The landscape is truly a stunning and rugged panorama. Awakening to sunrise, watching the impossibly blue Pacific reach out to the horizon beyond the enormous lava bed, and night gazing at stars that you won’t see if you are an urban dweller. We were also fortunate enough to watch the moon wax full though the palms.
Although our host was very gracious and attentive to our questions, there is some much-needed attention that should be accorded the property to make it even better yet. Although the listing does make mention that there is air conditioning, it is in the form of a movable floor unit on casters in the bedroom that vents to the outside. We would usually turn the AC off when we awoke and let the daily breeze in through the open windows, then would turn it back on once the temperature rose to the 84 to 86-degree range. Most days this happened in a matter of just 2-3 hours. The only operative ceiling fan was also in the bedroom; the two floor fans available could not adequately move the air in the rest of the space. For some reason that ever-present lovely breeze flowed around the property like water around a rock with very little entering through the open windows and deck doors. For the most part it was always cooler outside than in. While attempting to place the fans in more desirable locations, we also discovered that there were several receptacles that were not operable. In addition, several light fixtures near and in the kitchen area (2 under cabinet and the pendant fixture over the stove/bar) were not working. Also, the one floor lamp had no workable receptacle near it. We avoided using the hot halogen ceiling/track lights and tended to keep things rather dim in the evening in an attempt to keep the heat down. We’re also people who cook, which, unfortunately, added to the heat. Rather than have someone come by and attempt to address these issues, we chose to just try to make it work. We wanted to spend time in this amazing place without feeling as though we had to leave every day to keep cool. We made it work as best we could but, try as we may, the space didn’t prove very comfortable for writing, reading or simply sitting and reflecting. This applies to most of the furniture as well, excluding the wonderful and the deck chairs on the ground level deck are much more conducive to relaxing outside in that breeze.