking water, and trouble shooting the power system was not difficult. However, in the end, our experience at this house was not as advertised and was not what we believe that we paid for as part of our honeymoon.