Rarotonga or Samoa?

[Kea]

I'm trying to cheer myself up on this freezing cold day by getting a holiday organised. I've been looking at Rarotonga or Fiji but have started wondering if Samoa might be a good option. I'm quite shocked at how expensive the hotels on Rarotonga are- 4* seems to be $400 a night!

Anyone been to any of these and have any insights? We want a nice hotel and a good beach. Not bothered about loads of attractions as I'm not planning on doing much.

[victoria24]

im a raro kinda guy... fly out this saturday

[Shones]

Joolz - only been to Fiji but OH says it's the most disappointing beach holiday he's ever had. BUT to put it in context he's used to 5* + all-inclusive Mexican beach deals, where the hotels are up to US luxury standards and the beaches are pretty and all this at excellent price (we just paid $1,000 for the 4 of us for 5 nights all-inclusive with delicious a la carte meals - admittedly without flights).
I thought it was wonderful as we were on an island (Castaway) with a little buré.
I found the locals rather sour (think Soviet era communists) and reluctant to offer much service. I was really disappointed by the food, I expected very simple cuisine with plenty of fresh fish, but it took ages in the restaurant to get served and the food felt reheated - I think more than anything OH rebelled against quality-for-money.
We took the boat out to the islands, if you do it, would suggest the air-plane connection as the sea one was rather long and the boat very packed.
Hope you get something sorted!!

[Georgebulldog]

About 11 weeks till we got to Raro, reason we chose it over Fiji was because you don't have to get a boat or plane after the initial journey, for us nothing tied up so would have had to stay the 1st night near the airport
Try e mailing the hotel direct & negotiate, we did & got a great deal & was far less than the travel agent quoted (thanks to a certain someone above for that tip )
Also with Raro there are lots more restraunts to walk to where as Fiji islands you are stuck just with your hotel, well this is what we were told
Good luck

[M-Squared]

I work with - not surprisingly - a ton of kiwis. They also travel a lot. They all say that Fiji is a dump and that Raro is the place to go.

[petri]

If you plan to spend more money on accommodation in Rarotonga, I'd buy a ticket to Aitutaki and spend the money there instead.

There are also other less developed islands in the Cook Is. that are worth a visit. Rarotonga is reasonably developed, so you'll get both the good and bad of it. Also depends what one is looking for..

[Kiwi Mac]

Fiji is a military dictatorship and should be on no ones list until that changes, IMV.

New Caledonia is awesome I am told and Aitutaki rather than Raro.

Personally I would go to SE Asia though.

[Ngeru]

There has been a lot of attention in the media this past week around the cost of holidaying in Fiji.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10658169

"It's not just the $6 cost for a can of Coke, or $7 bottles of water.

I have been to both Rarotonga and Samoa and my preference would be for Raro anyday. It's easy to get around, hire a car or hop on a bus and find different shops, cafes and restaurants. You can spend NZ dollars and the main town of Avarua is not bad for a browse around some touristy shops, a few nice places to eat (including a half decent Indian restaurant ) and Foodtown.

Samoa has very little in the way of places you can get to, nor places you would actually want to stop and eat. Time and money will mostly be spent in the resort, paying top dollar resort prices for everything. Apia is a bit of a 'hole' and quite frankly not worth the astronomical taxi fare required to get there from most resorts. We went there purely to experience the much romanticised old Aggie Greys in town, really it's a bit of a dump that's long seen better days.

Wherever you decide, I would try to get some kind of package / meal deal if you are just going for the beach and to veg out in a resort, because all those places charge the earth.

[Kea]

Thanks everyone. I've contacted the resort I have my eye on- the Pacific on Raro and will hope for a better price.

We've done a lot of travelling in S.E Asia but the long flight with a 1 year old is a bit too much for a week. We've noticed that prices there have increased dramatically too. Gone are the days when we could get a 4* hotel for £27 a night in Malaysia. I guess it's globalisation.

[Tia Maria]

There has been a lot of attention in the media this past week around the cost of holidaying in Fiji.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/ar...ectid=10658169

.

We're recently back from Fiji and loved it! But then again it was an affordable holiday for a family of 5 that would have been out of our budget elsewhere, as opposed to a luxury beach holiday. I've heard good things about Raro too.

One thing I did find interesting was that it cost only $3 to hire a baysitter for an hour, (min 4 hours - $12), and yet $7 for an ice cream. It didn't seem right really!

Cheers

Tia