Waimea Plantation Cottages

After coming here off and on for many, many years, I’m sad to say that this is the last time. The management here is unresponsive. We called and emailed, repeatedly, before our visit, trying to get information about where we’d be staying, and what kind of equipment they had, if any, for the 9 month old baby we were bringing - we waited forever for a response, finally receiving just a bare bones email with no responses to our questions. The policy here is that you cannot choose your accommodation - just the category. So if you get one of the worse units, and they are otherwise sold out, well, too bad, that’s your vacation. These units are old, rustic, and not at all modernized. They have A/C now, which is great, but the plumbing and electrical connections are decades old. The linens are much the worse for the wear. The kitchens are very poorly, and cheaply, equipped. It’s basically clean, but sticky with built up grime. They have the makings of something charming and unusual here, but their failure to invest in the property over time has really started to take its toll. It’s nearly deserted here, as I write this, but they refused to give us any leeway on our checkout time. I have a hard time believing that by tomorrow, a Tuesday afternoon, they’ll be full up. I almost get the sense that they are hoping we won’t return. Maybe the idea here is that they have a captive audience, with very few other options, so they don’t need to do much at all in the way of customer service. Our unit was ok - that’s as far as I’ll go. It’s sparsely furnished, with mismatched furniture that seems to be whatever was left over. I always liked that this place was not uniform and predictable, like a hotel is, but they have taken that idea and stretched it way too far. I’ll miss the quiet here, but not much else.

Delightful cottages, kind people, great location for hiking and quiet, really cool little township with character and people. Shame it was really dirty and needed some basic updating, you can keep the charm with some simple cleaning and upgrading.

UGH! The pictures don’t come close to the reality of this so called resort. What a disappointment. Our room smelled musty, had mold in the shower, windows didn’t close, table and chairs ragged, and in truth needed to be totally renovated. The only saving grace was the comfortable bed and sheets. We informed the management but there was nothing to be done.