3-star mediocre hotel that falsely advertise themselves as 5-star resort. Quite disappointing. Unfortunately, this has been my worst experience in the past 15 years of traveling. This review will be useful to those accustomed to 5-star resorts who expect a certain standards to be met. Majority of guests are either retires who tend to like everything in a hotel, or young people who are overly satisfied with their parents’ provided trip.
Let’s start with the pros: the hotel does serve tasty food that meets expectations, albeit with an extremely limited selection of only 2 starters, 2-3 main courses, and 2 desserts.
Now, onto the cons, which are the most significant and completely unacceptable:
Lack of functioning air conditioning: Although the hotel claims to have air conditioning, it does nothing to cool the Bures. These rooms are poorly constructed with flimsy boards and cracks that allow the outside temperature to permeate inside. In fact, the temperature inside is equivalent to the temperature outside. There are no glass windows, only window openings covered with mosquito nets and flimsy blinds that fail to block out daylight properly. I found myself constantly suffering from the high temperatures and sought refuge in the library, the only room on the island with air conditioning. Given its small size of 16 square meters, it often becomes crowded with up to eight guests attempting to cool down and access the internet simultaneously.
Unreliable transportation: The promised plane from Nadi to Yasava is merely a matter of luck. I was fortunate only one way. Unfortunately, the plane does not fly even with minimal rainfall due to the slippery dirt landing field. As an alternative, they offer a nearly five-hour ferry ride followed by an additional 30-minute journey from the ferry to Yasawa Resort on a speed boat. In my case, the speed boat was shared by eight people even though it could comfortably accommodate only four. Seating arrangements were inadequate, and we endured 30 minutes of being tossed around on the waves, sitting on an uncomfortable iron storage box. To make matters worse, the boat had no roof, leaving us fully exposed and susceptible to getting completely drenched in rainy weather. The flimsy plastic covers provided were useless against the wind and constant shaking, making it impossible to hold them steady. Passengers ended up with bruises from the constant jostling.
Lack of Wi-Fi in rooms: Surprisingly, the hotel intentionally does not provide Wi-Fi in the rooms, despite charging premium prices. As an IT specialist myself, I can confidently say that installing Wi-Fi in the 14-16 Bure rooms would require a mere 3-4 days and cost around $5000-$6000 USD. Considering I paid $1000 USD per day for my Bure, it is disappointing that the hotel manager does not see the value in providing internet access. We bought SIM card in the airport. It did not work in the room either. If you need to stay connected due to work obligations this hotel is definitely not for you.
Now, onto the smaller-scale disadvantages:
The Bures are cheaply built structures that resemble barns. The white washbasin in my Bure number 14 was broken and poorly repaired with yellow glue, reminiscent of a public toilet.
Bures are infested with an abundance of beetles, ants, flies, and spiders. I even encountered what appeared to be rat droppings.
The pool, which is shared by all guests, is disappointingly small. Furthermore, it is filled with salt water containing micro algae particles. Astonishingly, there is no shower available near the pool, leaving guests with no means of rinsing off the saltwater without returning to their rooms. Even a simple provision like a jug and cup to wash off the sand is absent. It is hard to fathom how this oversight is possible in a 3-star hotel, let alone a 5-star one.
The service at the hotel varies greatly. Female staff attitude suggests that they are doing you a favour.
It is truly bewildering why we were charged $960 USD per night for such abysmal conditions. It feels like a blatant scam. – via 