Accommodation in the Solomons

 

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By Richard Moore

Where do we start? Well, I guess the best way is to say where we stayed in the Solomon Islands and to suggest other places that we visited during our stay there.

Upon arrival we went straight to the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara and it was an excellent place to head to on a hot Solomons' afternoon.

Not only was there air-conditioning to luxuriate in, but it has a lovely pool in which to cool off.

We stayed in one of the 48 deluxe rooms the hotel has and they are super clean, well appointed and very comfortable rooms in which to stay.

There was a little balcony overlooking the ocean and satellite TV.

The Heritage Park also has 27 apartments available.

The restaurant is very good and you can also order meals from the bar and eat on the waterfront.

Rooms at the Heritage Park are about $1600 Solomon dollars a night.

On our second night in the Solomon Island were were in Gizo, a small island off the northern tip of New Georgia,and stayed in the Gizo Hotel.

It is an older establishment situated on the main road and is right across from the town's small wharf and start of the market strip.

The rooms are clean, albeit with two single beds for this chap (ah well the cameras will get a comfy night's sleep) and the bathrooms tidy.

Again air conditioning is available and I needed it because it was extremely sultry with a massive thunderstorm on the way. The showers were cold but, in the heat we faced, were actually enjoyable.

The Gizo Hotel's bar and restaurant were great, with top quality food - including a massive crayfish for about $130 Solomon dollars - and the beer is cold.

Rooms at the hotel vary in price but you are looking at between SI$650 and $700 a night.

A short boat ride west from Gizo was a fabulous little place you can rent out called Oravae Cottage.

If you want to get away from it all and enjoy some terrific scenery while living near the water then this place is hard to beat.

Owned by Naomi and Patson Baea, Oravae Cottage offers the chance to have fun snorkeling and scuba diving, fishing, hiking the volcanic island of Kolombangara or doing nothing at all.

Rates are SI$750 a night per person and that includes all meals and airport transfers.

To the east of Gizo, on the small island of Mbabanga, is a very well known resort called Fatboys.

To say the bungalows at Fatboys are fabulous is understating just how great they are. They all overlook the water, are right on the ocean's edge, and are comfortable with a capital C.

The view from my balcony was out over the water and the long pier to the restaurant and bar and over Kennedy Island to the Kolombangara volcano. By the way Kennedy Island is where the US president to be, John F Kennedy, swam to after his PT-109 was sunk by a Japanese destroyer.

My bungalow - the honemoon suite - had a massive bed, a nice little seating and book-reading area and an over-the-water shower room.

Loved it.

The bungalows, including the honeymooner, are about SI$1500 a night and there are self-contained apartments for SI$1650 a night.

Fatboys Resort is a stunning place to base yourself and we would have liked more time there.

From Fatboys we flew to the south of New Georgia and a grass strip airfield at Seghe. From there we were taken by longboat across the Morovo Lagoon, the largest saltwater lagoon in the world, to Uepi Island.

There we booked into the Uepi Island Resort, an eco-friendly establishment that is a mecca for divers.

The island complex is beautiful, relaxing and the bungalows sensibly placed to give the maximum amount of privacy and make the most of thestunning surroundings.

I didn't get a waterside unit but that was fine with me as the beach was only a 30-second stroll away and my bungalow was a ripper. Big comfy bed, a desk to work at, a separate changing area, shower and toilet, as well as a lovely, covered outdoor eating area.

At Uepi Island Resort the main action is in the Big House, where people can sit around and relax unsder an amazing matted roof, have drinks at the bar or enjoy great food at the communal dinners.

These were great as you could chat with other guests about what they had got up to that day while tucking into some just-caught seafood. My picks were scrumptious crab and a seared mackerel that was absolutely to die for.

One of the best aspects to Uepi Island Resort is its intimate nature with 20 guests making for a friendly, but private if you want, stay.

The resort has six spacious, well-appointed bungalows for families or couples, two units and two guest rooms. All rooms have private bathroom with ambient temperature showers and toilet facilities.

Now don't do as I did and drop your key through the decking as you will then need to endure a crawl under the structure - past crab holes and at risk of meeting other beasties.

If you are in need of accommodation in the Solomons contact the visitor bureau and they will be more than happy to assist you.

Visit Solomon Island Visitors Bureau website by clicking here.