Hi Gilda
Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. We are always striving for excellence, and welcome all feedback, be it positive or not, as it enables us to achieve and maintain the highest standards possible.
We are terribly saddened that you did not receive the experience you were hoping for. I reached out to your dedicated Travel Planner who assisted you with your booking arrangements, to see if all the necessary information was passed onto you when you inquired and booked your stay with us.
We try our best to ensure that those wishing to travel to Turtle Island are fully aware of what we offer, and the unique aspects of our experience. In my review of these communications, I confirmed that your dedicated Travel Planner had sent you all the information relating to our Fijian Bures, our family time program, and all other information you would require to get the most out of your holiday on Turtle Island.
For the benefit of other readers, I will elaborate on some of the points you’ve mentioned, sharing information which you might already be aware of based on the information already provided to you before and during your stay with us.
Yes, Turtle Island does not provide in-room WIFI by design, unless it is requested (and we do not promote that we do), as we try to offer our guests a chance to truly disconnect, and get the most out of their experience. That said, given our very high return rate, on rare occasions, some guests do need to have it, so we have made arrangements to accommodate this in those situations. It appears from your review that this was an important requirement for you, and we only wish you had made this known either on the island or when making your booking with us.
Turtle Island offers a unique Horse-riding experience where you get to explore a 500-acre island, riding through some 10 kilometers of roads and trails through the vast rainforests and jungles that cover the island. As is communicated to all our guests, we have 12 private beaches on our private island, 8 of which are reserved for the exclusive use of a single family (or couple) every other day - based on the number of families (or couples) we welcome at any given time, this means they are reserved every day. To ensure our private beach experiences are provided at the highest standards for the enjoyment of those using them, we typically do not allow horse riding excursions to enter these reserved private beaches. In addition, some beaches are not suitable for horse riding, and we take this safety concern into consideration. I hope you were still able to explore the rest of the island, from our longest beach on the island (a guest favorite) up to our hill tops, to enjoy the views overlooking the volcanic chain of islands that Turtle Island is a part of. This expansive experience is quite unique to Turtle Island.
Family time takes place on Turtle Island for only a few weeks of the year. During this time, we set up a Family club separate from the Adults, and each child gets their own personal full-time Bula Buddy or Nanny, whom also ensures that each child or teenager is able to do activities outside of those planned if they wish to, lending an element of customization for each child. Teenagers do have the option to go without a Bula Buddy should they so choose.
The family club is set up away from the adults’ area, with experiences also separated, so that parents wishing to spend some time as a couple are able too. Our family club is open to all family members, and activities are designed to suit the ages of the children on island, and parents are always welcome to join their children in these activities and planned experiences.
Separate from the above, each family (or couple) can plan their own private experiences as a family. Whether this is remote dining at one of the many picturesque locations around the island, Horse riding, private beach picnics, fishing excursions, and more. Enabling the freedom to our families to do things as a family, separate from the Adults only experiences, or the planned activities at our Family club. With having your own dedicated Bure Mama (dedicated concierge) attending to the needs of the Parents (or Couple), and each child getting their own Bula Buddy or Nanny, each family has the ability to have a customized experience outside of planned experiences, allowing them to get the most out of their stay with us.
As to the issues you have raised about poorly maintained activities equipment, bath and lighting issues - we only hope that you had raised this with our on-island management team, or your dedicated Bure Mama, so they could have attended to these matters for you.
For example, each of our couples are provided snorkeling equipment (snorkel and fins) on arrival, which they keep for the duration of their stay. Our team takes great care to check these before they are given out, and should you have received one that was faulty, or it became faulty whilst it was with you, we could have quickly replaced this for you.
As to the faulty bath and lighting issues in your Bure, we keep a full time on-island team of plumbers, electricians, joiners, carpenters, mechanics and engineers, along with many other tradespeople due to the variety of things we offer and provide on the island. It is regrettable that we were not informed of your bath issues, or the lighting issues, as we could have addressed these matters immediately for you. For example, we have had specific lighting requests in the past, and our joinery and electricians were able to make and install it per the guests’ requirements on the same day it was requested. We understand and appreciate that some guests may have varying expectations and preferences, and we will always do our best to meet them, or provide a suitable alternative.
Gilda, we are saddened that you are not able to recommend Turtle Island, and that you did not receive what you were expecting. Thank you for the feedback provided, we will certainly use it to improve our experience and standards further.
I notice that you did not respond to our Guest Feedback Survey we send out to each of our customers at the end of their stay, which allows guests to go into very detailed aspects of their experience. I invite and welcome you to fill that out, should you wish to share more detailed feedback on your stay.
We wish you and your family the very best, and hope you will find a more suitable property that aligns more appropriately with your expectations.
