Liku'alofa Resort

Comentarios destacados

• mwaddington

  20 julio 2019
  The Good, the ok, the bad and the TERRIBLE

  We stayed for 7 nights in July (myself and two teenage children). I booked through my travel agent and requested a trip to the Vavau Island group. It was recommended that we stay on Tongatapu and Likualofa was one of two resorts recommended to us. Overall, despite some good intentions by some staff, we would not return to this resort under any circumstances, even if paid to do so. The good: Our reception to Likualofa was warm and Ruby was friendly and helpful. She helped us book a day trip to Fafa Island and to go Whale watching / swimming. The grounds at Likualofa are pretty and well maintained. The OK: Our room was small & basic, but clean. There are many chickens and roosters wandering the resort. This was quaint for about the first afternoon but the novelty wore off very quickly when the roosters started calling at 4 am (& sometimes randomly in the night). The room was serviced every second day. It wouldve been better if it was daily. A continental Breakfast was supplied daily and was ok. Its a pity the resort couldnt provide a toaster that worked properly. The Bad: The information about our Ocean View room we received stated: ceiling fan, mini-bar, radio alarm clock, TV DVD player. None were present. The ceiling fan had been replaced with a pedestal fan. The electric kettle had a broken switch, so despite given the appearance of having auto-turnoff function it just kept going. Information stated paddle boards and kayaks were available to hire. There are none. The beach is awful. The deceptively worded Likalofa website says the resort sits along a stretch of white sandy beaches. What it actually means is that it sits BETWEEN two small white sand beaches (they are adjacent to other resorts). The beach next to Likualofa is rocky and covered in dead coral. You need sturdy booties with thick soles to brave the water. The sea life is minimal so snorkeling was hardly worthwhile (despite taking the advice of other reviewers and heading to the (resorts) north end of the lagoon. The only nice swimming spot we found was up the road at Haatafu beach (near some other resorts) Cultural night & Feast: We arrived on Friday and were offered the opportunity to attend the above event. There is no other food available at the resort on Wednesday and Friday so we attended. The large restaurant was packed (200 + people) with locals and a small number of tourists. The local food was not to our taste (and we saw no evidence of ANY western cuisine (sic) as advertised on the website. Food was served after 8pm and there was, as one might imagine, a long queue. After a long day of travel, we opted not to stay for the cultural show. Unfortunately, we could hear every bass note from the PA until 11pm some 150 metres away. Im uncertain exactly what the connection between Tongan culture and tired (circa 2001) club anthems (Safari Duo The bongo song) or party in the USA by Miley Cyrus is. Suffice to day we did not attend on Wednesday night but heard every (blaring) note of the cultural showagain. On Saturday night there was a wedding held at the restaurant with more invasive loud music well into the night whne we were trying to sleep. Likualofa Resort appears to be primarily a functions centre for locals. The needs of the resort residents do not seem to feature highly on their list of priorities. Wifi We were given vouchers for 200MB free wifi (if you sit next to the office), but by the time we tried to use them they had expired. The terrible The pool. It is really a stretch to call this glorified rockpool a swimming pool. I received notification two weeks before our trip that the pool was undergoing maintenance and would be out of action. This was patently untrue. The tidal sea water pool was in terrible state of disrepair, with concrete blocks, rocks and rubbish littering the bottom. There was NO evidence that ANYONE was doing anything to maintain the pool an it appears very likely that no-one has used the pool for years. I get that a nice resort pool is expensive to maintain. If you dont have one, dont pretend you do. The treetop/sunset restaurant: We ate an evening meal here on a single evening. The food was TERRIBLE. Overnight one our party had vomiting and diarrhea. The other two had diarrhea for the next 24 hours. Menu choices were limited and executed very poorly. Two of us had Island Taste a tuna steak that had been hideously overcooked, with a greasy fried egg thrown on top. The third had Satay chicken steak. Said chicken was full of gristle and the satay sauce appeared to have been made with only peanut butter and coconut cream (mmmmmmmm !!!!!). My teenagers refused to eat at this restaurant again opting instead for pot noodle on Sunday when EVERYTHING in town was closed. When I mentioned the food poisoning issues to the office on check out, the best the owners wife could respond was Oh. There was no apology but she did offer to refund the meals. In Summary: Likualofa disappointed on so many levels (even when considering its fairly modest price-point). The beach is awful and regrettably there is VERY little to do on Tongatapu. Many of our attempts to visit places of interest were marred by an inability to find them there are virtually NO street signs and the tourist maps are at best rough in their accuracy. Confidence in the safety of the food served in a resort is of paramount importance. We could not, in good conscience, recommend Likualofa (or for that matter a prolonged stay on Tongatapu ) at this time to anyone. Perhaps in the future they may improve to an acceptable standard.

  

• Jaroslaw S

  16 septiembre 2019
  delicious ota'ika

  Came to this place for lunch and it an experience beyond expectations. Pity it is a little off beaten track, but worth coming. The fish was raw, fresh and tender, properly marinated. Coconut milk creamy. Delicious.

  

• BigKiwi36

  11 octubre 2019
  OK, but could be so much better

  This was a two night stay with the family after 5 nights out on Sunset Island Resort before flying home. Had read the mixed reviews of other travelers to this resort and to Tonga generally so I believe I had realistic expectations. Unfortunately the resort just didn't cut it for me and fell short of my expectations. The resort has so much potential to become a truly amazing tourist location but it falls short on a number of areas and as a result it is hard not to leave feeling slightly flat. The highlights: - Tui and all of the bar/ restaurant staff are fantastic; big smiles and a handshake from the friendly team of Fijians. Really made you feel welcome. - The views from the bar deck are spectacular; surf crashing in over the reef, whales passing in the distance - worth dropping in for a drink if you are passing (just not between 3pm and 5.30pm - see comments below). The bar could be a tourist destination in its own right. - Lunch menu - go for the BLT or the burger and a cold beer (or two!!). Huge (more than enough to share between two adults), stuffed with everything a good BLT or burger should have. The OK: - Breakfast was perfectly suitable and what would be expected for a Tongan resort (e.g. cereal, toast, fruit, eggs, tea, coffee). Boys were happy so they were starting the day with full stomachs. - Dinner menu - decent selection for most people. Both nights the quality/ size/ taste were OK. The cold beer and cocktails finished things off nicely. - Coconut demonstration was informative - more suited towards younger kids and travelers who haven't been to a pacific island before but still worth watching. The low lights: - What could be considered deceptive advertising on the website. You get the clear impression there are kayaks/ paddle boards available but no. The response was "we had one, but it is broken". Not flash when you have two teenage boys who wanted to get out on the water. - The 'pool'. From the photos it is very clear the pool is no more than a very old style concrete box that is filled from the sea at high tide and we were all good with that. But, the 'pool' was closed and clearly hadn't been used for some time by the amount of plastic floating in the water. No mention of it being out of action on the website or via e-mail when booking. Very disappointing; especially with two teenage boys in tow. - The 4am wake up call from the resident roosters every morning. A Pacific Island holiday should include a relaxing sleep in. Not possible here. The roosters managed to wake up me, a deep sleeping wife and two teenage boys who normally sleep through anything. Not a great start to the day. - With such an amazing location, the bar should be open all afternoon. My plans for reading my paperback while having a quiet cold beer were dashed by the bar being closed. It is basic Pacific Island 101 that the bar is open for guests in such an isolated resort. A real disappointment after a days sight seeing. Would I go back: - Not to stay, unless they sort out the pool, kayaks, and find a way of keeping the roosters and chickens away from the rooms overnight. - Yes for lunch or dinner, and for the views from the deck with a cocktail or beer in hand at sunset.

  

• jeffhT4538IN

  07 diciembre 2019
  in between poor and terrible

  we stayed for two nights, bungalow with a garden view, bed were comfortable. floor were dirty as you feel the sand on the tile, toilets and bathroom were ok. no hot water on the morning of our check out. still pay the full price... .... food is great!! some night ok.some so so..we order sword fish the first night... it was chewy and I told Tui that night... I don't think they like it when you told them it was not nice.. following night, my wife ordered the tuna and I had the beef curry.. it was divine... it was beautiful... our problem was with the drinks.. the cocktails was not nice.. we had mohitos.. pina and Dangairi... they were all horrible as it says they have fresh squeeze lime etc.. no way near that... we then order a Bacardi lime and soda.. we had local white rum plus lemon and soda... horrible... these little things I hope they pay attention to it as it is what tourist and westerners want.. to top it up. you can't swim in the beach or the pool. other than all these little minors thing, Tui is great in his job.. except there were so many of us at the restaurant on that night and the service was very slow..Not Tuis fault... he was by himself.

  

• olgazza55

  18 marzo 2020
  Theres no beach

  If you have images of a lovely sandy beach outside your bungalow then you will be in for a surprise.....there isnt one. In fact you cant even access the water due to a jagged coral wall, not that youd want to. The sea swimming pool is very uninviting and it looked to be closed. But the bungalow we stayed in was comfortable though in a poor state of repair. The saving grace was that the staff were wonderful, friendly and very obliging....eager to please. The restaurant and bar provided good views. The menu was fine and the food acceptable