Dr. Justin Hatt
July 16, 2025
The staff were very friendly and helpful during my stay with them. I had noticed a bedsheet was not completely clean, but I was able to find cleaning staff easily and they were able to resolve the problem quickly. The Epic Transfers and Tours staff were especially helpful when I had an incident with a taxi driver that was unpleasant to me. The rooftop pool and bar was nice in appearance and the bar was nicely used, but the pool water was cold and nobody was using it. Additionally, although being a non-smoking hotel, there appeared to be old bins at the lifts / elevators with the cigarette ashtray-like tops on them; to be a non-smoking location, it needs to be clearly demonstrated as being just that, particularly where some countries still allow smoking in their hotels. The biggest concern outside the hotel rooms, though, was the buffet breakfasts, which sometimes had soiled tongs used by other guests that were not being replaced quickly enough with clean tongs; food safety needs to be a serious concern for any establishment serving food.
The room itself looked rather clean, had a patio looking at the wooded area out back; however, the patio door was not easy to lock and this was a bit of a concern with insects being readily present. There was also a sofa that could convert into a sofa bed, but it looked like it had a dent in the left arm. The bathroom was often stocked with new toiletries, perhaps too often as I was receiving a new bar of soap every day, but there was also mould trying to seep through the grouting behind the sink; I did inspect this and it seemed to be contained completely within the grouting, but it is a concern to be resolved soon. Additionally, though, the bathroom would sometimes smell horrible, as if you could smell sewage from the ventilation; there was a floor drain that could be the cause of this, but the ceiling ventilation looked like it needed cleaning and it was not sealed properly to the ceiling, either. There was a toilet paper holder, but it was poorly placed and it was evident it replaced another toilet roll holder that was in the correct location. Inside the shower, there was what appeared to be a stain running vertically down the wall where the shower head was located. The towels were kept clean and most had proper hotel labels on them, but some had the name of the hotel written on them, seemingly with a permanent marker, which was quite strange, especially for a hotel with a 4* rating.
The hotel has a 4* rating on Trip.com and has the amenities to be that, but the quality of those amenities needs to support their existence; otherwise, they cannot be considered. The staff were friendly and trying to make the stay as nice for me as they possibly could manage, so the issues mainly appear to be from a failure of the management and ownership not regularly checking the rooms and updating the quality and ambience of its hotel. Simply having 4* amenities does not automatically make a hotel 4* and although Trip.com has it listed as 4*, I would rank this as being a 3* hotel at the moment as they need to make further improvements to the hotel so that the quality of the amenities will make for a valid 4* rating in the future.
When looking at the hotel via any booking site, check out the other sites, too, and look up the hotel website, too, as that should exist. The images I saw on Trip.com were quite enticing, but they also include a picture of Jack’s of Fiji, which was not available on site, and random pictures of the outdoors that were nowhere near the hotel as it is located more inland and not by the ocean. The hotel is the biggest and most expensive element of any holiday/ vacation, so it is important to spend more time investigating each eligible hotel prior to seeking a room, and do not feel rushed by websites telling you there are only so many rooms left; there are many hotels in each location, so there are always options available.
