Nadi Downtown Hotel

Good spot for bus travel, close to the main bus station. The breakfast service was the worst ever. The air conditioning worked, but smelled, and check the shower videos. You can’t have beer anywhere in the hotel, not even in the lobby by reception. That’s crazy.

I stopped in to wait for a friend, and the staff were lovely. They even set up a fan to make me comfortable. I’ll definitely check this place out when I’m back.

The good parts were the very clean linens, the lovely women who looked after us and made breakfast each morning, and the location. Tours picked us up there, and the fresh food market and bus station were only a five-minute walk away. We ended up doing more than planned just to spend less time in the room. But the noise was constant: a nightclub thumped from 6 p.m. to 1 a.m., six days a week, and a construction site across the way started at 7 a.m. and went all day, also six days a week. The bathroom was tiny, old, and poorly maintained, with the shower and toilet leaking everywhere. I’ve never seen cockroaches like these, even after traveling extensively in remote countries. They were everywhere, so we couldn’t unpack or leave anything out without it getting covered in them. Getting picked up at the airport was a struggle too. I tried in vain to get a response about the pickup. We arrived at an empty airport at 10 p.m., had the information desk call, then waited 20 minutes for someone to come. The day before leaving, we booked a driver for 5 a.m. because we needed to reach the airport at 6. The driver was nowhere to be seen. At first reception couldn’t call him, then he was supposedly at home, then not coming until later, and finally they said we’d told him 6:30. Why would we ask for 6:30 when we needed to be at the airport by then? It was one thing after another. If you can handle the bugs and noise day and night, it may work for you.

A good choice for a short stay or transit, with affordable room prices and a convenient spot in town. Transport, shopping malls, local markets, and the handicrafts centre are easy to reach. The hotel felt safe, and the front desk staff were friendly and helpful. I booked a deluxe room. It was clean and a good size for my needs, with toilet paper and soap provided. There was also a mini fridge, coffee-making equipment for a morning coffee in the room, and an iron.