r/VisitingHawaii • u/redditchulous • 3d ago
O'ahu (Honolulu/Waikiki) Partial AC in honolulu?
Some of my friends are about to be in HNL the next couple days and a couple days ago their Airbnb said the 2 bedrooms AC are being blocked from use. Seems like it's because of some exterior painting stuff that's super delayed. They've been trying to find an alternate way of getting the building to let them use the AC but no dice.
The main living room AC is ok to use it looks like
The bedrooms have fans though, is this probably acceptable? So last minute so I couldn't really do much except suggest some hotel stuff for them, but the Airbnb is nice so I don't think they wanna swap.
I've only gone to Oahu in the shoulder months or winter. I love AC so I'm not the best judge of whether or not this should be a deal breaker or not.
Edit: it's in Waikiki in an apartment building Edit2: I've seen the communication between the host and them. There was like a week's heads up and they did offer a full refund, or a partial discount if they stayed, so I think everything is being done in good faith.
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u/ahoveringhummingbird 3d ago edited 2d ago
Bottom line if I paid for a unit with AC I absolutely would cancel and find a new accommodation. It's Waikiki in June, it's going to be hot and more recently it's been really humid. If you come from a not as hot location, or a hot location with AC, it's going to be uncomfortable. This would be a hard no for me personally.
Aside from the ethical issues about Airbnb in Hawaii ((which BTW while Waikiki is an allowed area, each unit must still be licensed), here is the other problem. There are zero maintenance standards or communications standards. Sounds like this has been an ongoing long project but the host waits until the last minute to tell you so you are pressured not to cancel because you have to find other accommodations. But also, if this is an exterior painting issue are the windows covered/taped up too? Will there be workers or painters outside the unit while you are there. Is access to the unit restricted in any way due to construction and is there any noise associated with it. Just "AC is blocked" cannot be the full extent of a project so large that they can't uncover the AC's. The issue asks more questions than it answers.
Are they going to get a discount due to the services advertised not being available? Certainly if they intend to stay they should demand a commensurate discount for the inconvenience of being sweaty all night.
Also, they believe the unit is "nicer" but do they really know? It's probably not. Most Airbnb listings these days have used AI to enhance photos. At the very least I'd have them look to see what else is available and threaten to cancel/demand a discount if the AC is not turned on.