Seaside Air-conditioned Bungalow Tamara

Please stay somewhere else. We booked two nights by phone after a local contact connected us, and I should have listened to the bad Airbnb reviews. Tamara sounded pleasant on the phone, and my partner confirmed our stay twice. The day we arrived, our hike to the top of Mou’aputa ran long. We couldn't find a taxi despite calling several drivers, so I called Tamara to say we'd be late and ask about drivers, since she'd told my partner she had one available. We ate in 'Āfareaitu while we kept trying. Eventually the restaurant found us a taxi, and I messaged Tamara on WhatsApp to say we were on our way. About 15 minutes from the guesthouse, she said she wouldn't wait any longer and told us to get a room at the Sofitel, which was fully booked and started at around $650 a night. We had never been told there was a check-in cutoff, so I called to try to sort out the misunderstanding. On the phone she was completely unhinged and said we'd caused her undue stress, apparently by asking about a taxi. We were suddenly facing no place to sleep at 7 PM in a foreign country. In desperation, we called the Hirinaki Beach House next door. They were fully booked, but the kind woman who answered offered to help and said she wasn't surprised. She told us about a recent guest with a multi-week reservation whom Tamara had kicked out while keeping her $5000. Another nearby owner with an unfinished Airbnb, part of Fare Koki Koki, gave us a ride and let us sleep there on mattress pads under a roof. I'm grateful there are people who care enough to help. Tamara had terrible communication, no empathy, and a hair-trigger. She shouldn't be in hospitality.

There were a ton of mosquitoes, and the bed's net didn't stop me from getting bitten over and over through the night. The place itself is nice, but bring bug spray and spray everything.

The place is really beautiful, but the owner, a woman in her 60s, physically assaulted me. She has issues. I'm keeping this short because my fuller account somehow violated the review rules. Do not book here.

The price and the existing reviews don't make sense for the state of this bungalow. We felt so uncomfortable that we left after one night, though it had been double-booked and the booking agency had already said we'd have to move after two nights. We told them we'd go the next day instead. The place was shabby and dirty, and the ceiling fan barely worked. When we arrived at 4:30 pm, Tamara complained that she'd been waiting since 2. The bungalow was clearly past its prime and didn't look like the photos: two of the four lamps were broken, as were the gas water heater and safe. She said the heater had worked over the weekend, and a plumber might come tomorrow if he wasn't too busy. The safe needed batteries because Tamara didn't want guests setting a private code. We persuaded her to put batteries in, but she used a code known to her and the temporary worker, saying that was secure enough. She also warned us to use either the mosquito net plugs or the fan, since running both might melt the sockets. We strongly advise against staying there.