Keauhou-Kona Surf/Racquet — Attraction in Hawaii

This gated complex comprises both condo units & townhouses. The townhouses' lanais are all ground level, whereas the condos are 3 story. The location is great--close to grocers, drugstore, pizza parlors & bars, but these condos were built in the 80's and show their age. It has a coded security gate. There is a pool and tennis courts. The check-in office was hard to find. They are so flimsy that we heard someone's toilet flush while we were in the parking lot! Our condo had no A/C, and it was 90 degrees with 95% humidity when we stayed, making it impossible to get a good night's sleep. We requested an oceanview/oceanfront unit but were placed in building 9, next to the main road, with unnerving noise from constant traffic. The kitchen cabinets appeared to be from someone's garage, there was rust in the freezer, and there was a notably large hole in the living room floor, bigger than our feet, over which carpet had been installed to cover it up. Bathroom/shower faucets were all eroded. A couple of towels had holes in them. The entire condo needed a good cleaning. The lanai had enough chairs for six but only had a table for two people. The patio door had a large lump of white putty holding it together. There was ongoing construction in front of our unit with the constant sounds of jackhammers and a cement mixer, of which we were not informed. We had not been given a gate code, so when we arrived we called "check-'in" but the woman refused us entry and was extremely rude over the telephone (inhospitable, discourteous, ill-mannered, unhelpful and curt) nor would she answer our questions. The property has a public walkway to the tiny "beach" (no swimming) where you can sometimes watch turtles. You need good beach shoes as walking on lava rock is rough. A sandy beach is about an 8 minute walk down the highway where snorkeling is supposedly good, providing the weather is clear. There were a couple of styrofoam ice chests, a beach mat & noodles in the unit, nothing more. We borrowed beach towels. It is located about a 10 minute drive south of the village of Kona, where expensive shops and restaurants/bars line the water. With the added energy & tax surcharges, this timeshare exchange cost us twice as much as a straight rental. We went through DAE and royal aloha...

Beautiful spot, but don't recommend staying here for a number of reasons. First off, this place has more rules than any other place I have ever stayed. We were told we could not play tennis at the tennis courts with our shirts off (which by the way is right next to the pool where everyone has their shirts off). This was at 11 am, when absolutely no one else was at the tennis courts and it was too hot to play in any other manner. At one point, I went out to the Tennis Courts with my son who is 9 to gently hit some balls to him so that he could return them. Also middle of the day, very hot, no one there, and we were told we could not wear sandals on the court and would have to leave. This was from the on-site Tennis Pro Cheryl Shrum. I politely asked her if she wanted to tell my son herself that he can't play tennis here in sandals and would need to purchase one of the shoes that meet the criteria they have posted on the wall by the court if he wanted to simply hit a tennis ball with his dad and she said yes (BTW - we did have sandals on that were non-marking soles). The on-site manager told me under his breath that he didn't agree with the rules or her but had to enforce them rather than let a 9 year old learn to hit a tennis ball. I doubt my son will ever want to play the sport again after the attitude we got from her and the manager. However, upon further reading the guidebooks, we realized that maybe we shouldn't play here anyways. It turns out that this club and the tennis courts specifically, were built directly on top of a sacred Hawaiian ritual site. We noticed some signs on both sides of the tennis courts and pool saying to stay off of the rocks by the tennis courts as they were a sacred site. We didn't realize that the courts were built on the main part of the sacred site until we read the guidebooks. More than once, we looked out our windows to watch the grounds crew spray herbicides on these sacred grounds. The location is very pretty, which the native Hawaiians new very well as they chose it for their sacred ritual locations. In short, we did not feel any of the "Aloha" spirit from the tennis pro or on-site management while staying here. We will not stay here again, and will not recommend it to anyone with a conscience or...

None of the screens fit the windows and none of the windows lock. No air conditioning. When booking they say how wonderful the breezes are that flow through the condos, but fail to inform you that if the windows are open you will have milllions of small bugs, cockroaches 2 inches in length minimum, and a multitude of geckos, IN YOUR BEDROOM. Ceiling fans have a poor airflow, one shower has no water pressure, while the other shower has enough to blast your face off. Washer was full of mildew. A slew of dead bugs under the bed upon arrival, and ants love to be on the kitchen counter where the empty ant traps are set out in many areas. Beds are horribly uncomfortable with pillows that are the thinnest we have ever seen. Also, when put bread in the toaster for the first time, the toaster immediately caught on fire. Reasons like these are why you should be able to leave negative star ratings. A one start rating is to much for our experience, especially for the outrageous price. The view of the ocean is nice, but personally we would rather stare at a highway if that meant a clean place to stay without cockroaches and comfortable beds. In conclusion: 1.) Large cockroaches. 2.) Mildew-filled washing machine. 3.) Beds are old and very uncomfortable, as well as the couch. 4.) Toaster caught on fire. 5.) You will wake up with bug bites from the hundreds of mosquitoes that are in the unit. 6.) NO AIRCONDITIONING 7.) Filthy, sticky...