Sonaisali Island Resort Nadi

Avid Fiji holiday maker for many years Sonaisali is my second home. I have stayed with friends and visited by myself. The resort is an island just 30 minutes by road from the airport but also allows mainland activity with a small boat ride between the two. The resort is on volcanic dark black sand so don't expect an island with white sand beach this does not mean it is still not lovely place to stay. White sand has been used for the upper beach areas with lounges and hammaks provided. Multiple options for accommodation are catered for however you can not go past the spa bures set amid lush tropical gardens located just up from the beachfront on sunset point. I love to sit back on the balcony of an afternoon watch the sun set very very relaxing I must say. Multiple meal options available from buffets, menus, room service and the Plantation Fine Dining experience is one thing you must indulge in at least one during your stay. Many and activity can be done both on and off the island simply to many to mention and also free daily activity for the budget conscious. Beauty services are also available from the Frangipani Spa massage, hair, nails you name it. You could easily loose track of the time wandering around the lush tropical gardens which are rather large or simply sit back and relax poolside with a cocktail or two. Staff at the resort are more than friendly and it seems there is always someone round to lend a hand if required. The Island comes with its own security persons which as a single traveler makes me feel at ease. Car hire or excursions can be arranged at the hotel tour desk with many options available. Family's (Babysitting and Kids Clubs) are catered for couples, groups, weddings, singles,newly weds no one is left out at Sonaisali. There is something for everyone and if for some reason something was missing it would just be like the staff to help you out and provide what you required. I will continue to travel to Sonaisali little piece of paradise where i can do everything or nothing and all my needs as a single or couple are catered for.

Stay away from Sonaisali Island Resort!

My wife and two friends, all avid scuba divers, recently made our first trip to Fiji. We were immeasurably impressed with the people of Fiji, but we were met with incredibly disappointing circumstances at one of Fiji's mainland resorts. Upon arriving at Sonaisali Island Resort near Nadi, we were informed that not one, but both dive boats were out of commission. This is after traveling more than 20 hours from the eastern United States to dive.

The staff's best efforts were to call a few other dive shops for us the nearest of which was 45 minutes away. One shop was at least a 2.5 hour drive -- one way. The expectation was that we should willingly and gladly pay between $100-140 per dive plus bear the extra expense of transportation to catch a dive boat at least 45 minutes away. In addition, several of the shops we called were booked, which is not surprising, considering the short notice. Sonaisali Island Resort advertises on its website that "Diving trips operate daily directly from the Resort Marina - with over 25 spectacular dive sites located just 20 minutes away via the Resort Dive boat." If they don't deliver that, it's like saying "Welcome to Disneyworld! Sorry, all the rides are broken."

Incidentally, we couldn't even snorkel at the resort. The visibility was zero. I get the sense it is that way all the time, since Sonaisali is not so much "a true island escape in the beautiful South Pacific Ocean" as they advertise as it is part of an intercoastal waterway.

The major part of the premium price that we paid for their resort was based upon the promise of a dive shop and they could not deliver. We traveled for more than 20 hours from the east coast of the United States to dive at Sonaisali resort in Fiji. We could have paid less at a different resort, but we traveled literally to the other side of the world to scuba dive.

After two days of the runaround, we decided to book the jet skis for Friday morning to go snorkeling. We left the activities desk Wednesday with the promise from another of their staff members that if there were any problems, he would contact us. We heard Thursday morning from an Australian couple that they had booked the jet skis for that day, but they were all out of commission. We waited until Thursday night at 9:30 pm before checking at the activities desk and only then were we informed that the jet skis were still out of commission. In every case, the burden was on us to discover and sort out the problem.

We requested reimbursement, but the resort manager, Ritesh Ram, said, "if our boats were non -operational that is something beyond our control and every effort are put to get boats operational as quickly as possible. In this instance I did explain you; we were waiting for parts from overseas."

Here are three suggestions I made to Sonaisali Island Resort:

"1. The most obvious and common sense step you could have taken would be to contact your clients to let them know of your limitations. If you cannot provide the services you promise, then you lure us under false pretenses.

2. Another option is that you could have rented a dive boat. I find it hard to believe that on all of Vitu Levu and the other 321 islands, you could not find a boat to rent, especially with four paid customers willing to fork out an additional $100 per dive.

3. Presumably, you could have used your fishing boat to take us (unless it was broken, too). The fishing boat was docked every time I walked past during the week."

All of the problems with Sonaisali resort are not coincidence; they are signs of poor management and it was the one stain on our otherwise wonderful trip to Fiji.

I would not recommend this resort to anyone. If you go with plans to do anything other than sit in your room, check first to make sure they offer the services they promise.

Damn! This is the place to be when in Fiji:O)
15 min drive from Nadi and 2 min by boat.
Staff is very nice and all is perfect.
I stayed in a room on beachfront.
Got room for Fiji $185, normal price is $540.
Everybody must try this:O)
Jens

The only two good things in the resort were the Kids Club and friendly staff.

The girls looking after the kids at the kids club were really nice with the kids and full of energy to keep the kids busy and excited throughout the day, everyday. That was the one thing that our kids missed from the whole trip.

Everything else is bad. Bed sheets were stained, toilet tissue was in scare supply, complimentary tea/coffee were outdated, TV was faulty, inside surface of the pool was sharp and dangerous, food was crap and over priced, restaurant service was poor, napkins/serviettes were scare, activities were a farce, guest safety was low priority, management team were not friendly, law were flouted. These are the few that I experienced during my stay at this resort. I have validated my comments with details of my experience below for anyone who is interested and wishes to read on.

I did write to the MD (Managing Director) of Sonaisali detailing my experience and provided him an opportunity to tell his side of the story. He acknowledged the receipt of my mail (after my reminder mail) but, as expected, a few weeks into this I am still waiting to hear his side of the story. If anyone is interested in my correspondence with the MD please contact me and I will provide it to you.

The staffs were very friendly, but they were over worked and seemed to be reined in by the management to offer limited or poor service. Almost all of them were sympathetic but seemed unable to help. However, a few gave us tips on how to save money and get better service. Even our taxi driver to and from the airport were sympathetic towards us the moment we mentioned 'Sonaisali resort', and offered a few tips and advice to make our holiday enjoyable, the theme of the advice being 'stay away from the resort as much as possible'.

Speaking of the staff, special mention should be made about the restaurant manager and another manger (I should admit, I did not confirm what manager he was, but the way he went about, he is surely part of the top management)- both treat the guests with disdain, unless ofcourse you are the 'lucky" few (very few) (whom we saw while at the resort) whom they treat nicely. I am not sure how you could be one of those "lucky" ones, but it does not seem to be race, colour, religion, etc, etc as all of us were treated with the same degree of disdain.

And while at the resort, our family was very close to be wiped out from this world by a woman (I believe her to be part of the management herself as she seemed to have the same attitude) riding a quad-bike at full speed across the walkway from the bures to the main building, inches away from us, on her trip to the resort kitchen. It was impossible for here to see the people she would have run over, had they been a couple of steps ahead, with all the shrubs and trees surrounding the walkway. The speed at which she was going can be justified only if she was a doctor and someone in the kitchen was having a heart attack (which I checked and I was told there were no resident doctors). The only other reason I could come up with for this emergency, judging by the quality of the food served out of that kitchen, is that the chef was revolting against the management and preparing tasty food. Whatever it was, shows how "considerate" they are as a management team in the welfare of the guests.

Mention of food brings back memories, most of them bad and none of them good. The items on the menu were limited and half of them weren't available. We soon figured out that we could order the same item day in, day out and we could have different taste, ingredients and presentation every time, irrespective of what the menu mentioned. I even had a vanilla ice cream base desert, that looked and tasted like chocolate.

Again the staffs were over worked and the items were in short supply. Serviettes were in short supply and water was hard to get, at one point we were even told they have run out of water. But rule of 'demand and supply' seemed to work there - the limited supply of food was very highly priced. The plates provided were not clean either.

It would be an injustice (to the potential guests) if I did not mention about the rooms. We stayed in the Beachfront spa bure, which was very spacious and good view of the ocean. The positives stop there. The sheets were stained, which was replaced when requested, with different stains. Well, the sheets were replaced, but they had stains in them as well. The complimentary coffee, sugar and cream should be treated with respect as they would be very senior to you (in terms of age), unless of course you are a senior citizen.

The TV in the room was very entertaining, though the programs were not, turning itself into colour or black & white mode on its own.

Toilet tissue is an item Sonaisali seems to value much and is highly rationed. It would be a good idea to carry some if Sonaisali is your destination. In all my travelling life, this the first time a hotel room did not have additional toilet tissues in the room. We noticed the toilet tissue was almost over and called the reception for more. And after a long anxious wait 2 rolls were delivered. We were told we were "lucky" as some other rooms had only one delivered. (Hope I don't get the staff into trouble mentioning '2' rolls in this review).

The other most valued item is the pool towels. You are charged $30 per person for pool towels as soon as you check in, and in spite of that if you ask for a pool towel you are given the same look you could expect from a bank teller if you produce a ransom note. And that too could run out, depending on the time of day.

The pool is very good to view and swim, as long as you do not go very close to the centre island. I had scraped of a good length of my arm when I came too close to this island, which was very rough and sharp. Wonder why they do not ask us to sign a waiver, like they do for all other activities, excusing them of any care. The pool bar is a great experience though highly priced.

The activities are a farce as well. Even though we were warned, we paid for the ‘Fire Walking Cultural Performance & Kava Ceremony’ but saw only fire walking. We paid for a trip to Nadi town and ended up spending a long time in a broken down vehicle. We wanted to do horse riding, but Horses do not work on public holidays.

Once again, I should mention that the staff are really, really friendly and helpful (no sarcasm intended). A few of them could be seen slogging from early morning till late night, yet smiling.

Finally, I was charged a surcharge for paying by credit card. I was told this surcharge is illegal in Fiji, which I brought to the attention of the staff there, but yet again they were sympathetic but seemed helpless. Look likes those poor souls are forced to condone this illegal process to keep their job.