Rain Forest Apartment!

What a magical place in the rainforest. Painted bright green with blue trim ... that made it an immediate hit as far as we were concerned! We saw that the attention to artistic detail was fabulous. Hand painted sea turtles on the floor as well as various paintings done by Kepi, the owner. The furnishings were very Hawaiiana and comfortable, including the bed. The lanai was a great place to enjoy morning coffee and the grounds were impeccable; the paved paths wondering through the lush tropical flora. The sounds of the birds were soothing, even the chickens / roosters next door! Coqui frogs serenaded us from dusk until early morning hours every day. The stars were incredible also. Kepi (and Jim) were very welcoming hosts; eager to share their knowledge of the area with us. The location is perfect, centrally located for trips to Hilo (Carlsmith and Richardson's Beaches), the Hamakua coast (Honoka'a - Tex Drive In and Waipi'o Valley Overlook) Volcanoes National Park (Thirston Lava Tube, Halema'uma'u crater, Vocano Rim Restaurant) the southeast coastline (Kalapana, Issac Hale Beach Park) and longer trips to Kona and west coast via Saddle Road (Hapuna Beach, Waikaloa, the shops, restaurants, and beaches in Kona). If giving Kepi and Jim 20 stars was possible we would do it !! We are already planning a return trip next year.

This was my 1st time using VRBO. Place had nice bird sounds and had great deep sleep at night.Water and other amenities were good. Futon bed was hard but doable. Bathroom shower was slippery for some reason. Owner left nice directions and instructions.Overall, it was a good place to stay between Hilo and Volcano park. I would definitely recommend it.

Lovely place to stay. Beautiful landscape and quiet area.

The "rain forest" gardens were so luscious with a myriad of vines, ferns, flowers and towering plants with quirky little artsy items tucked in. We loved sitting on our porch whenever we were at "home". We felt very safe and welcome. The hosts stopped by to chat and let us know what was happening nearby. Loved that coffee and basic spices were in our kitchenette. Good location for our explorations.

Had a great time and enjoyed staying here

We love to stay at the Rain Forest Apartment. Kepi and Jim are the best hosts ever and have wonderful insights about the island. We would not stay anywhere else when we visit our family on the Big Island! Close to both Hilo and Puna making it the ideal location to see more of the island. Lovely and comfortable accommodations for a great price.

Amazing hone away from home. True Hawaiian unit.

It was the best place I have ever stayed !!!

loved the gardens and low road noise. lots of night time nature noises that i found very soothing

I couldn't have asked for anything nicer.

Cozy Hawaiian tropical spot! We loved it!!

We really enjoyed our stay!

The loving care and talent that Jim and Kepi have put into there property is amazing! I consider them friends for life!

Love the artsy and home town feel. Garden is beautiful. Spacious accommodations. Only thing would have been better was bedding provided for the full sized futon; lack of sheet set and pillows for that bed. Every thing else was great!

We enjoyed the garden area as it is beautiful. The little apartment is rustic but we were comfortable. It didn't feel as private as we like. There was a lot of foot traffic and conversation just outside our windows. But, overall it was an affordable place to stay with friendly hosts.

This was a great property. I stayed in one of the one bedroom apartments with an extra bed in the living room. It was comfortable. The yard was beautiful. The owners were extremely helpful and easy to work with over the phone and by text. The gardens were amazing. This property was very easily accessible to the Hilo side of the island. We were about an hour from volcanoes national park and we were about an hour in the other direction from many great venues. Would I stay here again? Yes I would.

I booked three separate reservations to get a taste of the island for our first trip there and honestly I would have loved to stay here the whole time.Wonderful hosts, beautiful gardens and the apartment was amazing. We will be back for our next stay and highly recommend

A beautiful property with lush plants and trees, the Turtle Apt is a fantastic deal for the Big Island. It’s located near good restaurants, shopping, groceries, and gas, and is a relatively short drive from Hilo. The hosts are super friendly and accommodating. Just remember to bring some good plugs. The jungle comes alive at night with frogs, dogs, and roosters.

Unit had lovely outdoor space adjacent to garden. Unit itself was very clean but dark and dated. Hair dryer does not work adequately and could not get hot water for shower one morning. Location good for Hilo and Volcano National Park.

Nice place to stay. The rainforest noise at night is noisy but I loved it put me right to sleep. But ear plugs are available for my travel partners. We were in Hilo to tour the University. We were about 30 minutes away but an easy drive.

My daughter and I were blown away by the magical nature of our stay. The property is gorgeous and the artwork in the units is spectacular. The chirping of the frogs and the garden’s mini-lights made sitting on the patio in the evening the highlight of our day! Most of all, meeting Kepi and Jim was unforgettable. They are so open, kind and caring and went above and beyond to make sure we were comfortable.

Lovely place. Wish we had stayed here and just drove to national park instead of staying up there.

Very clean, comfortable with beautiful artwork and gardens, and everything we needed for the stay. Our hosts Kepi and Jim were so friendly and helpful,recommending great places to eat and visit.places

Our second stay with Kepi and Jim was like the first one - wonderful! The one bedroom apartment was clean and cosy with a terrace right in the garden. We loved our coffee in the garden every morning with all the birds around and the sound of the frogs at night. Wr highly recommend this place - that is Hawaii!

We stayed on Kepi and Jim’s property for 3 1/2 weeks in August 2024. The apartment had everything we needed! We used the grill quite often which was very nice to have access to. Hurricane Hone passed close by during our stay and Jim and Kepi made sure we had flashlight and we were safe - luckily, it wasn’t too bad and never lost power! The one bedroom apartment was nicely set up/decorated and included lovely artwork by Kepi! ❤️ We thought we would suffer without air conditioning since we are from the southeast mainland, but we were fine without it and slept well. We saw some reviews about sleep disruptive coqui frogs - they can be loud but we enjoyed them immensely! They didn’t disrupt our sleep, but there is a “soothing sounds” machine in the room for those that may be bothered by the coqui frogs singing away. We wanted a quiet getaway, but close to all the east side of the island has to offer and this place was perfect! We hope to be back soon!!

We thoroughly enjoyed staying in Kepi and Jim’s cottage. The best thing about it was living in the middle of a tropical garden. We spent hours on the patio or wandering through the garden. It’s a great location in that it’s away from the busyness of Hilo, but close enough to easily get to shops, restaurants, and beaches. It’s an easy drive to the volcano and the wonderfully hippie town of Pahoa. Jim and Kepi are warm and welcoming hosts. We’re privileged to have gotten to know them a little. The only drawbacks are that there’s an apartment directly overhead, and even quiet guests create quite a ruckus. I finally resorted to ear plugs at night. Secondly, I would recommend that they replace the mattress, which is showing its age by sagging in the middle. However, these few things didn’t put a damper on our love of this place. We’d move in permanently if we could! Thanks again for your hospitality, Kepi and Jim!

We loved our stay in the downstairs apartment with our own outside terrace overlooking the garden. It was spacious with a comfortable sofa bed in the living room for extra people. It was great to have our own kitchen and to have a big jar of coffee provided to kickstart each day. It’s not far from the Volcano Park with easy access to Hilo. Thoroughly recommend staying here.

Great location with soothing sounds of Hawaiian wildlife.

Awesome place to stay! Very well equipped with everything my friend and I needed. Very enjoyable!

We had an excellent 3 day stay near Hilo. We visited volcanos NP, Richardson's beach, the Macadamia nut farm, and a really neat little zoo close by. Great affordable place to explore the island from.

The hosts were wonderful! We had our space and privacy but we also had access to the hosts when we needed them. They provided wonderful dining and activity recommendations for us. We celebrated our 15th anniversary here and had a wonderful time.

We absolutely loved our 8-night stay at Kepi and Jim’s place. In fact we’re already back here for another 3 nights! Kepi has thought of everything you might need from beach towels and chairs to a hard sided cooler with freezer packs. The lush garden view from the lanai is even more beautiful than the pictures can show. We highly recommend Kepi’s place as a lovely home away from home to stay, relax, cook your own meals and sightsee this side of the island. You know you’re in Hawaii when you stay here.

This was our second stay at Kepi and Jim’s place, and it was as wonderful as the first. Kepi’s creative artwork can be seen throughout, from turtles painted on the floor to wood cutouts on the ceiling along with numerous paintings. The artwork made our stay even more special. We love this place from the artsy vibe to the lush tropical garden. And most of all it was such a pleasure to meet Kepi and Jim! Warm and friendly with lots of great tips for sightseeing in the area.

Relaxed

Very large one bedroom apartment. Full refrigerator and good 2 burner gas hot plate. Queen bed with ok mattress. Couch is a futon and those are never comfortable to sit on, much less sleep on. This is a ground floor apartment with apartments around it and above it but the noise from neighbors is tolerable. The grounds are beautiful and the hosts could not be friendlier or more helpful. Fantastic place for the money!

We loved our stay at the Rain Forest Apartment in Kea'au! The location was good for exploring the island in our rental car each day. We were surrounded by nature and beautiful gardens that Kepi and her husband maintained. We enjoyed the peaceful surroundings and found them very relaxing. Kepi and her husband were excellent hosts, available for our needs but respecting our privacy. Kepi's artistic talents enhanced the apartment and made it a unique place to stay.

Our apartment was big and a great value. Coffee was included as well as small appliances and utensils for kitchen. Shower was great and hot. Parking was easy. Kepi is an artist and did all of the custom artwork, she is a beautiful person . Has all the extras included and gorgeous grounds and landscapes. It was perfect and we will be back again! Mahalo

The place was super nice with very helpful owner. Beautiful inside and outside. The only thing that owner could do is advise people upstair to be more careful has the floor in wood bounce back on lower apartment and when you try to sleep it can be very dissapointing and specially when someone star is loundry at 7 in morning.

The property was perfect for our day trips to Hawaii Volcano Park, waterfalls and snorkeling on Black sands beach. The bed was comfortable and the space very functional. Host was friendly and helpful.

Wonderful property and hosts! Loved every minute of our stay! Highly recommend this venue!!

Excellent in every way (2nd stay)

My husband and I had a wonderful stay. The apartment is just as listed and it has everything we needed. We enjoyed having many screened windows to allow for natural air flow. The temperature cooled down enough in the evenings to make it comfortable for sleeping with the ceiling fan on. The small kitchen was perfect for making breakfast and lunch. We loved eating breakfast outside while enjoying the gardens and listening to the birds and insects. I would have loved if there was a guest book or binder with recommended spots. There are so many places to go, it would be nice to read about past guests highlights. I recommend bringing a pair of ear plugs if you are a light sleeper. The insects at night are very loud. We loved listening to them, however I would have had trouble sleeping without earplugs. Mahalo for the fantastic time!

Conveniently located. Clear directions to home and check-in process. Asked for simple maintenance- replace light bulb in shower fixture, done immediately. No bedding for futon, it was delivered promptly the next day. Beautiful place and exactly as described in listing