We stayed 1 night in mid December in private lodge 24.
I'll start with the positives because it wasn't all bad.
The staff were so lovely. I can't say enough good things about the staff. They are the only reason this place gets 2 stars. The drink prices are reasonable and they do happy hour twice daily. The beach is huge and there are a lot of areas inside to chill and sit down. I didn't see any beach chairs or umbrellas so bring a towel! There's music all day and nightly entertainment. It was karaoke night when we were there and it was actually really fun because it was a competition. Following karaoke, the DJ played and the music was awesome! The private lodges have a mini fridge and coffee/tea facilities. They also provided a lot of shampoo bottles and soap bars which was unexpected.
We booked direct which apparently could only be done via email, but we got the best rate- $378 Fiji Dollars for a private lodge and all our meals. I had to give my full credit card details over email which I was very uncomfortable with. Upon check-in, if you are not paying cash at the bar for drinks, they collect your credit card details again. This is done by writing down your card number, expiry date and billing address on a piece of paper! This is not secure! There must be a better way to guarantee bar tabs. Also, the credit card surcharge is the highest we experienced in Fiji- 4%! So bring cash!
The coffee is instant all over the hotel and the only tea offered is Ceylon. This was disappointing as all other hotels we visited in the islands at comparable price points had fresh coffee and a section of teas.
The whole hotel is generally dirty. There are flies all over the place! When you sit at the tables downstairs, the flies constantly land on you. There must be a way to prevent this problem as no other islands we stayed at had such a fly problem. There were dirty tables and trash/food remnants on several tables in the upstairs area that nobody ever cleaned up.
The room next to ours had bed bugs. Luckily, we did not have any. Our room appeared to be clean enough for such a place, but there was hair in the shower and on the bed linens- not my hair!
The windows didn't have screens which was disappointing due to all the flies at the hotel. There isn't AC in the room (only a ceiling fan) which was fine, except it was too hot to not have the windows open. The window openings are large so don't leave valuables near the window as people can reach in and grab whatever!
I read a review on here about the generator being loud, but it was not noisy in our room at all. We couldn't even hear it.
They don't provide drinking water throughout the day. This is probably due to all the day trippers, but they should provide drinking water for hotel guests in a private area. All other hotels in the islands offered this. There's a sign in the bathroom that says all water is taken from the main land. They should install the water purification system that all the other islands have. It would save them money in the long run and reduce bottled water usage.
Huge groups of day trippers arrive daily around 10am and more arrive throughout the day. There are a lot of activities that are all chargeable- kayaking, snorkeling, jet skiing.
The food is buffet style at every meal and is pretty terrible. The staff wave in front of the food to prevent flies, but they land in the food anyways. Meal times are only 1 hour. Breakfast offered baked beans, bacon, pancakes, canned fruit, cereals, toast, one type of jam, butter, peanut butter, etc. There was an omelette station which was a nice surprise.
Lunch was white rice, baked fish, minced meat with some kind of seasoning, mixed green salad, beets, bread and potatoes. The meat dishes were very greasy, but there were a few options which was nice, but none of it was good.
Dinner wasn't anything to rave about either. There was a nice green mixed salad, but it was covered in flies. There was flavorless baked pumpkin, cheesy potatoes, chicken wings, unidentifiable fried meat, bread and white rice. I opted for rice and bread as they were the only things not covered in flies. At least it was a good base for drinking! I recommend eating as soon as they put the food out to minimize the flies. This is a budget place so I understand cutting food costs, but the bugs are preventable.
Overall, there wasn't much of party scene at night due to there not being many people, but there was lively music playing during the day and good happy hour specials. This is a great place for a group of friends looking to party. Just keep in mind that it's a backpackers joint.
I would have preferred to do a day trip to the island instead of staying the night. There's more of a party during the day and there's more people around (if that's what you're into). The food still sucks, but at least you only have one meal on the day trip.