Hotel Manavai — Hotel in Easter Island

HOTEL MANAVAI - A HIDDEN GEM (March 2025) I'm a scuba instructor and recently spent two weeks on Easter Island with two different groups of divers. We encamped at Hotel Manavai. We had five rooms the first week and three rooms the second week. This was my third (and technically fourth) time there and I've always stayed at Hotel Manavai

It’s locally owned and operated by Ben Paoa. In fact, Ben built the place himself on family land. They’ve got 30 rooms, nothing fancy but quite charming IMHO. Rooms can be singles (one bed) or doubles (two beds – sometimes two double beds and sometimes a queen bed and a twin). Some rooms have air-conditioning, some don’t. (There’s a price difference between the two.) We opted for non-A/C the first week with mixed opinions about the wisdom of that choice. Ben comp’d us upgrades to A/C rooms for the second week and that seemed more acceptable to everyone. Breakfast is included daily (breads, fruits, some deli meats, eggs-to-order, coffee/tea), there’s an on-site restaurant as well (the Bounty Kai & Bar - which we ate at numerous times and really liked), and it’s an easy 5-minute 400-yard walk down to the dive shop and the harbor which was convenient for us. Ben will take good care of you and was a charming host.

I stayed in two different rooms, both comfortable and adequate for my needs. The first room (#15) had a comfy queen bed, decent storage in the closet, another very long shelf for storage, bathroom, and a small table and two chairs which became my computer station. (The free Wi-fi was generally decent but in my first room but was much stronger in the second room, which was on the opposite side of the property, and perhaps closer to the router.)

The second room (#37 I think) was much larger (also air-conditioned) and had a queen bed and a single bed. It also had a small table with chairs, better closet storage, large storage shelf, big shelf behind the beds also for storage or charging things, and a bathroom. We also had a small outdoor (covered) patio which we used on occasion. Both rooms had a TV which we never turned on.

A quick word about the bathrooms in both of these rooms and especially about the shower/tub. It was weirdly sloped on the sides so that there's only a very narrow area on the bottom that's flat enough to stand. So you needed to be careful getting in/out of the shower. (Others in our group had showers that had been redone and were not this way.)

The other thing to mention are the roosters. There are many on Easter Island but it seems a number of them live just north of Hotel Manavai. You will hear them with some regularity and not just at sunrise (which was 8:15AM when we were there.) This is certainly outside of the control of the hotel, but just something to be aware of. You'll get used to them.

But we enjoyed our stay very much and will definitely use Hotel Manavai again whenever...

I'm a scuba instructor and recently spent two weeks on Easter Island with two different groups of divers. We encamped at Hotel Manavai. We had five rooms the first week and three rooms the second week. This was my third (and technically fourth) time there and I've always stayed at Hotel Manavai||It’s locally owned and operated by Ben Paoa. In fact, Ben built the place himself on family land. They’ve got 30 rooms, nothing fancy but quite charming IMHO. Rooms can be singles (one bed) or doubles (two beds – sometimes two double beds and sometimes a queen bed and a twin). Some rooms have air-conditioning, some don’t. (There’s a price difference between the two.) We opted for non-A/C the first week with mixed opinions about the wisdom of that choice. Ben comp’d us upgrades to A/C rooms for the second week and that seemed more acceptable to everyone. Breakfast is included daily (breads, fruits, some deli meats, eggs-to-order, coffee/tea), there’s an on-site restaurant as well (the Bounty Kai & Bar - which we ate at numerous times and really liked), and it’s an easy 5-minute 400-yard walk down to the dive shop and the harbor which was convenient for us. Ben will take good care of you and was a charming host.||I stayed in two different rooms, both comfortable and adequate for my needs. The first room (#15) had a comfy queen bed, decent storage in the closet, another very long shelf for storage, bathroom, and a small table and two chairs which became my computer station. (The free Wi-fi was generally decent but in my first room but was much stronger in the second room, which was on the opposite side of the property, and perhaps closer to the router.)||The second room (#37 I think) was much larger (also air-conditioned) and had a queen bed and a single bed. It also had a small table with chairs, better closet storage, large storage shelf, big shelf behind the beds also for storage or charging things, and a bathroom. We also had a small outdoor (covered) patio which we used on occasion. Both rooms had a TV which we never turned on.||A quick word about the bathrooms in both of these rooms and especially about the shower/tub. It was weirdly sloped on the sides so that there's only a very narrow area on the bottom that's flat enough to stand. So you needed to be careful getting in/out of the shower. (Others in our group had showers that had been redone and were not this way.)||The other thing to mention are the roosters. There are many on Easter Island but it seems a number of them live just north of Hotel Manavai. You will hear them with some regularity and not just at sunrise (which was 8:15AM when we were there.) This is certainly outside of the control of the hotel, but just something to be aware of. You'll get used to them.||But we enjoyed our stay very much and will definitely use Hotel Manavai again whenever...

Airport shuttle was supposed to be included. ||I waited a half hour then gave up and paid for a taxi. ||Scary Since I had no local cash so the taxi first had to drive me to a bank and wouldn’t take credit card. ||||No English at the hotel. ||||One night friends left a hand written note with dinner plans with my name on it. The note was given to me the next day at breakfast so I missed the outing. ||||There was no Phone in the room or functioning tv despite description. ||||Roosters and barking dogs howling all night. ||||Security issue - Manager opens the door when you leave in the morning and leaves the 8 foot by 4 foot window open (no screen) so people can walk in! Then all day it’s open and you get home and curtains are closed and it’s darkness- you don’t realize. Let’s in roaches and snakes. ||||No functioning WiFi - You can text one sentence but not send pics. Definitely not high speed WIFI for music. ||The desk guy signed me up for the Same tour twice!|| ||Cock roaches came flying out and a mouse so at 11pm||I asked to be moved to a new room. Desk guy said after I showed photos - yeah that’s a problem. ||Room 27 to 25 which also - neither has air conditioning or fans!!||||Visible mold growing on bathroom grout...