G D.
Yelp
My husband and I stayed one night in the Guild Master Suite on the second floor. The old building was situated in a quiet neighborhood one block from the University of Hawaii campus. Our unit has 2 spacious rooms, a big closet, a refrigerator, and a bathroom with tub and standing shower.
The good:
--Standing shower with great water pressure: love it.
--Well-lit rooms with a lot of windows and circulating fresh air. No need for AC during the winter months.
--Refrigerator in the room.
--Water, hot water maker and tea bags available all day - USDA organic lemon ginger, green and chai tea bags
--Charming gardens in the front and the back.
--Beautiful chandeliers in the common areas.
--Great breakfast with a lot of fruits, hot and cold offerings: fresh pineapple, red and green grapes; ratatouille, braised sausage and vegetables, steamed rice in rice cooker, braised cabbage and mushroom, sauteed/baked potatoes in 1-inch cubes, and another hot entree I forgot to name; bread assortments (3 croissants, 2 rye bread slices, a few whole wheat bread slices, a few white bread slices, some other bread types...), a bread toaster that may not work but we didn't need it. A lady staff offered to make us pancakes or eggs upon order. We requested pancakes and she brought them out beautifully with strawberry preserve on top. It looked much better than it tasted. They used a bad batter from a box. Skip making pancakes and eggs to order. As long as they offer sufficient fresh fruits, hot and cold food and vary the dishes daily, there is no need to make pancakes and eggs to order.
--Mark the owner told us about local attractions and restaurants.
The bad:
--The website pictures may have been taken 10 to 20 years ago and did not accurately describe the place.
--Unused, unmaintained pool where mosquitoes breed and feed on you - We did not care for a pool and was not disappointed. Maybe drain the water to avoid mosquitoes laying eggs?
--Old windows in our unit, some did not open all the way up.
--Wall paper flaking and bubbly up
--Uncomfortable couch and sofa in our unit
--Old, stained carpet in our unit.
--The old matching wood furniture desperate for a varnish and oil application many years ago (head board, bed side tables, dresser/chest of drawers) - now they dried out and cracked to a point of no return.
--Tremendous dust build-up in the air-conditioning unit: either take out the AC unit or dust it with the Swiffer duster available at Costco or Target.
--Thin walls and windows - we could hear conversations and noise from the upstairs people at night.
--Old building with great potentials and a desperate need for renovation. A $300,000-complete renovation over 6 months with no occupancy would turn this place upside down like how Harry did it with his Gingerbread Mansion in Ferndale, CA (Harry may have spent over $500,000 in his renovation). Glen and Jena own a Hawaiian treasure, a historic building with enormous potentials. I hope they completely renovate it to its true grandeur.
Lastly, on the day we checked out, the lady staff who made us pancakes earlier knocked on our door at 9 am with a phone on her ear. She said "sorry" but did not explained herself. At 9:35 am, a Japanese man in his 30's knocked on our door. He said "sorry" and left. He did not explained himself either. He was not a staff member. My husband had seen him talking to Jena, the wife owner, the night before and in the morning. Those two bizarre encounters was the main reason that we would not return in addition to the outdated property. It was fine to remind us the 10 am check-out time. But it was unacceptable to keep knocking on guests' doors without clear intention and explanation. We indeed checked out by 10 am, said good-bye to Jena, and left the keys where she told us.
