Sometimes life can be difficult, like the 3 days I had to spend in Fiji. Going to a tropical paradise where it’s 30 degrees everyday and things happen on “Island Time” is just so hard to take.
Upon the landing of my delayed Fiji Airways flight from Sydney I found myself negotiating with the taxi driver at Suva airport to get me to my hotel. I’d been warned by a colleague not to pay more than F$30 to get to the hotel. The first offer was for F$40 which I scoffed at and offered F$30 in return which was accepted. I later learned that I probably could have offered F$25 and still got my ride.
And so I found myself pulling up to the Suva Holiday Inn after the bumpy taxi ride from the airport to be welcomed with a hearty Bula!
Holiday Inn, Suva, Fiji
The location can’t be faulted. The hotel is on the waterfront on the main drag of Suva, Victoria Parade across the road from the Government Buildings and next to the Grand Pacific Hotel. It’s a quick walk to the restaurant area a couple of hundred metres north.
The room was quite presentable and the bed was very comfortable though the bathroom was very pokey. One thing I did love in the bathroom were the amenities – they had a magnificent, island scent.
The breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant had all you could need for a hearty breakfast and the hotel staff were nothing but delightful and helpful.
My only negative was that the Internet was so slooooow. Now I don’t know if this was the fault of the hotel or their ISP or that the international internet connection is just plain useless but it was a struggle to read my e-mail at times.
For what I paid on our corporate rate I would normally expect the same quality as the InterContinental in Sydney, or a Swissotel but you have to remember that you’re in a small, developing nation with not too many business hotels so would expect to pay a premium – that said I would stay there again!