I made a booking and prepaid to stay at Club Raro for 11 nights from January 1st 2012. I was initially impressed by the welcoming and friendly nature of the staff, and my lagoon front room was relatively comfortable and in reasonable condition. The shared facilities of the resort however were disappointing. I found the resort reception and pool area to be fairly rundown and in need of immediate renovations. The pool and bar area was very limited in size with the bar being open on a very irregular basis. I attribute this to the very low occupancy rate at the time, although the large number of rental scooters out the front of the premises provide a different impression of the number of guests. I also found the booking website (which to be fair in not necessary the fault of the resort) to be very misleading, indicating that the resort was very popular with a limited number of rooms available.

I was very disappointed by the quality of the breakfast on offer, an upgrade from the Express to the Tropical breakfast at $9 per day was required for anything of moderate quality, although the fruit was not always provided. The resort advertises that their prices are attributable to the cost of imported food, although their prices are significantly out of step with many other eateries in Rarotonga. From the 4th morning onwards, I simply found it easier to skip the breakfast on offer and head into Avarua for breakfast.

After visiting the much larger Edgewater resort, with a significantly higher occupancy rate and superior resort facilities, I requested a transfer (and i made it clear that i was more than happy to pay the upgrade difference) as I discovered that this was the sister resort to Club Raro. After being told (by Club Raro) that a transfer was not permitted, i simply decided to book into the Edgewater for the final 5 nights of my stay, abandoning the remaining 5 nights of my prepaid Club Raro accommodation, a loss of just under $700. Although this was an expensive option, I was determined to enjoy the remainder of my stay in the Cook Islands due to the limited time I get off work each year.

I would only recommend Club Raro as a place to sleep that is within close proximity to Muri beach and Avarua township. If you are after a resort holiday that provides entertainment and plenty of other guests to mix and mingle with, stay at the Edgewater.

Spent 5 nights here recently. The room was basic and cramped, the aircon was very noisy and not keeping the room cool. Bathroom was clean, even a cockroach came to visit. Staff were friendly, although we were asked to hurry up and leave the room for the day by house keeping as Management would not pay them after 11.00Hrs.

Swimming pool and bar area are quite small considering the amount of amount of rooms. More than 3/4 people in the pool and you feel like your in a spa.

The room and reception feels tied and needs a major renovation to compete with other resorts.

It was handy for walking into town.

Oh my god what a place. I'm so happy we didn't stay there longer than one night and that was too much.. We arrived to Rarotonga at 10:30 pm and went to the Club Raro resort which we had booked earlier. Reception was open and that's about it. One CocaCola machine was open! There no place where to get any food or drinks (excluding the vending machine). The receptionist was bit "lost" with everything...

Well, we got to our room and that was disgusting! We stayed one night in poolside room and the price of the room is WAAAY too much with the quality. On the roof there was mold and not so little.. The roof was almost black from the inside. And the aircon! Worst machine I've ever met. It was so NOISY!!!! And same with the fan on the roof! Besides us, there was a few cockroaches with us. Next morning after one hour sleep, we checked out as soon as possible and headed to our next hotel in Muri Beach!

In a few words: worst night of my life, I'd rather stay at the airport, miserable breakfast (only bread and cereals), way too expensive. I think this place cannot be improved without building it again.

I can't recommend this...

We stayed at Club Raro for one night after returning from an awesome 6 nights in Aitutaki. While the staff are helpful, funny and friendly the resort itself its tired and and unwelcoming.
We stayed in a poolside room where the bed was hard and the pillows lumpy, and the bathroom needed a really good scrub.
Also the rooms do not block out any noise, so the loud music from the bar, the people next door talking and slamming their door and the people playing in the pool kept us up till early hours.
The location is pretty good if you want to be in between 'Town' and Muri beach, so that was handy, but you will have to get a scooter or car if you would like to go for a swim or snorkel, because the beach isn't so good out the front of the resort.
I would also suggest eating elsewhere, Trader Jacks do much nicer fish and chips and burgers for the same price.