Matavera Holidays from NZ$2,155

Eric made sure my wife and I had everything we needed during our time celebrating our honeymoon in the Cooks. Felt like our very own tree house in the rainforest, can’t wait to come back!

The room was right next to the most beautiful beach with fantastic snorkelling. The swimming pool was lovely and there was a swim-up bar where you could order drinks. I liked that guests could use The Rarotongan facilities too such as the pool, beach, activities hut and restaurant. There was a great selection of food available to eat during breakfast. The bus stop was right opposite the resort which was handy. I would still recommend hiring a car to get places quickly. My bedroom needed a drying rack and the tv sound was not the best, but it didn’t matter too much because I was out and about most of the day. The main thing I didn’t like was that the restaurant floor was sand - it would be much better if it was concreted and then tiled.

Staff were lovely so is the water and the reserve with the turtles. Kids loved it. Dinner Menu wasn’t okay but the buffet breakfast was awesome

When we arrived we thought we’d come to the wrong hotel. It was like rolling up to the entrance of an old western motel. A gritty, broken up driveway brought us to the main entrance which had a large plain pond with nothing in it - just an unloved body of water which must have, at one stage, had a welcoming water feature, I assume. The stairs up to reception were plain concrete with grubby iron handrails. And the reception looked as if we’d arrived at the back entrance- barely any lighting, gloomy and inviting. The gardens were SO disappointing, bare, neglected and tired. For such a beautiful part of the world , this was so sad to see. None of the little streams or ponds had water in them and the paved pathways all needed regrouping and fixing. The swimming pool was in a terrible state of repair - stained and uninviting. Not at all what a resort pool should look like. The toilets adjacent to the pool were just disgusting - no excuse for them to have been in such a run down, grubby state. The evening a’la carte dinner was very pleasant and tasty and nicely served- a great selection on the menu and comprehensive wine list. The staff were lovely. Helpful, friendly and attentive. The setting of the hotel is stunning - on a coconut tree lined beach. The sad thing is this hotel has SO much potential- it just has a tired, neglected air about it and it feels as if what once was a lovely hotel has become unloved, and forgotten about .