Fijian Girl

Quote: Things to do and see around Nadi, Fiji

Incidentally Nadi is pronounced Nandi in Fijian

Unless you are interested in adrenalin seeking activities such as skidoos , banana boats, rafting down a river, swimming with sharks, scuba diving or deep sea fishing then there are limited things to do in the Nadi area. The most obvious experience is to sail and visit some of the smaller islands in either the Mamanuca or Yasawa island groups.

We decided we would take a trip to see a couple of the islands in the Mamanuca (pronounced Mamanutha) group on one day and I’ll write about that in another review.
On another day we explored a few of the local highlights around the Nadi area. We paid the taxi driver who brought us from the airport to give us the ‘tour’ and it cost us $160 Fijian which is about £55 and he took us to a number of different places, waited with us, took photos of us and then returned us to our hotel. His name was Tom and he was quite charming.

Our first port of call was the Sabeto mud springs which i have written about in a previous review.

NEXT STOP -THE GARDENS OF THE SLEEPING GIANT
This is an orchid and tropical garden set up by Raymond Burr of ‘Ironside’ fame. It cost us $12 Fijian each to enter the gardens and this fee included an ice cold tropical fruit juice as you finished your visit. You could chose to have a guided tour or just wander around by yourself. We decided on a self guided tour and not only enjoyed the wonderful orchids but also went part of the way round a jungle walk. As we only had about half an hour here we didn’t take the full walk around as it was quite a lengthy walk and Tom suggested that half an hour here would be enough.

THE LANDING PLACE OF THE FIRST FIJIANS
About 12km north of Nadi is Viseisei village in the district of Vuda and this is supposedly where the first Melanesians arrived in Fiji around 1500. The village of Viseisei is the chief village in the district of Vuda and this is the village of the just recently retired Prime minister of Fiji. The villages in Fiji have a very distinct structure and are divided into clans, the warrior clan, the messenger clan and so on. You are born into your clan and this never changes. Each clan inhabits a specific area of the village and fulfils specific traditional roles or duties.

We were invited in to the village and introduced to our guide who belonged to the messenger clan. He took us to a series of craft stalls selling various items made by the villages at very reasonable prices. There were wooden carved things and many haematite and fresh water pearl jewellery items. A fresh water pearl necklace was about £4 which I felt was amazing value.

After we had spent some money our guide took us around the village and told us a bit of the history and also a bit about the structure of the village and village life. I was quite shocked to hear that in the village of 800 population they had 98 orphans. The parents had died of cancer or accidents; apparently cancer is quite a bit killer in Fiji. That did seem to be a very big percentage of orphans in one village to me. The orphans are looked after by the church which gets the money from the tourist’s $5 entry fee and I think village people who are earning in jobs outside the village probably donate to the church too. Our guide said he gets paid once a month from the fund too.

There is the orphanage and the dormitory for that, a kindergarten and a school all part of this village. There is a High school too but a bit further from the village. The structure and etiquette within the village is very strict. Women have to have their shoulders covered and wear a sarong or lap lap that is below their knees especially in the open ground around the church and the chief’s hut .The men have to wear the lap lap and not shorts. Just next to the chiefs meeting house is a smaller waiting covered seating area where visitors (including Prince Charles) have to wait for their meeting with the village chief.

The houses apart from the special chief’s hut and waiting hut are all made of concrete blocks and plastered over and painted. The entire village was beautifully kept with grass short and not litter or rubbish lying around. The church was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in this village while other villages have catholic churches. The village is mostly Methodist, the Catholic residents have to go to church away from the village as there isn’t a catholic church in this village.

When I asked where the first Melanesians had come from to get to Fiji we were told that they sailed from Tanzania which was very impressive sailing considering what they came in. This also explained the similarities we had noticed in the Fijian language to Kiswahili.

SRI SIVA SUBRAMANIYA SWAMI TEMPLE
This Hindu temple is the largest in the Southern Hemisphere and is typically brightly coloured and intricately decorated. It is quite strikingly beautiful and has a very calm atmosphere about it. It is one of the few places outside India where you can see this traditional Dravidian architecture. The wooden deities were brought from Indian and the temple is maintained with obvious care and pride.

The second largest group of people after the Fijians are Indians brought in by the British to work in the sugar cane fields. Most of these are Hindu although a small number are Islamic. They have had quite an influence with the food on offer in Fiji and in Nadi a lot of the shops seemed to be owned and run by Indians.

NADI TOWN
There really isn’t much of any interest in Nadi except the shops and a very large fruit and vegetable market. There are a number of cafes and restaurants but they were not sufficiently interesting or different to entice us back for another visit. We spent almost two hours in the town and found that that was an hour too long. The shops were offering similar souvenir and craft items, there were a lot of Indian shops selling saris and fabric, a couple of supermarkets, a department store called Prouds and a large gift and clothes shop which seemed to have a good reputation called ‘Jacks’.

We were advised that Nadi was quite safe during the day , provided you took the normal precautions with your bags etc but that it was unwise to go there at night.

So that was our exploration of the area around Nadi and these seemed to be the highlights in the area. You could take trips further afield but nothing really seemed worth spending the time or the money on to go and see. We felt we got a bit of a look at the area with this day trip and learned a bit about village life.

We also saw several crops and vegetables growing including, pawpaw, cassava, banana, taro, tobacco and lots of sugar cane. We also saw the sugar train that took the cane to the factory for processing. We were shown two different ferns that were eaten in Fiji but as yet have not found this on a menu.

I think the area where we are staying is one of the best as we are not stuck on an island resort which although can be idyllic does not allow you to explore much beyond and find out about the things outside the resort. We were based on Denarau island which is a piece of reclaimed land with luxury hotels and residences but we were still able to get a bus into Nadi or take a taxi as we did to explore the area and see the sights on offer.

Quote: The Sea spray's day trip continued after our lunch to the second Island we were going to visit in the Mamanuca island group. This island was Yanuwa, we passed several other but only stopped at Modriki and Yanuwa which were quite contrasting islands.

This island of Yanuwa was not deserted, it had a village of about 650 people and there was also a boarding school where the pupils were weekly boarders. Unfortunately this island was quite badly hit by a hurricane last year and the damage was still evident. They also only have one very small spring and apart from that they have no water supply except from collected rain water in tanks. So far this year they have had virtually no rain for about 5 months so they are struggling a fair bit. The villagers grow their own crops and catch fish so are pretty self- sufficient in many ways.

As we arrived on Yanuwa Island we came in the tender on to the beach and waited in an open hut with coconut leaf roof. Once everyone was off Sea Spray our guide from the boat explained that we were taking a gift of a packet of Kava. This is a drink made from an infusion of a ground root in water. This is a ceremonial drink which is shared to welcome people to the village in a special ceremony in the village hall. It is always accepted that visitors bring a gift when visiting a village and it is usually kava.

We all went into the hall having taken off our shoes. Women have to have their shoulders covered and they should wear a sarong or have their knees covered. Women are not supposed to sit cross legged, we had to sit knees together with or feet tucked beside us. Two people were chosen to do the kava ceremony. The officials from the village had the kava made in a special bowl which stood on little feet. The kava is served in coconut cups and the drink has to be drunk in one go.

There were a few speeches welcoming us then the two volunteers had to be offered the drink, they had to say ‘BULA’ and clap once then when they finished they had to say ‘THANK YOU’ and clap three times. We then all clapped three times too. This is done for each person being welcomed but in our case two people went through the ceremony but if anyone else wanted to try the drink then they too had to do the ritual. I decided as my tum can be a bit dodgy that I would not try it in a village that had a dubious water supply. My husband who is always game to try anything had some but couldn’t really describe the taste other than it tasted earthy. It looked like muddy water. We did buy a few packets so I will try it once we have a clean water supply and we will share it with our children so they can have a try too.

We were then walked through the village and invited to take photos before being invited to visit their shopping stalls. There were mainly shell and mother of pearl necklaces and bracelets varying in price from $5 to $20. There was absolutely no pressure to buy but most people bought something.

After this island visit we returned to the Sea Spray. By this time the wind had built up and getting back on board was quite a challenge as the boat and the tender leapt about on the waves. Once everyone was back on board all the land lubbers stayed firmly seated as we sailed back to Mana Island. I ventured down below to use the toilet while the boat was till anchored and even that was a challenge but there was no way I would have made it once we were sailing. The crew were much better at getting around and kept offering to get people drinks and brought around some cakes as well.
On the return journey we were once again entertained by the crew singing to us. It could have been really corny but was really lovely and very soporific being lulled by the music and the waves. Fortunately they did not start asking us to join in as I find audience participation cringe worthy and highly embarrassing. It was lovely just sitting being rocked by the waves and listening to their beautiful voices harmonising so effortlessly and they were obviously just enjoying singing.

Timing was perfect and we arrived back at Mana Island with about ten minutes to spare before the Catamaran was due. Just before we got off the Sea Spray the crew sang a farewell song then each one of them came and shook our hands and thanked us for coming with them on the Sea Spray. There was a box for tips and even though they say it is not necessary to tip in Fiji we did put some in the box as they had made the day so very pleasant for us.

We were taken by tender on to the beach and then we were able to use the toilets and changing rooms on the resort before going back to the quay to board the catamaran back to Port Denarau via the same small islands we passed before to collect people who had spent the day at these resorts.

As we sailed back the sun was setting behind us and there was a slight breeze which we enjoyed while sitting on the outside deck. Once back in the Port we disembarked and found the correct bus to return us to our hotel. That was the biggest challenge of the day as there were about six buses with no signs to indicate where they were going so you had to ask the drivers.

The bus returned us to the front of our hotel and we retired tour room to shower and sit on the balcony to think back on the really lovely experience we had enjoyed sailing through the Mamanuca islands and stopping on the deserted Modriki Island to snorkel, a wonderful lunch and then visiting the village on Yanuwa Island. It was a great day, well organised so timed to perfection with all inclusive drinks and plenty of delicious food. I would thoroughly recommend this day trip, it is quite tiring and you have to be able to cope with getting on and off boats that are bobbing around but the people working on Sea Spray were delightful, so friendly, helpful, knowledgeable and interesting.

Quote: Mamanuca Islands on the Sea Spray

We really wanted to have a chance to explore some of the other smaller Fijian Islands and there were a number of different options, some just sailed passed the islands while some called in briefly. We opted for the Sea Spray tour as that offered a stop on two of the islands.This 83 foot two masted sailing schooner Seaspray (of the famous television programme – Australian I believe) is operated by South Sea Cruises and you spend a day exploring the crystal clear waters, beautiful beaches of the Mamanuca Islands with all food and drink included.

.We paid $185 per person about £62) which included a transfer from our hotel on Denarau to the port of Denarau which wasn’t that far but further than you would want to walk and it cost $6.50 Fijian on the shuttle bus to get there.

Once we arrived at the port there appeared to be organised chaos as people were queuing to check in to various transfers. We were booked on the 9am departure on the high speed catamaran Tiger IV to Mana island. This catamaran called at South sea Island resort, Bounty Island resort and Beachcomber Island which was also a resort. Some people had booked for a day outing to these islands whilst others had booked to stay on these resorts. Depending on where you were disembarking the catamaran you were given a different coloured arm band. This band also had the name of your departure point and the announcement on the catamaran gave the name of the island and the colour of the armband that you should be wearing if getting off at that point.
Mana Island also had a resort and was a possible day visit destination. When we arrived at Mana we were met by the tender boat which belonged to the Sea Spray and after it had made three journeys we had our full quota of 44 plus we picked up 6 more from another island on our way.

Once we were all aboard we were welcomed with a glass of champagne or in my husband’s case a bottle of beer. They then came around with a huge tray of fruit prepared ready to eat. On our way to our first island stop the crew sang us songs with a guitar and a tiny guitar playing banjo style, the percussion was clapping or plastic bottle on the deck. It was really lovely and they sang in harmony local songs or other songs with a local take.

The Sea spray’s first stop was Modriki island which was where they filmed ‘Castaway’ with Tom Hanks. It took about 45 minutes of sailing to get to the island where we anchored off shore. Some braver people jumped or dived in off the boat but it was quite a long drop so I chickened out and my husband gallantly agreed to come ashore in the tender with me. Snorkels, masks and fins were provided. You had to sign for them and then sign them back in with the threat of a charge should you lose them.

We didn’t bother with the fins but snorkelled for about 45 minutes alongside the island which had a small coral outcrop around it. The coral was amazing and the fish ranged from quite large to tiny and very colourful. You had to be careful getting out of the sea as the coral went quite close to the island shore so you could easily scrape your knees or bang your toes. What was amazing was that although there were fifty of us on the boat once we were snorkelling it was as though we were by ourselves and it was so quiet.

After we had had our fill of snorkelling we got out onto the island itself. There really wasn’t much there at all, a golden sandy beach with a rocky point at either end. The island came out of the sea like a small volcano with a hill in the middle and quite a few trees, palm trees and other which gave a decent amount of shade while we waited for our lunch to be prepared by the crew on sea Spray.

A loud siren told us they were ready with our lunch and then they came to collect us in the tender or you could swim back to the boat as it was not that far. I was surprised that quite a few people came on the trip and did not go in the sea at all except for getting their feet wet as you got out of the tender onto the beach.

Lunch was set out on the boat with bread rolls, salads and barbequed fish, chicken skewers and sausages followed by fresh fruit. We were offered drinks from wine through to beer and a variety of soft drinks including bottled water. It was a really good lunch and once everyone was aboard and had their lunch the boat set sail for our next island stop.

This was the first half of the trip till lunch and I thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the island where the film 'Castaway' was filmed. the coral and fish were amazing but other than that it was a real deserted island, no one lived there and there was nothing there except a few rocks and trees - you could feel really cut off from civilisation and boy was it hot on the sand so we did find a bit of shade under the trees and watched one young man trying to be Tom Hanks and open a coconut with absolutely no success at all.

The rest of the trip is in a second write up - Drinking Kava.

Quote: SABETO HOT SPRINGS
Tom - the taxi driver who took us to our hotel - collected us as promised from our hotel at 9am and took us straight to the Sabeto Hot Springs which was perfect as we were the only ones there and by the time we were leaving two other groups arrived. The hot springs are extremely basic, just a spring and a pool in the middle of a field.

We arrived and were welcomed by a most enthusiastic young man who welcomed us in and took us over to see the hot spring. The pool with this hot spring produced water at about 72°C and we were able to put our hand in to test this and it was indeed extremely hot.

After we inspected this pool we were invited to go and get changed in the very basic changing rooms, bring our stuff out in our bags which Tom then looked after. Our good friend , Tom had charge of our camera too and took some great photos of us looking totally ridiculous in the various pools.

And then we will wallow...
The young owner of the pools then took us into the mud pool and we slithered into this rather murcky looking pool and rather gingerly made our way across the pool to where the mud was really hot. We were instructed to wet ourselves all over then with our hands full o f warm mud we clambered rather ungracefully out of the muddy pool and once out we had to cover ourselves in this warm mud ALL over, face arms, legs etc.

Drying out.....
We then sat basking in the sun turning until all the mud was dry on us then we made our way back into the murcky mud pool to wash it all off. The land the springs were on is owned by a family in a village near the airport. This was their farming land and the young man’s grandfather had discovered the springs in 1952 and since then all sorts of miracle cures have been credited to these warm waters and gloopy mud. So as much of the mud as we could was washed off in the muddy pool and out we clambered again. There was no proper steps just some concrete blocks somewhat askew making a bit of a step into the pool but as you couldn’t see anything and you squelched through quite thick mud it was very tricky keeping upright and even more difficult getting in and out.
Now to a nice warm bath....

So out of the muddy pool we then walked across the field and past the very hot spring until we reached the warm spring pool. This was not quite as murcky looking as the mud pool but still was quite brown however once you had managed to negotiate the concrete block and large stones to get in, it was absolutely lovely and warm. It was like swimming in a warm bath of muddy water. We spent about ten minutes in this pool while the young man guide persuaded us to have a Fijian massage at the huge price of $10 Fiji (about £3.50). We had paid the same to come in and experience the hot Springs and mud which we thought was a pretty good price really for a very different experience.

A massage a field...
A Fijian massage appears to be given on a mat on the floor. A tarp was put down then a woven mat and then we lay on our towels while two Fijian ladies gave us a very gentle massage. It was quite a novelty but I wouldn’t say it was greatly therapeutic . It certainly didn’t sort my back out like the young Korean guy did in the night market in Cairns when he had his knee in my back!

So $40 poorer and feeling very soporific we waved goodbye to our lovely young guide just as he was welcoming the next group of people in. It was lovely to be there alone and I am glad we didn’t go in a tour group there as we got very individual attention and had the whole rather basic changing rooms to ourselves. The toilet in there was a flushing toilet but it appeared to be a bit blocked so I didn’t use it.

All in all a great experience and all the better for being such an amazingly cheap price and having the whole place to ourselves.

Quote: This review focuses on the facilities and restaurants as I have already written about the actual room facilities in a previous review.

As I said in my previous review about this hotel the resort managed by Hilton hotels is one of a number on this reclaimed ‘island’ of Denarau, next to us was the Sofitel, there was also a Westin and a Sheraton. Our hotel had by far the most uninspired reception area. It was large airy and open with comfortable seats but quite ordinary compared to some of the others we saw as we went round in the ‘Bula’ bus. However according to the ‘Lonely planet’ guide our hotel had the best restaurant in the ‘Nuvu’ and the seafood BBQ was certainly very good.

NUKU
The restaurant where breakfast was served was called NUKU and was apparently one of the best in the area. Breakfasts were certainly quite special. A choice of at least three fruit juices was available and the selection of fruit varied daily and included fresh fruit and various compotes as well as fresh nuts and coconut pieces. There was a great selection of cooked stuff from fish through to sausages, omelettes, stir fried bokchoy, bacon, eggs and hash browns to name a few. The cold selection included hams, cheeses, smoked salmon, quiches and sushi. The pastries and breads were also many and varied and there was separate area for pancakes too. Coffee and tea was brought to your table in mini plungers and tea pots. All this delicious food and we enjoyed in sitting virtually on the beach either looking at the sea or the pool. Some days we were only brought a single cup of coffee or water with a tea bag so it did depend on what they had left I think. Of all the hotels we stayed in this one provided the best breakfast by far, so much choice and all freshly made too. You could even enjoy a bucks fizz if you wanted which has to be worth an extra point!

One night this same restaurant offered a great seafood BBQ which we decided sounded good value at $45 Fijian which is about £15 per person. It was served to your table on the beach with burning torches and candles for light. Initially it began raining and they were unsure as to whether to go ahead but in the end we sat on the slightly wet chairs and enjoyed our candle lit dinner on the beach. The starter was the best part of the meal as it was baby octopus and Thai fish cakes with a chilli jus, and absolutely yummy. The next course was served with a potato salad and a green salad and this consisted of a local fish marinated in lime juice and chilli, squid and two skewers of prawns. Unfortunately some of the prawn skewers looked a bit undercooked but it was hard to see in the light. I did send three of our four back but when they came back there were fresh ones and I still was not sure but as we had really had quite enough to eat I didn’t risk eating them. Despite the prawn issue the meal was lovely and a very romantic setting on the beach with the stars and candles to light our table.
The a la carte menu is available every day but each night is a special night, one was the sea food BBQ, another night was an India thali which we missed as we were out till late on a boat trip to the Mamanuca islands. Two of the nights we were there they had a steam boat which we didn’t try as we felt this was not authentic; steamboats are from the hill areas of Malaysia. We really did want to try their Indian food as Fiji has a big Indian population but unfortunately this was not to be.

BULA BUS
In the Denarau island area there is a Bula Bus which you pay $6 ( £2) Fijian for a day pass and you can go around the other resorts and to a port and shopping area as many times as you like on the one day. The restaurants down at the shopping area were quite a bit cheaper than out hotel so one day we did make use of our Bula pass and visit the shopping area for a kava ice-cream and shopping in the day and then returned again in the afternoon to use the internet and then have a meal . The internet cafe charged $10 for an hour (roughly £3) whilst the hotel was going to charge us considerably more $5.50 per 15 minutes I believe or $15.50 for an hour which I did pay on one day.



POOLS
The Nuvu restaurant was facing the beach with pools either side. The pools were very unusual in the fact that they were quite angular with wooden decks surrounding them. They were sort of elongated rectangles and squares. There were a lot of lovely comfortable sun loungers with brown cushions but there was the age old problem of towel booking of these. You were given a pool towel card and could collect fresh pool towels to use on site or take on trips away from the hotel.

MURAVU
One night we ate in the Thai restaurant on the resort and it offered a variety of noodle and rice dishes plus a mixture of other Asian cuisine, fresh Vietnamese spring rolls, Thai fish cakes, nasi goring to name a few. My husband enjoyed an excellent Thai green curry with rice while I enjoyed a noodle dish with seafood which was also very tasty. It was an open kitchen so you could see everything being freshly cooked and once again the restaurant looked over the beach to the sea.

One day this restaurant prepared a Fiji party for the children with crafts, foods and entertainment and they all seemed to be enjoying it when we walked passed.

CHILDREN
We made the error of thinking that we would avoid the NZ and Aussie September break in Australia forgetting that they might holiday in Samoa and Fiji. Every person we met in Samoa was from NZ and then in Fiji most seemed to be from Australia and there were a lot of children around especially in the pool. Interestingly most of those we met in Samoa from NZ were older couples although there were quite a few children and family groups on our resort. In Fiji there were far more younger people, young families and groups of young people.
So if you want to avoid children then do not go to these islands in the last two weeks of September as this is the Australian and NZ school holidays. Hopefully they will all be back in school once we reach Australia, probably on our plane!

SUMMARY
After the really bad start this hotel turned out to be a real gem. The food was good and each night they made an effort to do something different in the restaurant on the beach. The shuttle was great, shame it was no longer free but still. The cost of the internet was not good and i still feel it should be free when you pay so much for rooms in hotels today. Everyone we came into contact with was delightful and exchanged the happy hello ‘Bula’. Apart from the bad start I really cannot fault this hotel the room was lovely with a great view and the food was all good. The pools were very different and the seating around the pool varied from sun loungers to mattresses with rounded cushions under roofs which looked very luxurious but we found were not as comfortable as they looked.

There is a spa on the resort and massages were being offered on the beach under a marquee but they were UK prices and to be honest we had sight seeing to enjoy rather than sitting or lying in a spa at that price.


I would thoroughly recommend staying at this resort or certainly one of those on Denarau island as they were beautiful, luxurious and a real treat as well as being convenient for exploring the area around Nadi.

The prices of stays vary and our travel agent always got a far better deal than I could get myself when i looked on the internet so it does pay to shop around.

Quote: This resort managed by Hilton hotels is one of a number on this reclaimed ‘island’ of Denarau, next to us was the Sofitel, there was also a Westin and a Sheraton. Our hotel had by far the most uninspired reception area. It was large airy and open with comfortable seats but quite ordinary compared to some of the others we saw as we went round in the ‘Bula’ bus. However according to the ‘Lonely planet’ guide our hotel had the best restaurant in the ‘Nuvu’ and the seafood BBQ was certainly very good.

A BAD START
Our first impressions were not that great as we had paid £70 for a private transfer to the hotel as we were not sure how far it was and we knew that we were arriving at 6am having had little sleep the night before. Did we get or expensive ‘Meet and greet’, did we heck! We went to the transfer office as instructed by a man as we came through from customs. The girl in that office telephoned the Hilton and asked what had happened to the transfer and the relayed the information to me that we were only down for a ‘return to airport’. They then organised a taxi for us and we had to pay another $30 Fijian (about £10). The taxi driver was lovely and as it was not his fault we saved our annoyance until we got to the hotel.
IT GOT WORSE
Throughout this trip we had booked accommodation from the night before our arrival if we were arriving very early in the morning as we had been advised by our travel agent. That way we would have a room waiting for us on our arrival. We went to Reception with our pre paid voucher to check in and were told that we would have to wait as our room was not ready. Well, we questioned that politely and much fussing around and surprisingly a room was found. We then queried the ‘Meet and greet service’ or lack of and requested that someone look into that as we had paid over the odds for this service and had not received it. They said they would look into it for us. Now considering that we had been up since 2.00am and had been so badly treated we were keeping calm but making it known we were not impressed.

Off we went with a really lovely man to go to our room. He chatted away telling us about the resort and Fiji etc then carried our entire luggage upstairs as we went into the room. Unfortunately the room we had been allocated already had guests in it! Our lovely little man was very embarrassed, phoned reception to let them know and back into the little golf buggy we got with our luggage.

He then suggested that we go to the restaurant and have some breakfast while they sorted out a room for us. The breakfast was fantastic and the view wonderful and everyone fussed around bringing us coffee and tea and saying how sorry they were. Finally the receptionist came over and said that her boss had a room to offer us, it was two upgrades better than the one we had booked but it was a garden view as opposed to a sea view. We agreed to go and look at the room which was twice the size of the one we were booked in to as it had a kitchenette and sitting room as well as a bedroom BUT it looked onto a small garden then a fence covering the building taking place behind . We were not prepared to swap lovely sea view and balcony for the extra room so we said no thanks.

So back we got into the golf cart with nice man and receptionist and headed for reception. The other room was going to be another 30 to 40 minutes so we had to wait in reception with a newspaper and a couple of bottles of water while the room was prepared. So much for paying for the extra night! At this stage my husband did say that we would expect a full refund of the night as were clearly not getting a room we had pre-booked.

AT LAST A ROOM
Finally we were taken to our room which was lovely with a balcony overlooking the sea through palm trees. Below us were a number of beach umbrellas and sun loungers so it was just beautiful.

The room was not huge but was all we needed. The bed was enormous, we had to wave to each other and the pillows were lovely, soft but big and comfortable. There was also a huge flat screen television on the wall in front of the bed and under the TV was a unit with cupboards and a DVD player. Two decent sized bedside tables were either side of the bed and there were controls for the lights and fans on both bed sides too. The reading lights were good and bright and during the day the room was lovely and light as the entire end wall was a window overlooking the ocean. None of the window light was lost as there were no curtains but at night you could pull down a blind if you wanted.

The bathroom was not really a proper room but could be made into one should you wish by pulling sliding doors across the two sides. A glass sliding door within the area either covered the toilet or the shower. The sink unit had a big cupboard under it with a sliding bin and room to store the hairdryer, a box of tissues and our wash bags too. Beside the cupboard was a shelf with a tea towel, spongy scrubber and a sachet of dishwashing liquid. As well as the huge shower unit which had shampoo and body wash dispensers on the wall, there was also a fantastic bath which I made good use of to calm my stress the day we arrived.

The toiletries were Crabtree and Evelyn soaps and conditioner and body lotion as well as the dispensers in the large shower. The bath was great but as the plug was in the middle and was one of those that you pressed to go in and pressed again to let out, you had to be careful where you sat otherwise you let the water out by mistake! The shower was good but the grouting between some of the tiles was starting to look a bit stained and considering the resort was only four years old and it was a 5* hotel I didn’t think that was really something I should be seeing.

A huge wardrobe opposite the bathroom had a fridge, a kettle and lots of coffee and tea stuff and there was bottled water and two cartons of milk in the fridge too. The water and milk was topped up on a daily basis. There was also a safe in the wardrobe and two bathrobes as well as proper hangers that you could take out of the wardrobe. There was plenty of storage space and the fact that the bathroom was open made the room seem more spacious.

Beside the bed there was a large chair with a rounded cushion as its back, a bit like a chaise lounge only shorter. On the balcony outside there was another longer chaise lounge and a chair with a stool bother with large comfortable cushions so we could sit out and enjoy the view while reading.

I will have to write a separate review of the other facilities. But I would thoroughly recommend this hotel despite the appalling start we had.