One of the nicest things for a westerner visiting Fiji is the wide array of available and affordable temporary living accommodations. Tourists have been visiting Fiji long enough for the locals to really "get it" in terms of their knowing what Aussies, Kiwis, Asians, and Americans will tolerate as living conditions.
The wide array of Fiji accommodations begins on the low end with "rat hole" hotels run by Indians - seemingly for Indians. These places are infested with insects of all kinds - including bedbugs, and are greatly substandard in things like sufficient (and clean) bath and bed linens, lighting, comfortable bedding, room security, restaurant facilities, telephone, and internet access. Why a westerner would ever willingly stay in one of these dumps is beyond this kevalangi's understanding.
The missionary who helped organize the trip we were on initially had us booked into one of these tenements. Each of the aforementioned issues was encountered during our one night's stay in this hotel from Hades. The straw that broke the kevalangi's back was when one of the ministers traveling with us had to endure the knocking, panting, moaning and screaming of a wild sexual night from the room adjacent to his. Yes, the walls were that thin and porous.
The minister got no sleep that night, and consequently led a charge by the rest of us on the next afternoon to find a better place to be. We found it in short order, and spent the rest of the three weeks in a great resort hotel that wound up being everything we could have asked for - and was actually less expensive than the original Hindi nightmare we encountered.
If you ever go to Fiji, be flexible, but be thorough in your investigation of hotels and other accommodations. You'll be really surprised at what is available, affordable, and accessible to all the things you want to do. Sorry for sounding like a travel brochure, but it really is true.
While we found a great resort hotel, in our travels around the island, we also found several other resorts. Some were mountainside, and some seaside. The most notable of these were full bures (houses) with multiple bedrooms (with queen size beds), air conditioning, full kitchen and living room facilities, a large bath with a great shower, and back porches overlooking spectacular views of the island foliage, beaches and the deepest blue pacific ocean-scapes one could imagine. There were also resorts featuring traditional hotel rooms and suites, with great pools, restaurants, and private beaches - all at affordable prices per American dollars.
Our hotel had a great restaurant, with an adjacent swimming pool that was the largest this white boy has ever seen. At one end of the pool was a water slide and waterfall. One side was a long, olympic style lap pool, and the other was fashioned like the cliffs of an oceanside cove. The deepest end of the entire pool was just over six feet. The water was always clean, and cold as ice. Part of the pool was covered with a large awning, which blocked the water from the mid-day sun. Too, June is the beginning of their winter. The temperature each day was in the 80's, with night temperatures ranging from the low to middle 60's.
Now, back to the restaurant. The nightly rate for our villa (which would sleep four) was approximately $95 USD. This was inclusive of an outstanding continental breakfast for two. The continental included the following: a choice of cereal, wheat or white toast, a plate of island fruit, freshly brewed Fijian coffee (which was to die for), pineapple or orange juice, milk, water, and granulated cane sugar (which was so much purer and tolerable in its sweetness than the white, processed sugar that we eat here in America).
Enjoying this filling breakfast by the peaceful stillness of the pool, while watching the prettiest sunrises you could imagine, cooled by the gentle trade winds that almost always blew in from the ocean, was one of the great blessings of every day. This alone made coming back to the states less than a pleasurable thing to face.
The hotel staff was always responsive when we had a request for pool towels, extra linens in the room, or other amenities. There was a local laundry service that picked up and delivered to the room. While not exactly cheap, the clothes were clean, had a fresh smell, and were ironed as good as anyone could have ever asked for.
And so, again, do not fear the Fijian hotel experience. It can truly be one of the best things about livin' on Fiji time.
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