Exquisite Oceanfront Lanikai Property in Lanikai

Great for Families!

Karrie L. (-)
Review submitted: October 24, 2012   Date of arrival: October 14, 2012

This house is very big, bright and comfortable. The layout initially seems quite awkward, with some rooms accessible only from outside, but it ended up being absolutely perfect for our two families, each with small and occasionally very loud children. We were able to have each family on two completely different sides of the house where we couldn't hear their children suffering from jet lag at 2am, and they couldn't hear ours at 5am. And all the rooms are absolutely enormous, with space in four of six of the available rooms for two cribs to be spaced out nicely with lots of room to walk around each one. The decor and surfaces are also very child friendly - comfy and pleasant, but not so perfect as to worry about getting dirty and sandy.

The location is great. We loved Kailua, and the beach was very nice. We were a little surprised after hearing that Lanikai is the best beach on Oahu to find so little of it, but we understand that there has been significant erosion of the sand in the last several years. So the beach directly in front of this house was high tide the whole time, but it was easy to walk through the small waves to get to the wider beach 3 doors down.

The kitchen was well stocked - huge numbers of glassware, flatware and silverware, as if they expected you to throw gigantic parties! Cooking and clean-up were mostly easy. There were ants, but I think that is a Hawaii thing because of all the doors and windows being open for the breeze all the time. And they were the small harmless kind of ants.

All in all, it was a wonderful place that I would recommend for a large group looking for a relaxed atmosphere.

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Helpful votes: 1 / 1

Fabulous Experience

Kay (Syracuse, New York)
Review submitted: February 14, 2012   Date of arrival: January 22, 2012

This is an amazing house. It is a perfect large island house on the beach--feels authentic, not like the modern palaces that are alien to the island heritage. It's much better than the pictures--the entryway alone is more beautiful than pictured. The swimming pool was perfect for the kids--large enough for them to happily play in it for hours when we weren't at the beach. There was plenty of room for everything we wanted to do, whether gathering together on the sectional in the living room (which accommodated all ten adult-sized people), or hanging around outside, or watching sea turtles feed directly in front of the house. Going down the steps to walk to the beach was far easier than it looked at first, and even a tender-footed person could navigate the steps and the smooth rocks below with bare feet. One member of our group walks with a stick, and he was able to use the steps. Our only caveat is that for very young children who don't know how to swim, it's necessary to exercise care because the swimming pool is so easily accessible. We watched our toddler very carefully--with care, it's a great house for young children. The beach is beautiful, with lots of sandy areas for swimming. Every time we needed anything or had any kind of problem, Dave was right there, responsive and helpful. As mostly former residents of Oahu, our group was already familiar with restaurants and attractions, but for the uninitiated, ample information was available in the house. (We recommend dinner at Buzz's Steakhouse, a Kailua institution.) All of us wished we could stay longer and highly recommend this house.

Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers, sight seeing

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Helpful votes: 9 / 9

Wonderful 60th Birthday Celebration Location with Kids and Grandson!

Jeff (Phoenix, AZ)
Review submitted: January 12, 2011   Date of arrival: September 26, 2009

We stayed at this property for a surprise 60th birthday celebration for my wife. Our 3 daughters joined us along with 2 sons-in law, and one grandson (age 10 months). It was absolutely wonderful!
The house layout allowed us to be together when we wanted and also allowed for privacy when needed. The pool was a plus too. But the best part of this property is its location!
It is located right on the ocean so viewing spectacular sunrises was the way to start each day and listening to the ocean breezes and waves gently lapping at the shoreline was a wonderful way to fall asleep each night. Just sitting out on the patio each day and watching the ocean view change made for a nice way to pass the time. The turtles in the water near the house was a plus and we spent many an hour trying to keep track of them as they feed off the bottom.
The sandy beach starts just 2 houses further down and walking through the surf to get there was a welcomed event each day. The lack of a beach in front of the house made for a very private environment both day and night. Hot tubbing after a long day at the beach was very enjoyable!
The house was very clean and the agent extremely helpful. The location was close to town and nothing was more than 5 minutes away.
This property can work for any age groups or mixture of ages as can be evidenced by our experience here. All had a most memorable time and we would visit again the next time we have a special occasion to celebrate!

Recommended for: age 55+, families with young children, families with teenagers, romantic getaway

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Helpful votes: 22 / 22