Sonaisali Island Resort Fiji
Readers Reviews
Lisa
September 2006
We have just returned from our 11 night stay at Sonaisali, and could not have
hoped for a better holiday. We have a 6 year old son, who just loved the
kids club, and we could not keep him out of it. There was a great range of
ages for him, with plenty of activities to keep him amused. The supervisors
were fantastic (bar one), and he developed quite a crush on one (Shabby),
who was just gorgeous with the kids.
It was an extremely relaxing holiday, with plenty to do if you wanted, or
otherwise just sit around the pool all day, which was what we did. We did go
island hopping one day on the fast boat, and visited 3 islands for half an
hour each, and finished with some snorkelling off a sandbar near Plantation
Island resort.
We found there was a terrific mix of people, lots of family groups (mainly due
to the weddings), honeymooners, older groups, and couples with kids. The
food was lovely, and we did not experience any dodgy meals, however we
thought the drink prices were over the top. The staff were all so friendly
and helpful, and this includes the housekeeping and grounds staff. Can't
keep count of how many times a day we said "Bula".
Our bure was lovely and spacious. We were all in the same room, and it was not a
problem. At night while our son went to sleep, we sat on the balcony and
read, and then came in and continued reading or watched telly.
Sonaisali may not have the pristine white beaches, but it certainly has
everything else. We would highly recommend this resort to anyone, especially
to families with young children.
The Steicke Family
March 2006
I would like to share my experience at
Sonaisali Resort in Fiji. We are a family of 4 from Perth Australia we spent 14
days at Sonaisali in March 2006.
I almost cancelled our trip to fiji after
reading the reviews about Sonaisali. There are an awful lot of whingers in the
world. This place was HEAVEN on Earth. We travelled with 2 children aged 8 and
6. They were in the kids club every day for our 2 week stay. The club provides
traditional activities as well as outdoor activities. (If you want your kids in
front of a TV or playstation all day then it is not for you.) They had organised
programmes every day Volley ball, kayaking, crab races, mongoose spotting,
coconut painting and the list goes on. The kids had the option to have their
meals with the kids club or us which was also great.
What I most liked about Sonaisali was it was
relaxed and so were we. It is not on the day tripper circuit so backpackers
don't converge on the island and use up all the facilities. There were enough
kids to keep each other amused but the island was not overrun with them. A good
mix of Honeymooners, families and retired travellers. The staff were all
fantastic Fiji time can get a little irritating but it is all over the country
not just at this resort and really we do have all the time in the world that is
why we go there.
I cried when I left as I felt attached to the
resort the staff and the wonderful friends we made when we were there. We
attended 4 wedding services which were traditional and beautiful. The pool is amazing there are plenty of free
activities to fill up the lazy days (everything was in good order and working)
There are also other day trips which can be booked either through the resort or
Rosies travel which are amazing. Go to the Yasawa Islands for the day they are
truly magnificent. The beach is not a snorkelling beach but it is
NOT DIRTY it has volcanic sand this is natures fault not the resorts. It is
perfectly safe to swim in and you don't come out dirty at all. They have even
gone to the trouble of importing white sand for the rest of the island. There is
a magic snorkling trip to turtle rock which is available daily.The activities guys Karli and Joshua do a great
job in the evenings and the international frog races are a real hit. Traditional
dancing and bonfire nights are also great.
I can't say enough about this place it was the
best family holiday of our lives and we can't wait to go back next year. Thanx to Karli, Joshua in Activities, Marioni,
Shelby, Kara in the kids club, Ruth in the beauty salon (who wrapped , massaged
and waxed me to an inch of my life), Natha from the Tale bar who was so sweet
good luck with your new baby.
Fiji is truly paradise and Sonaisali is Heaven what a combination!!!
Julie and Phillip
April 2005
We recently travelled to FIJI in April 2005, we took our two younger girls
aged 13 & 10 and my oldest daughter 18 who travelled with a friend also 18. Our
experience was completely different to The Naviti which we had spent a week at
earlier, it was a lot quieter and very subdued, I felt the Kids Club was very
ordinary they didn't seem to be doing much (they only had a handful of kids
registered but there were others at the resort) they didn't try to get these
kids involved at all.
Found that the Activities Bure was too far away from the pool/bar and didn't
give people the incentive to do anything (which is fine), they also advertised VolleyBall every day at 3:30pm we stayed 6 nights and not one game was played,
felt the activities people should have gone around to try and get a couple of
teams together (like they did at The Naviti).They lacked any nightly activities was very disappointed in this, they did
have a "disco" at another site on the resort a bit far to walk and there was
only 7 people there, not much fun. The food & drink was good, pool nice and
clean plenty of lounge chairs.
Apparently if you are staying more than three nights you are invited to the
General Managers cocktail party, unfortunately we were not invited not sure why
even though we were staying 6 nights and we met other people who arrived after
us and they were invited. The reason for the cocktail party is to get feedback
from the guests on what they think of the resort and what needs improvement,
which I thought we were good candidates for but we did find out that the reason
we were not invited was that we were leaving the next day after the cocktail
party and therefore our opinions were not required.
After staying at the Sonasali I would not go back there again, the Fijian's
overall were quite good, some were extremely grumpy & rude (mainly in the bar
area) and they certainly did not want to be there. I was very disappointed in this venue and I must also say there were others
whom we met and spent a great deal of time were also of the same opinion, some
had children and others didn't. I would not recommend it for families it is more suited to honeymoon couples
who want to spend time by themselves, its not a very social resort and it seemed
we were putting the staff out at times.
Between the two resorts we stayed at 6 nights each, The Naviti was by far the
best, the staff & guests seemed more friendlier, there was heaps more for the
kids to do they had concerts each night performed for the parents, competitions,
plus all the usual activities etc, there was more for the older teenagers, even
the adults got involved with nightly activities. All of which you had the choice
of not to do - although it was busy it was also very relaxing........
Nicci
April 2004
We have recently returned from our first trip away to Fiji with three boys aged
6,4 and 2. We stayed at Sonaisali Island resort and had a fabulous holiday.
The accommodation was very spacious - we had a two bedroom family bure right
on the beach. It was great because our two year old would play in the sand
whilst we had predinner drinks on our bure deck at sunset. The only negative
about the accommodation was that only the children's bedroom was airconditioned and they could do with a renovation.
The reason we chose Sonaisali was because it was so close to the mainland, yet
it was still an island. With three small boys we were really grateful not to
have a long journey to the resort after we arrived in Nadi. The
two older boys could not get enough of the kids club. The kids club was
great because the boys could virtually come and go as they pleased and
didn't feel trapped to stay if they wanted to suddenly do something else.
The resort was small enough that we always knew where they were and our
accomodation was right near the kids club meeting place. It wasn't very
crowded either which was fantastic. At most there were probably only five or
six children at one time in the kids club and more often then not there were
less, so I felt that the boys were being well looked after. Our two year old
was too young as the kids club was from 4years and up. The babysitting
service was very inexpensive and allowed us to go snorkelling, have a
massage and go on a quad bike tour of the island.
The meals were good. The children's menu was a bit ordinary, but that didn't
worry the boys. The restaurant was great as it was right next to the pool.
There was no stress about trying to get the boys to sit still because when
they were waiting for lunch they would just pop into the pool until their
order was ready. This was fantastic for an impatient two year old who would
wade in the toddler pool (knee deep ) until he could see his lunch.
There were a wide range of activities for all of us and a large swimming
pool. The only problem with the pool was that the surface was a bit rough,
so there were a few scratches.
All in all the resort was great but maybe in need of a renovation very soon.
I have never had such a relaxing getaway with our very energetic three boys.
I can't wait to go back and try another Fiji island. Thanks for the informative web site,
Melissa
What a fabulous holiday destination for the whole family. Our extended family consisted
of 2 grandparents, 4 parents, 2 children and 2 infants. Everyone was
catered for and everyone had an awesome time. Yes the bottom of the
pool does hurt a little but what a brilliant pool. We spent hours
swimming, diving and drinking (at the swim up bar)! We all enjoyed the
activities; paintball, catamarans, jet ski,
limbo, jungle cruise, Manager's drinks (a must), frog races and indulged
in the fine foods and friendly service. Kid's club was great and was a
bonus at dinner time. Major benefit of Sonaisali
is that you can arrive from Sydney that night straight from your
afternoon flight. No missed days and just in time for dinner! The
Bures are especially spacious and the air
conditioning is a necessary luxury. Watch the mozzies out on the large verandah and down by the sand. Remember
to bear in mind 'Fiji Time' and go with the flow. Bula
Vicki, James and Ashleigh Dean
We have just returned from one of the best holiday experiences
we’ve had! My husband & I, & our 11yr old daughter loved every single second of
our time at Sonaisali Island Resort. We loved the accommodation, total luxury,
especially the great spa on our balcony! The staff was so much fun, that our
daughter plans on keeping in touch with one of them, as she is going to start up
a pen pal relationship with one of their children. Breakfast daily was a feast
and every night we had a different menu with so much to choose from. We also
liked the fact that we had entertainment each evening, with lots of dancing. I
loved to shop so popped into Nadi regularly which was easily done from Sonaisali.
My husband and daughter were kept busy with loads of water sports activities. We
highly recommend Sonaisali for anyone looking for a great family holiday, I am
so glad my Travel agent recommended this place, we plan on going back to
Sonaisali for sure.
Ian, Lisa and James
August 2002
This was our third time
back to Fiji and although we have had GREAT times previously at The Naviti and
also the Shangri-La Fijian we like to go somewhere different each time. This
time we chose Sonaisali on recommendation from a friend. What a TERRIBLE resort
(if you could call it that). We could go on ALL day at how poor an experience we
had. We were there in late August 2002 for 6 nights and could not wait to move
on to our next resort, people travelling with us had never been to Fiji and
would not come back. We were two families with 5 years olds. We arrived to no
rooms ready. Could not get a poolside towel except for one day and that was
because we went down there around 7am and waited. Our room credits was on one
account and not the other although we booked at the same time and had to fight
for it. The meals were ordinary, non exciting and could often be seen in the
buffet being re-offered the next day. We were offered cool water around the pool
as it was recommended that we not drink the tap water and we said "yes," it was
around 1litre and cost us $6.60!!! Outrageous. The pool surface was very harsh
and the kids had grazes on knees, hands, feet and a dive saw a chin bleed as
well. They began wearing their coral shoes in the pool to swim. There were no
catamarans after day two because the last one broke, no paddle skis so the men
went deep sea fishing for $150 fijian and caught a rather small fish (our next
resort was only $75 fijian). We tried to find the kidz club but were not able
too. The spa by the pool was extremely cold and would not heat. The pool was
also a little too chilly to swim comfortably and the poolside bure smelt of off
milk or rotten fruit. We told the Managers of different things but were told to
write and they would pass it on. Not good enough. We could keep going on, our
only SAVING grace was Plantation Island were we had an absolutely fantastic stay
and ARE going back hopefully this year. The 5yr old would wake up each morning
asking "is Kids club open yet Mum?" That to my hubby and I was 'music to our
ears'.
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