Andy DehnartThe Hawaiian villa that’s been hosting Love Island season 3 on CBS is quite a spectacular location, from the property’s steep waterslide to the three waterfalls that are just beyond the pool, never mind how it opens to the Pacific Ocean. Some of its splendor comes from the production design, like the bright neon lights, the colorful furniture, and faux foliage, but the building itself is quite amazing.
So where is the Love Island USA season three villa, which is an obvious upgrade from season two’s hotel location? (I’m referring to the main house, not the new Casa Amor villa.) I searched and searched, but found mostly incorrect answers.
For example, Newsweek—which is a shadow of the publication that it used to be, with articles that seem to be a garbage collection of keywords—falsely reported that “The islanders will be staying at the Grand Naniloa Hotel in Hilo.” It cited and even linked to an article in Hawaii News Now which absolutely does not say that the cast will be staying at the hotel.
Plus, the Grand Naniloa Hotel, which is a Doubletree hotel in Hilo, looks nothing like the villa on the show and is, as it turns out, a half-hour drive away from the actual filming location. The Love Island crew is staying there, however, and the production company, ITV, is spending $6 million to fully book the hotel through the end of August, according to a story in the Hawaii Tribune-Herald.
That’s the article most websites cite, but even it points out that “shooting will take place primarily on private property on the Hamakua Coast.” So where is that property?
Here’s what it looks like in real life, not decorated for a TV show:
Here’s what it looked like on MTV in 2018:
And here it is on the CBS’s version of Love Island season 3:
Love Island 3 USA’s actual Hawaiian villa
The actual Love Island season 3 filming location is north of Hilo, a city on the east coast of the island of Hawaii, which is known as The Big Island. It’s next to the Manoloa Stream, which flows into the Pacific Ocean, but not before cascading through three waterfalls that are visible on the show.
Thanks to the Hawaii Tribune-Herald’s mention of the the Hamakua Coast, I started searching for rental properties that had a waterfall nearby. It didn’t take me long to find it, because “waterfall” is even in its actual name: Waterfalling Estate.
The private property’s website says it has “a private waterfall, a personal 9-tee golf course, a resort-quality tennis stadium, and a 16-foot deep Olympic pool featuring a two-story waterslide.” There’s also a helipad, multiple jacuzzis, and an elevator.
The property also has some things we haven’t seen on CBS, such as 32-foot platform diving board, which is sometimes visible on CBS, and a spring diving board, which appears to have been removed. Both were visible when the house was used for the first season of MTV’s Ex On the Beach.
The waterslide normally hovers over the deep part of the pool, which has been covered with a platform for Love Island, and that area now holds a collection of sofas and an overhang.
The exterior of Waterfalling Estate looks rather different without Love Island’s incredible set dressing, which is the work of production designer Richard Jensen and lighting designer Michael Verrkamp. As the credits flew by, I paused and counted more than 70 people whose work involves the look and feel of the set, and then gave up, because there were even more people.
This 10-minute video shows the property inside and out, including its 8,100 square feet of living space. It’s located on Mamalahoa Highway near Ninole.
The current standard rate is $34,950 per week, but on holidays, it’s $49,950 per week, and rises to “ultra premium rates” of $69,950 during the Christmas and New Year’s weeks.
The cleaning fee is $1,500, and guests have to stay at least seven days. Renters can also use a race car for $500 a day, or book a chauverred SUV for $7,000 for the week.
If you want to rent it, the property’s listing on VRBO shows it is not available until Sept. 25, but after that it’s wide open until Christmas week.
Last year, it went on sale for $12.5 million, and an article about the listing said it “has been a popular vacation rental for celebrities and royals around the world, including Justin Bieber and members of the Saudi Royal Family” and was “most recently [on] MTV’s reality series ‘Ex on The Beach.'” Well, now it’s most recently been on Love Island USA season three.