Petite Retreat at Kahana Falls

The pool was the best part: beautiful landscaping made it feel like swimming in lush Hawaii, and the main hot tub was tucked among rocks with sand on the bottom. It felt like a spa. The other hot tub, by the back building, had no sand and was dark; we got spider webs on us going through the gate. The balcony overlooking the pool was nice, and the fourth-floor room in the right-hand big building was okay. The bathrooms were more modern, and overall the place felt clean and comfortable. We appreciated that there were no cockroaches, ants, or bedbugs, despite other reviews mentioning them, though we did have lots of gnats inside the unit. The beach is about a 30-minute walk from the main area around Black Rock beach. Upstairs there’s a good games and gym area, but the lobby is ugly and dated, like the back room of an Asian food restaurant. The basement showers were disgusting: old soap on the floor, pubic hairs on the walls, mold, and no way to close the door, which made me uncomfortable as a woman. The kitchen was very outdated, the coffee maker had bugs in it, and one sofa cushion had a big chunk of dried food or sauce. It didn’t seem like the rooms were cleaned thoroughly. Service was so-so. The staff seemed stingy and unwelcoming. We got one bag of coffee for the whole stay, had to pay for more, and the lobby coffee station disappeared at noon. They didn’t make us feel welcome or cared for, not even with a smile or a hello. We also had a list of checkout chores: take out the trash, load the dishwasher, and pile up the towels. Those are normal requests, but tying them to getting the security deposit back felt wrong. There was no housekeeping, so we were our own cleaners for the whole stay while still paying resort fees. It wasn’t the experience we wanted.