Everyone was so friendly and welcoming, loved the way the staff embraced us as patrons. The room was exactly what we wanted. Despite the weather being challenging, we still felt so rested and relaxed thanks to the serenity of the island and fanstastic crew. Spa on-site was also great and the ladies there were so nice.

Excellent!! I love the beach and their amazing swimming pool.

None

Stunning location, friendly staff who went out of their way to make our holiday special and amazing. Lots of activities, incredibly relaxing, delicious food options.

Transfers were more problematic to arrange than anticipated (didn’t realise one ferry per day, if other plans conflict with ferry times can arrange speedboat transfers but are $$$).

it was beautiful and we enjoyed all aspects of the holiday including the staff.

Food service was a bit erratic and on first night we waited over an hour and half for food. on a couple of occasions food arrived cold.

One of the two or three nicest places I've ever been.

Food was average. But didn't go there to eat.

amazing crystal clean water, plunge pool, comfiest bed ever!

nothing

The location was fantastic. One of the keys things about the resort was no kids too. Also, being only 4 hours flight time from Australia. The resort was completely self paced with activities to do only if you wanted. The staff were wonderful. So genuinely friendly and go out of their way to help. Doing things in "Fiji time" is something you need to remember as it is relaxed and go with the flow type thing.

The beds for us were too hard, but thats all :) One thing 'tho....remember for this resort it is a "wet" landing so wear thongs or sandals to get on the island as only this is mentioned in one abstract forum.

Matamanoa was the best holiday I have ever been on. The people were incredibly lovely and made it very special. In particular Wavi, Kelera, Naomi and Bai. The dinner was a different menu each night and the food was incredibly delicious. The snorkeling safari is a must. We are already planning another trip to come back.

There was nothing we didn’t like about our stay.

the beach, the pool and the island grounds were all BEAUTIFUL. such a great place to get away for a few nights and just truly relax. the band that plays in the restaurant is also great and adds a nice little atmosphere to the evenings. we also did some snorkeling there which was really incredible, lots of coral and bright fish. had the food been decent I would gladly give this place a 10 but there’s some work to be done in that area unfortunately.

as many reviews mention, the food is disappointing- I would say it’s a 6 at best. completely understand that it’s an island and resources may be limited - but to charge the prices they’re charging for the food they’re serving is a bit shocking. the free breakfast makes up for it in some ways, but they still charge you $10+ for coffee.

Not much, except the music band at night

Where do I even start… I made a detour to visit this resort (given its good review). Big mistake… Upon my arrival, without any prior warnings, they gave me a so-called upgrade to a 2-bedroom villa. It was a lie. The villa was the resort owner’s home and they just dumped us there because they ran out of rooms. Had we looked middle-aged or older, they probably wouldn’t have treated us like this. One of the bathrooms was not even cleaned properly. The shampoo, conditioner and body gel bottles were all opened and 2/3 empty. Deodorant, toothpaste and mouth wash from the owner (or previous occupiers) were scattered all over the place. The other bathroom was a bit better but the toiletry looked half used. One of the bedrooms had gym equipments scattered all over the place. The room was like a 10-15 minute walk to reception and didn’t even have a phone for us to contact reception in case of emergency (They gave us the front desk email address and the response was usually 40 minute delayed at best…). The whole thing was just pathetic. We had booked a beach front villa 8 months ago and we paid quite a significant sum for it. It wasn’t like we booked it the day before we arrived. The receptionist lady who greeted me on the day was just exhausting to deal with. She was not transparent about the whole thing. She acted as if I had indeed booked the owner’s villa. She even said “let us know tomorrow if you would like to move to the beach front villa” (seriously?!?… I had booked the beach front villa… of course I would like to move there). The resort manager was just unapologetic. They should have informed us of the overbooking before we arrived, not on the day we arrived. The next day, we had to wait around until 1:15pm to finally move into our beach front villa. We only stayed in the beach front villa 2/3 of the time but still had to pay the full amount for it. The restaurant service was appallingly slow, which I don’t really mind as they are on “Fiji time” here.

Staff are lovely - friendly, helpful and really do want you to have a good holiday. The enthusiasm with which they greet one, and the welcome/departure songs are lovely – I find it amazing that they can muster such genuine cheer in welcoming guests every day. The dive centre is top notch. Diving in some pacific locations is sometimes a bit scary (safety an afterthought) – not this lot. They are super professional, and very safety conscious. One feels so comfortable diving with them. I would come back to Matamanoa for the diving alone. Josh the DM is a great guy, focused on planning dive around what the guest is interested in seeing but (rightly so!) safety first. Generally though, all the dive staff (bar maybe the slightly sullen Aussie lady) are superb. I would not be surprised if this was the best dive centre in Fiji. The bungalows are wonderful - its as good as the photos. Snorkelling is great, albeit not possible at low tide (too shallow). The resort runs regular snorkelling outings & trips.

Food was quite variable - some dishes were excellent and others not good (eg one night had a really good steak and a few evening later was like eating a shoe). Having travelled through a number of Pacific islands we understand that this variability in quality is sometimes a consequence of being on an island in the middle of nowhere. What the restaurant could fix though is the quality of its baked goods - breakfast baked goods (pastries & rolls) were consistently not good. Flies in the restaurant – management seriously needs to do something about the amount of flies in the restaurant (a simple electric insect catcher would sort things out). Unless there is a breeze, you’re constantly battling with flies sitting on your food – about 3 to 4 flies constantly around one. Service in the restaurant – the staff are really lovely, but just need to be organised better. Eg sometimes our breakfast coffee would come once we had finished eating and were ready to leave, other times it would come soon after you sat down. It feels like there is no set way that the restaurant staff work, feels a bit free flow and muddled.

The room I was in was exactly what I asked for and was close to the Reception/Beautique and the lounge and restaurant. loved the private pool.

Just not enough towels and tea towel and bath mat needed replacing after 7 nights it needed it. Also shower floor is very slippery and needs something like a rubber mat or something even a handle bar to prevent a fall. perfect island otherwise ❤️ can’t wait to visit again.

The location was stunning and the accommodation was beautiful

The majority of staff were not very friendly, apart from a few. The food was poor, especially breakfast and lunch. the evening food is slightly better! The service was also really slow in restaurant and lots of flies everywhere.

great food, venue so relaxing , planning to return next year. Spa facility blissful, staff so friendly.

Being charged for coffee at breakfast - when breakfast is included in stay the assumption would be that coffee would be part of that breakfast deal. No one informed that coffee was extra

Loved the Bure. So spacious, private pool was amazing. Very clean

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Excellent food and service and staff are exceptional. Loved every minute of our stay and will be back.

Could have been more food choices

rooms were expensive for what they were. food from the restaurant wasn’t fresh at all, my husband got food poisoning and the following day I ate some pineapple at breakfast that was definitely off. lunch was nice but breakfast and dinner options need to be looked at. small island and not a whole lot to do, although this isn’t the accommodations fault! nice island, wouldn’t recommend longer than 3 days.

Me and my wife were celebrating our 4th year anniversary. We had a great stay and the hotel totally met our expectations. Recommend it to honeymooners and couples for any kind of celebration or vacation.

Food takes a little while to be served and sometimes waiters take a long time to take customers orders. But whoever goes to Fiji needs to know the Fijian time of service!

The resort itself was absolute paradise! The rooms were beautiful with your own private plunge pools. You could watch the sunset every night from the chairs ursine your room. The staff knew your name and immediately tried to help with all your needs. The snorkeling trips were our favorite. Even though you are on a secluded island there are other islands nearby and the unique fish in the water along with sea turtles and rays, make the whole experiment so fun! And the spa was magnificent. My husband is not that big on massages and we book a week package brocade they were so good!

You have to get the food at the resort. Or is not very good and very salty. Other people enjoyed it but for the price it needed work.