FIJI - where will we stay? HELP

we are going to Fiji next April for a wedding, our friends are getting married. they are staying at naviti resort but we've heard some bad reviews about it, i think it is about 3.5 star. we don't mind paying that little bit extra to stay somewhere a bit better, perhaps a 4.5 or 5 star place. we will be staying for 5 nights. i am looking at shangri-la resort and also the warwick resort.

has anyone been to fiji and can recommend a nice place to stay?

i would really appreciate this! thanks so much!

I can recommend the Shangri-la resort, I went there in 2004 and it was so great. Lots of different resturants, nice pools, very kid friendly (although I didn't have any kids with me) and lovely staff.

I recommend buying any alcohol you may want duty free at the airport in Fiji when you arrive because it can be a bit expensive at the resorts.

Enjoy it's a lovely place to holiday. :D

Yeah the Shangri La is ok, good for kids. I wasn't impressed with the food though, usual bistro stuff..

Our DD will be 15 months then. I won't be leaving her at all in a kids club as such but will definately take her in the pool. What about Outrigger? Anybody stayed there? All alcoholic drinks are included in the price if we stay at Naviti Resort but we're not big drinkers anyway.

We had our honeymoon in Fiji and stayed at the Shangri-La resort. It was just perfect! we went in 2005, so not sure how much has changed.....but there were 3 different pools, quite a few restaurants, tour desk, money exchange, games room, sooooo many activites/sports/fun competitions etc. And their kids club was awesome! the ladies who worked in there were so happy and friendly.
I remember the meals being a bit exxy, but their buffet was great! so much variety and everything seemed really fresh. But their alcohol was very over priced so I highly recommend buying duty free as someone else mentioned.

Friends of ours stayed at the Warwick I think, I will find out for you, they have since been back they loved it so much.

Warwick would be ideal as friends are staying at Naviti and both are close to each other

Queenbee - we stayed at the Outrigger Fiji when we honeymooned there 5.5years ago. We loved it. The staff were friendly, food was good and we managed to stick within budget so I guess the prices where ok. There was heaps of people getting married there, we were in a bures and almost everyday of the 10days we were there, there was people getting married on the beach at sunset..magical. We spent most of our days lying around the georgous pool, which was a nice as the pictures make out. At our last night we went to one of the more expensive restaurants for dinner and they staff came over and sang us a good bye song, we felt so special. That was over 5 years ago, but I was only saying the other day that one day we will go back to Fiji and I would love to stay there again (I would hope it hasn't changed to much).

I had a friend who recently went to Fiji to and she and her partner stayed at the Shangri-La - they seemed to have a nice time there to.

As Kristan mentioned about buying duty free alcohol at the airport, we did this too, so maybe that helped with the cost...mmm Bailey's.

I'm sure where ever you stay though your trip will be wonderful. Goodluck.

It was the Warwick Queenbee, they were so happy they went back the following year, pm me if you want any more details.

I stayed at the Outrigger 3 years ago and I loved it, its a huge resort with lots to do and a great kids club. If I go to that part of Fiji again, Id stay there. At the time I went, it was one of the newer, nicer resorts. There were about 10 weddings in the week we stayed at Outrigger. Oh and if time and budget permits, you should head off to an island for a few days, much better than the coral coast.

Id suggest you google the resorts the ladies have mentioned and see for yourself which appeals to you!

DH proposed to me at Plantation Island Resort and while we were childless at that stage it was a lovely resort that seemed really popular with families. If we ever can go back we'd stay there again with the kids. We honeymooned at Matamanoa Island but I think it is child free....

Nelly - we honeymooned at Matamanoa too - and yes no kids under 12. But its sooo beautiful!

We are going on Boxing Day to Fiji with another couple who also have kids the same age as us. We are going to staying at The Sofitel...Can't wait. We did heaps of research tho and in the end it all became really overwhelming.

If you want to find some reviews of the places try googling trip advisor. :)

ok just so you know :

the warick and the naviti are them same resorts ( meaning they are sister hotels owned by the same owner)

the warick is expensive and very upper class , its nice , we went there for lunch one day and it was a bit of a let down to all the hype we heard about it ...and we had to pay a **** load for a burger (some thing like $24) and apart from a bit of cool snorkelling there was nothing much to do ..

where as the naviti is soo much fun at night time with all the shows and acts they put on .. you can even go a bliss out on KAVA .. and massages are like $40 for a full body if you go and visit the village next to it !!

if you go to the warick (nothing wrong with it at all ) you dont get a "great time " imo you go for a "nice time " kwim ??

the Naviti, (not sure where you heard bad reviews ) is lovely , they just had a major renovation .
back in 2004 i went there and DH proposed to me there ... we loved it so much (becase of the all inclusive package - all meals , all drinks , accom and activities and transfers ) We got married there in 2006 !!
my family came along and there were 30 of us all up .. we had so much fun , there a 4 resturans (one main one open for bfast and lunch, one open for dinner and 1 formal nice posh style and 1 semi formal , the semi formal one is secluded and oh sooo nice )

all meals at any resturant are inclued in the "all incusive"

it was more relaxing and fun and we cant say enough good things about it ... we cant wait til our kids are older so they can enjoy it too !!!

when you stay else where keep in mind the distances of the hotels (most are far apart) and book your taxi/car ahead of time because they really do run on "fiji time"

weve been to the naviti twice now so we know it well... if you want to know more or see pics i can show you !!

ETA: the warick doesnt do an "all incusive" so you have to pay for everything !! naviti "all in clusive" incudes beer wines and spirts ..

Nelly and LisaL, my DH and I went to Matamanoa too (before he was even my DF, lol) and we loved it so much. At the time we were after a kid-free kind of environment because we weren't taking the DSS's so it was perfect. We'd love to go back to Fiji one day so I might have to revisit this thread for all the kid-friendly resorts!

no we have a 15 month old so need to stay somewhere kid friendly.

thanks everyone for that information. charm, feel better you have said some good things about naviti. i looked on trip advisor and heard some bad reviews about it, mainly to do with cleanliness.