We were so happy with our stay at Serenity Cottage. I loved that we could see the ocean while seated at the dining table. I loved that we could sit outside in the yard, and our kids could play on the grass with shelter from wind and sun when needed. We were lucky that the guests at the larger house on the shared property included a child similar in age to ours, and our interactions with them were very positive. I loved being close to Kalapawai market and Lanikai beach. We were satisfied with the condition of the cottage, accepting that it wasn't newly renovated, and content with it's comfort as a small casual beach house. We would definitely return to stay again and recommend it to friends. The best parts of our trip were waking up early to see the sunrise on the beach, spending some lovely morning beach time at Lanikai, and relaxing in the afternoons at the house. We have stayed in Kailua before and this was our best holiday yet!
Gudrun A., Victoria, , 3.21.12
The best part of serenity cottage is the beach access and cute little well stocked home.Love the grill, gas stove, oven, dishwasher, washer and dryer! Regan greeted us with local gifts (very nice touch). I am on the board of the Sausalito Chamber of commerce and think this is a great way to orient guests to local businesses! The best part of our trip was walking on Kailua Beach early in the morning (daily) after rolling out of bed. I love all the friendly locals out with their dogs. Our favorite meal was at Baci Bistro. The Italian is as good as North Beach in San Francisco, and the risotto was straight out of Italy. our favorite brunch was in Waikiki at the Beachhouse, Moana Surfrider. $30 per person, but you can't beat the food, view, and history. (be sure to go up stairs and check out their historical room and video of Waikiki over the years). We took some great photos just steps away from our back doors that lead to the beach.my advice to anyone stating at the cottage is to Find Foodland and for specialty diets ( I'm celiac) visit Karen and Damien of The Source. The Source is the local healthfood store and Karen is an expert on Nutrition! We will be booking our next trip at Serenity cottage. Our kids 11, and 13 had plenty to do right from our little home in Kailua! Oh, and don't forget to visit the green market on the corner, it will be your favorite place for coffee and deli!
Marina O., Sausalito, CA, 1.6.12
Nice rental...Great location !!
John S., Lake Geneva, WI, 12.11.11
The best thing was easy access to the beautiful Kailua Beach. Also - it was great to walk to Kalapawai Market and to Buzz's. The customer service was very good, although usually when I have rented we have not been met by the agent and she does not return to say good bye - these behaviors made me feel like she was "checking us out." I prefer anonymity. But she was very nice and had some good advice re: restaurants. We always love going to Buzz's and Roy's in Hawaii Kai. Kalapawai Cafe is good and the sandwiches they make at the market are good. The most beautiful beaches were Waimanlalo Bay Park, Hanauma Bay and Waimea Bay. Also - Bellows was the best body surfing at high tide on weekends (closed during the week). This unit did not have great kitchen stuff - not enough classes and mugs and flatware. Also - would appreciate a rice cooker. Also - sesame oil but no shoyu? strange. There was barely enough laundry soap and we ran out of automatic dishwashing soap. I felt this was kind of chincy.
Dana K., Westport, CT, 6.8.11
Comment by Owner/Manager:
Thank you so much for your comments, we hope you had a wonderful visit. So sorry to hear that you didn't have enough soap, we definitely would have corrected this problem had we known. Regarding our guest services personnel: we like all our guests to feel as though they have someone they can call on if any problems should present itself. Mahalo,
Access to the beach is great! Customer service is great! Best part of the trip was being away from the busy side of Oahu! Having air conditioning in the bedrooms is a real plus! And the air conditioner was very quiet!
Ardie F., Eugene, Oregon, 5.11.11
Serenity Cottage is located perfectly. Seeing the bay and listening to the waves from the house was terrific. Walking out the beautifully maintained lawn to the palms and sand and ocean was better than we'd even hoped! The cottage is lovely... impeccably maintained and wonderfully supplied. I cannot think of a thing we wanted that we didn't find there - even a flashlight for the island-wide blackout! Beach towels, cooler bag, washer/dryer, outdoor shower, nice boogie boards, beach chairs, umbrella, books, plenty of towels, lawn furniture, everything we needed in the kitchen, starter supply on household stuff...it was all nice quality too. It's not big, but it was bigger than I expected from the photos. The layout was nice and it was an amazing combination of very private yet still very open. Our family (with 2 teen boys) was very happy there. We loved walking to Kalapawai Market for sandwiches/coffee, to Island Snow for awsome shave ice, and to Bob's Pizza for the biggest slices we've ever seen (good too!). We could walk to and wheel rentals at Kailua Sailboards and Kayaks to the house. Stand up paddle surfing was a hit with the family on this trip. Blue Planet (Honolulu) was recommended for surfboard rentals - and we were very impressed with the price and quality of the longboards there. Snorkeling at Hanauma Bay was fun - got there at 8:30 AM before the crowds. We love shopping at Haleiwa - Surf N Sea is our favorite. Our favorite restaurant was Kua 'Aina sandwich at Haleiwa and Waikiki (awesome fish sandwiches), but the boys' favorite was Teddy's Bigger Burgers in Kailua. We liked Big City Diner and plate lunches at Keneke's (perfect after Hanauma). When we ventured into Waikiki it was fun but noisy and crowded and we were happy to return "home" to Kailua. If you are there during the holidays you should not miss the trolley tour to see Honolulu City Lights! The Lights were awesome, but even better was the fun of the trolley - singing, music, and a funny driver. (Better to buy tix in advance - - but on the standby list we only had a 40 min wait.) Koko Head climb was fun on Christmas Day. Great Christmas buffet dinner at Turtle Bay Resort. The New Years eve celebrations (tons of fireworks in the streets) was like nothing we've ever experienced before. We weren't sure how we'd like renting a beach house in Hawaii as we've always stayed at resorts before, but this was our best trip ever. The people at Kailua were incredibly friendly, the cottage was comfortable and well-supplied, walkable distance to Kailua places and central for driving anywhere on the island. Hawaiian Beach Rentals/Two Wahines was helpful and very responsive. Though we knew we could call on them, we needed nothing from them while we were staying there - everything was already thought of and prepared before we even got there - a great compliment to HBR and to Serenity Cottage!
Sheri Y., Ashburn, VA, 1.3.09
Clean, convenient and close to the beach with a view. Julie was great about providing directions, checking in to maje sure I got everything, arranging for fixes as necessary and helping with ideas of things to do and locations! It would have been nice to have had some cleaning supplies in the bathroom to be able to clean out the tub a bit. Thanks,
Marlys B., Santa Barbara, CA, 7.15.08
We absolutely loved the Serenity Cottage and look forward to staying there again on a future visit to Hawaii! Julie was very helpful and wonderful to work. The best part was being right on the beach in Kailua with boogie boarding and swimming just outside your door! We will be back someday!
Kathy M., Portland, OR, 7.7.08
Hi, The features of Serenity are location, beach access and quiet. Beyond that, the unit is dated. Floor coverings are stained, floor trim is dirty, paint and drywall are chipped, windows need washing, bedding is cheap, and so on. Customer service from Grace and from Two Wahines was top notch. Our only complaint was a proposed extra charge for a later checkout that we felt was a bit much after a 10 day stay and no immediate new coming arrival. The restaurants were fine -- particularly Buzz's, Lucy's and Assagio. Baci Bistro is over-rated in our judgment. Best advice is to take fewer belongings and wait until Serenity is freshened. By the way, we passed along these same comments to Julie of Two Wahines. John Munn ("Manager Note: Thank you Mr. Munn; do to your notes, we have recently redecorated with several new pieces of furniture: new living room furniture and bedding. The cottage bedrooms are now equipped with A/C. We hope you'll come back again some day!")
John M., Steamboat springs, CO, 1.24.08
The Serenity Cottage was a great place to stay. We will defiantly return!! Thank you.
Rhonda O., Auburn, WA, 10.30.07
We had a great time at Serenity Cottage. Kailua is a very relaxing, slow paced town compared to Waikiki. We felt right at home in the Cottage and it seemed to have all the amenities we needed to have a great vacation. We really liked having the restaurant recommendations and Brents for breakfast is the place and we enjoyed the service and the food at Zia's for dinner. The info and the map of the local area that was provided help tremendously. We have told all of our friends about our trip and what a pleasant time we had. Some day we hope to come back.
Heather V., Rossmoor, CA, 8.11.07
Great view but the natural wind flow is blocked by the main house. The cottage was clean and very small. The beach was beautiful. The gift basket was a nice touch. We liked Lucy's Restaurant and California Pizza. There was also a Mexican restaurant that had Cantina in the name that had great food and margaritas.
Phyllis G., Sioux City, Iowa, 7.9.07
The beachfront location is fabulous! Although the beds were hard, the cottage was clean and comfortable - exactly as the website described. A wonderful contrast to the noise and crowds of Waikiki. Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Mahalo!
David S., Park City, Utah, 4.8.07
Wonderful location! Comfortable, clean, well stocked cottage. Courteous and attentive service provided by Julie. . Would stay here again. rn
Russ L., McKinney, TX, 8.5.06
location is great, and we had good vacation. All the best
Radojka S., Sacramento, CA, 7.10.06
Although the weather did not cooperate during our visit to Hawaii, the Serenity Cottage was a pleasure to stay in. The snorkeling out in front was nice. I would stay there again.
Gordon H., Garland, TX, 4.3.06
The cottage could use enough comfortable living room furniture to accommodate four people. The garden service came too early on a Sunday morning. The beach would have been perfect if it had not been so rainy. Our beach was the only we experienced that posted unsafe for swimming due to run-off. Overall, the cottage was a pretty good value.
LARRY N., Apple Valley, MN, 3.4.06
We had great time in Kailua, loved the Serenity Cottage!!!
Rose R., Healdsburg, CA, 2.19.06
Kailua is a wonderful location that is not too touristy, yet close to Honolulu. Cottage was clean and comfortable for our family of four. Beach was wonderful.
Carmen N., Calgary, Alberta, 1.11.06
Small but very cozy cottage. Very good access to a wonderful beach.
Kent M., Salt Lake City, Utah, 10.25.05
Lovely cottage, terrific location. We met the owner and she made us feel very welcome. Kailua is a great town. I highly recommend this unit to couples or two friends traveling together. It had everything we needed.
Stephanie V., Oceanside, Cal, 10.7.05
We had a wonderful stay. A few light bulbs were burned out and living room lamp apparently doesn't work but otherwise a great place and location. Thank you
Geoffrey and Linda W., San Francisco, CA, 9.10.05
We loved our stay at Serenity Cottage. Beautiful location! Beautiful beach! The cottage was very comfortable, nicely decorated and had nice beds and linens:) Thanks for a lovely vacation!
Ann V., , , 6.22.05
We really enjoyed our stay at the Serenity Cottage. The cottage offered everything we needed for our family of 4. We would stay again.
ED N., Tacoma, WA, 5.17.05
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