Hawaii's Hidden Hideaway Bed & Breakfast — Hotel in Oʻahu

As much as I wanted to leave a positive review, or experience prohibits it. I will simply state the facts and will leave the interpretation up to you. Short version: We were informed half way through our stay (for which we paid in full ahead of time) we would need to leave because another guest complained about our baby crying. The host would only refund us for half of the nights left on our reservation, and refused to refund us the remaining amount.

Here’s the longer version of what happened: My husband, my 10-month old, and I traveled to Hawaii for my brother-in-law’s wedding, for which my husband was the best man). The Hidden Hideaway was the only place in town that still had openings, so we booked it for four nights and paid cash in full ahead of time. Before booking and paying, I made sure with the host that it was okay for us to bring our 10-month old and she charged an extra $25/night for a third person accordingly. We traveled from the east coast, so we had a six hour time difference to work through with our baby. The first night she had a hard time going back to sleep after she woke up in the middle of the night because of some stair lights that were on outside of our unit, but she never cried or fussed (she was just wide awake and playful). Once those went off, she slept fine. The next day, the host gave us some old beach towels to cover the stair lights with and hopefully help our daughter sleep better - those were very helpful. When she gave us the towels, she let us know that another guest mentioned that they could hear our baby crying. The only times she cried the first day (including through the night!) were 9:30a, when she woke up from a nap, and later that afternoon (maybe at 3 or 4p?) bc she smashed her fingers. The second night, our baby was gassy and had a tummy ache, so she woke up crying at 11:30p and cried for 10 mins or less before we were able to soothe her. She woke up at 4:30 crying again, but only cried for 3 minutes at the most. The next morning, the day of my brother-in-law’s wedding rehearsal, the host came to our door and let us know that it wasn’t working out with our baby. The other guest said that our baby kept them up all night long and that it was the second night in a row that they weren’t able to sleep because of our baby. She told us they were very angry and that we couldn’t stay for the remaining two nights of our reservation. When I asked if we would get a refund for two nights, she said that because we caused such a great disturbance, she could only refund us for one night. She told me that she made an exception for us, because she normally doesn’t let children under the age of five stay at her b&b - this was the first time I was told about any such policy. My husband tried to reason with the host, but she would not give us a full refund. We packed up and were out of the room before noon (the rehearsal was at 12:30). During the rehearsal, I called every bed and breakfast or rental unit I could find in Kailua (that’s where the wedding was). No one had availability, so we had to stay in my brother-in-law’s one bedroom/one bathroom apartment, where seven other adults were already staying.

Again, I’ll let you draw your own opinions and will keep mine to myself.

What’s unfortunate is that we have family who live in Kailua, and we often have family and friends visiting and looking for a nice place to stay. I would love to recommend this place to them as it is in a great location, but after our experience, I...

As much as I wanted to leave a positive review, or experience prohibits it. I will simply state the facts and will leave the interpretation up to you.||Short version: We were informed half way through our stay (for which we paid in full ahead of time) we would need to leave because another guest complained about our baby crying. The host would only refund us for half of the nights left on our reservation, and refused to refund us the remaining amount.||||Here’s the longer version of what happened:||* My husband, my 10-month old, and I traveled to Hawaii for my brother-in-law’s wedding, for which my husband was the best man). The Hidden Hideaway was the only place in town that still had openings, so we booked it for four nights and paid cash in full ahead of time. Before booking and paying, I made sure with the host that it was okay for us to bring our 10-month old and she charged an extra $25/night for a third person accordingly.||* We traveled from the east coast, so we had a six hour time difference to work through with our baby. The first night she had a hard time going back to sleep after she woke up in the middle of the night because of some stair lights that were on outside of our unit, but she never cried or fussed (she was just wide awake and playful). Once those went off, she slept fine. ||* The next day, the host gave us some old beach towels to cover the stair lights with and hopefully help our daughter sleep better - those were very helpful. When she gave us the towels, she let us know that another guest mentioned that they could hear our baby crying. The only times she cried the first day (including through the night!) were 9:30a, when she woke up from a nap, and later that afternoon (maybe at 3 or 4p?) bc she smashed her fingers.||* The second night, our baby was gassy and had a tummy ache, so she woke up crying at 11:30p and cried for 10 mins or less before we were able to soothe her. She woke up at 4:30 crying again, but only cried for 3 minutes at the most.||* The next morning, the day of my brother-in-law’s wedding rehearsal, the host came to our door and let us know that it wasn’t working out with our baby. The other guest said that our baby kept them up all night long and that it was the second night in a row that they weren’t able to sleep because of our baby. She told us they were very angry and that we couldn’t stay for the remaining two nights of our reservation. When I asked if we would get a refund for two nights, she said that because we caused such a great disturbance, she could only refund us for one night.||* My husband tried to reason with the host, but she would not give us a full refund.||* We packed up and were out of the room before noon (the rehearsal was at 12:30). During the rehearsal, I called every bed and breakfast or rental unit I could find in Kailua (that’s where the wedding was). No one had availability, so we had to stay in my brother-in-law’s one bedroom/one bathroom apartment, where seven other adults were already staying.||||Again, I’ll let you draw your own opinions and will keep mine to myself.||||What’s unfortunate is that we have family who live in Kailua, and we often have family and friends visiting and looking for a nice place to stay. I would love to recommend this place to them as it is in a great location, but after our experience, I...

I've never taken the time to write a review ever, my wife handles most of this. But I was so profoundly impacted by my time on this island, I am indebted to provide honest fed back on our stay at the Hidden Hideaway. My wife reviewed under "Honeymoon in Paradise". ||||We traveled from Florida and after a very long day of travel, we drove through the picturesque H-3, through the mountains, opening up to a view of the most blue water I've every seen. Once we drove through Kailua to the Hidden Hideaway, we were greeted by Janice with open arms and a beautiful little quaint place. ||||Now if you are the type who is used to staying in 5-star hotels, where you are picked up after and cleaned after, and your mother never taught you manners for staying in someone else's home, this is not the place for you. Go to the Hilton. Don't read any further. ||||Assuming you are not this person and you can accept a small amount of personal responsibility, like cleaning up after yourself, making your bed, and wanting a clean bed and bathroom to crash before the next days' adventure. This is the perfect place. Its akin to traveling to your Aunt's house, and Janice makes every effort to think of everything you could need to enjoy your time there. We spent two weeks, and I will forever remember every moment of it. ||||Are there ants, yes, little black sugar ants if you leave food out. But don't leave food out, and its a minimal problem. There is a small fridge meant for daily snacks, not a full course meal each day. This is where you wake up and have coffee in the morning and a snack before hitting the hiking trails or beach. But again, this is simply a place to take a shower, and lay your head after a long day of fun. If you're looking to stay inside all day, go to a hotel. ||||You cannot expect the same accommodations as you would in a hotel or any place on the mainland. This is an island, 2,000 miles from anywhere else. Keep that in perspective. You are visiting the most serene and perfect place on earth, and the Hidden Hideaway gives you the opportunity to live like the locals and experience every moment this land offers. Please understand "The Law of the Aloha Spirit" is a state statue, and part of their culture. ||||I've read a couple reviews on here and I am very disappointed at the expectations and associated reviews. Janice, the host is the epitome of the Aloha Spirit state of mind, and what she has created at the Hidden Hideaway is a beautiful and life changing opportunity for those who are not millionaires and of significant wealth. Can you find better, bigger places, yes, but that's not local living. My wife and I spent over a year saving for this trip, and I will keep saving every day thereafter so I can make it back to this location specifically for the location and host/owner. ||||Take it or leave the review, but if you leave this place with a negative impression, you are just a negative person, and were looking for something to complain about. I know because I left Florida as that person, and came back with a new outlook on life and I can only hope that this review provides the same for future travelers to the Secret...