Puakea Ranch

We have been coming to Puakea Ranch for 16 years with our family. It is truly a magical place. The property and cottages are divine. There has been so much love and special touches put into the property keeping it's historic quality. It is an authentic Hawaiian experience. Each year our experience gets better and better, and different, as our children grew up. It was always a highlight vacation for them and they have so many fond memories we will always cherish. It is a 5 star stay and ranch life experience the Hawaiian way. Much more character than a resort. Thank you Puakea Ranch for providing such a unique escape.

We had a wonderful 5-night stay in the Miles Away cottage at Puakea Ranch! The resort was so peaceful and beautiful. Our 9-year old daughter enjoyed swimming in the pool and playing with the cats. We loved relaxing in our cottage in the evenings, cooking and soaking up the gorgeous sunsets. I would recommend this beautiful spot to anyone visiting the Big Island.

I wish we never booked here. The list of issues we had during our stay was very long, and some of them were extremely concerning (I will be discussing only the major issues). To make matters worse, the owner, Christie, is terrible at communication and is extremely difficult to work when we had any issues and in turn has made our wedding memories a nightmare for us. We, along with our wedding party, stayed on-site as we figured this would be a great way to spend quality time with one another. For starters, Christie changes what is advertised and agreed upon at the time of signing/making a deposit and could not care at all to update her website even after I showed her the discrepancy. Just a few days before arrival, I was sent an email regarding check-in/check-out along with some notes regarding what is regarded as “ranch life” (scorpions, ants, etc). The check-in and check-out time listed in the email was different than what was advertised online, and she made sure to put in red bold print to be checked out promptly by 10am. Then, she then texted me asking if I wanted the twin beds to be changed to a king size bed for a charge. What charge? There was nowhere listed anywhere of there being a charge to change the beds to a king size. I was confused so I declined even though originally I had wanted to. We were also notified by our wedding planner and Christie that she has had issues with her neighbors in the past, which we can tell why now. We had major pest issues IN ALL the cottages – from ants to roaches to rodents. Also, on our wedding night, at around 10pm all the water on the property was shut off. (No warning, no explanation. We texted the owner about it and did not hear an update until the next morning.) Mind you, our wedding had finished at 9pm and we were still cleaning afterwards, so obviously hardly any of us were able to shower/clean ourselves before bed, including myself. Water was not restored until around 9am. Christie argued with me stating that there was more than enough time for all of us to have showered (4 showers and 17 of us!). When I emailed her after our stay regarding the numerous major issues that we had, she took zero responsibility/accountability for being the owner of the ranch, arguing that the water shut off was out of her control and that for us to say that there was a major pest infestation on the property simply could not be true and told me that my group and I were being dramatic and that we were coercing into getting a huge refund (we asked for about $4k back in compensation, when we paid over $11k for a three night stay). She also ignored issues she could not refute such as the safety/security issues we had – the gate to the ranch being unlocked at all hours, doors struggling to close/lock, and a smoke alarm being unplugged from the ceiling in one of the cabins. Anything I tried to bring up to her as concerns regarding the ranch, she blamed on anyone/anything other than herself, showing zero compassion for all t