Arorangi Holidays from AU$2,424

Staff were lovely so is the water and the reserve with the turtles. Kids loved it. Dinner Menu wasn’t okay but the buffet breakfast was awesome

When we arrived we thought we’d come to the wrong hotel. It was like rolling up to the entrance of an old western motel. A gritty, broken up driveway brought us to the main entrance which had a large plain pond with nothing in it - just an unloved body of water which must have, at one stage, had a welcoming water feature, I assume. The stairs up to reception were plain concrete with grubby iron handrails. And the reception looked as if we’d arrived at the back entrance- barely any lighting, gloomy and inviting. The gardens were SO disappointing, bare, neglected and tired. For such a beautiful part of the world , this was so sad to see. None of the little streams or ponds had water in them and the paved pathways all needed regrouping and fixing. The swimming pool was in a terrible state of repair - stained and uninviting. Not at all what a resort pool should look like. The toilets adjacent to the pool were just disgusting - no excuse for them to have been in such a run down, grubby state. The evening a’la carte dinner was very pleasant and tasty and nicely served- a great selection on the menu and comprehensive wine list. The staff were lovely. Helpful, friendly and attentive. The setting of the hotel is stunning - on a coconut tree lined beach. The sad thing is this hotel has SO much potential- it just has a tired, neglected air about it and it feels as if what once was a lovely hotel has become unloved, and forgotten about .

The room was right next to the most beautiful beach with fantastic snorkelling. The swimming pool was lovely and there was a swim-up bar where you could order drinks. I liked that guests could use The Rarotongan facilities too such as the pool, beach, activities hut and restaurant. There was a great selection of food available to eat during breakfast. The bus stop was right opposite the resort which was handy. I would still recommend hiring a car to get places quickly. My bedroom needed a drying rack and the tv sound was not the best, but it didn’t matter too much because I was out and about most of the day. The main thing I didn’t like was that the restaurant floor was sand - it would be much better if it was concreted and then tiled.

The Motu Beachfront Art Villas were an awesome blend of "upmarket hotel" and "self-contained villa", giving us hotel-like hospitality and service, while still allowing us to have our own space and cook if we needed to. The location was super convenient, with a supermarket right across the road and a car-hire company next door. For anything a bit further, we could also borrow one of the e-bikes free of charge. We had a beautiful beach view. There were also kayaks, snorkelling gear, and paddle boards available to borrow at any time, and with the coral reef and tropical fish just 20 m from our front door, we couldn't go wrong. We also absolutely loved the honesty bar, where you could go and make yourself a drink by the pool, and it was charged to the room. The only small issue was that our airport shuttle was scheduled for the wrong time (even though we gave them our flight details and arrival times), so they were a bit late picking us up, but they were quick to resolve this (fortunately, I had a local phone number to call them). The team was super friendly and very hospitable.