Dragonfly Ranch — Hotel in Hawaii

We absolutely loved the Dragonfly Ranch and everyone that lives there are completely delightful and fun people who are super helpful and incredibly genuine and fun to be around. I want to adopt these very special unique people as my chosen family. It was super fun to stay here and I wish we could have stayed longer. ||The breakfasts were great. One day Camile (I hope I am spelling her name correctly) made the most delicious gluten free pancakes I have ever had! I found the selection of gluten free vegan cooked grains and toppings to be fabulous, nutritious and tasty. ||The orchestra of coqui frogs at night led to amazing dreams. There are ear plugs for light sleepers but I prefer listening to the natural surroundings. There is no glass on the windows, and this is not a problem at all as it is very comfortable at night. There are huge windows with screens that keep insects from flying in. ||The room we stayed in (Lomi lomi suite) was perfect for our needs and was cheerfully decorated and had a marvelous bathtub-shower from the standing position we could see the coast over the magnificent trees. |We looked past any cobwebs or ants that are next to impossible to keep out if there is anything sweet in the room. ||There is a large very cool, tiled community kitchen shared with one or two other units and it doubles as a cool place to hang out with very interesting people as they/you prepare food plus two very sweet cats and small dogs that will visit when one is eating or making food. Do not feed them! ||I would not label the Dragonfly ranch place a resort type of hotel or a hotel at all. Do not expect a hotel! It’s more like an amazing place to think, do yoga, dream, read, write, play chess or other games with Barbara! and Explore organic gardens and the beautiful property. You have a private space but one can hear others if they are speaking loudly nearby because of the lack of windows. But this is not a problem since almost everyone is quiet by 9pm. ||Please only book once you realize it’s not for people who need everything to be spotless-especially in this environment! The bedding is very comfortable and clean as is the shower/bath. But the level of cleanliness will be unacceptable to those who do not understand how difficult it is to keep a place like this super clean. It is clean where it matters IMHO. The awesome people who work at the Dragonfly Ranch work very hard to make everything awesome for your stay. ||There are various beautiful spaces separate from one’s private suite where one can see the ocean or exercise or do the labyrinth. It is very peaceful except for the gorgeous bird songs during the day and the coqui frogs at night. ||They have an extensive collection of snorkeling equipment and fins and the best snorkeling on the island is very close! I recommend getting up super early if you want to see wild dolphins at Two Step which is super close by. ||I highly recommend this amazing special experience to those who like unique awesome different experiences! It was a joy filled time for us and I really look forward to visiting again and keeping in touch as I feel these people that run this place are super humans! I am grateful that we took the risk of staying somewhere so very different than any other place we...

We absolutely loved the Dragonfly Ranch and everyone that lives there are completely delightful and fun people who are super helpful and incredibly genuine and fun to be around. I want to adopt these very special unique people as my chosen family. It was super fun to stay here and I wish we could have stayed longer. ||The breakfasts were great. One day Camile (I hope I am spelling her name correctly) made the most delicious gluten free pancakes I have ever had! I found the selection of gluten free vegan cooked grains and toppings to be fabulous, nutritious and tasty. ||The orchestra of coqui frogs at night led to amazing dreams. There are ear plugs for light sleepers but I prefer listening to the natural surroundings. There is no glass on the windows, and this is not a problem at all as it is very comfortable at night. There are huge windows with screens that keep insects from flying in. ||The room we stayed in (Lomi lomi suite) was perfect for our needs and was cheerfully decorated and had a marvelous bathtub-shower from the standing position we could see the coast over the magnificent trees. |We looked past any cobwebs or ants that are next to impossible to keep out if there is anything sweet in the room. ||There is a large very cool, tiled community kitchen shared with one or two other units and it doubles as a cool place to hang out with very interesting people as they/you prepare food plus two very sweet cats and small dogs that will visit when one is eating or making food. Do not feed them! ||I would not label the Dragonfly ranch place a resort type of hotel or a hotel at all. Do not expect a hotel! It’s more like an amazing place to think, do yoga, dream, read, write, play chess or other games with Barbara! and Explore organic gardens and the beautiful property. You have a private space but one can hear others if they are speaking loudly nearby because of the lack of windows. But this is not a problem since almost everyone is quiet by 9pm. ||Please only book once you realize it’s not for people who need everything to be spotless-especially in this environment! The bedding is very comfortable and clean as is the shower/bath. But the level of cleanliness will be unacceptable to those who do not understand how difficult it is to keep a place like this super clean. It is clean where it matters IMHO. The awesome people who work at the Dragonfly Ranch work very hard to make everything awesome for your stay. ||There are various beautiful spaces separate from one’s private suite where one can see the ocean or exercise or do the labyrinth. It is very peaceful except for the gorgeous bird songs during the day and the coqui frogs at night. ||They have an extensive collection of snorkeling equipment and fins and the best snorkeling on the island is very close! I recommend getting up super early if you want to see wild dolphins at Two Step which is super close by. ||I highly recommend this amazing special experience to those who like unique awesome different experiences! It was a joy filled time for us and I really look forward to visiting again and keeping in touch as I feel these people that run this place are super humans! I am grateful that we took the risk of staying somewhere so very different than any other place we...

Wow, I have a lot to say about this place. One thing I will say for certain is that it is NOT a "3 star hotel."

There were some very nice things. I have only good things to say about the staff, who were very sweet, helpful and unobtrusive. The quality of the beds and linens was excellent. There are, as advertised, many quirky artistic touches all about the space. The breakfast in the morning was delicious. Where things began to break down was in the details of the overall setting...

We stayed in several places around the island, many of which featured outdoor showers, which is kind of a feature there. None of them were directly adjacent to the kitchen back of house food storage, or could be seen from the dining area(!) like this one. It's fair to say that our entire experience here was characterized by a feeling of a lack of privacy. I want to emphasize that this is a feature of the building itself, not any fault of the staff. Everything is stacked sort of one upon the other and easily visible and audible from other parts of the compound. It's the kind of place that you find yourself subconsciously whispering, because you can so easily hear conversations from other parts of the building. The "private" lanai's and the dining area, and the parking area and the gardens are all fairly or partly visible to each other. We could hear the blender going to make smoothies so often that the sound faded into the background noise.

All of this could be fine if we had not expected more. Advertising this as a 3 star hotel and charging what they do, and finding oneself basically in a 70's commune converted into a bed and breakfast was jarring, and left us feeling uncomfortable and overcharged. I want to make clear here, as well, that we are a pretty hippied out couple, who both have plenty of experience in this kind of setting. We actually stayed at an intentional community at another point on our vacation, and we have nothing bad to say about the experience, largely because we had a much better sense of what to expect and because what we paid was more commensurate with the experience. I have some sympathy for everyone at Dragonfly Ranch. The way the house is constructed is ingenious, and really amazing from an architectural point of view. However, it leaves everyone in very close quarters in a way that I'm not sure what you could do about it.

In closing, this is a tough place to evaluate. They are working very hard with what they have, which is a space that on one hand is amazing, but on the other has some serious limitations. I'm not saying don't stay here, I'm just saying that you should be comfortable with a space that is constructed around some very idealistic Aquarian values that might challenge contemporary consumer expectations. You will certainly have a unique memory to talk about, and a 100%...