Te Manava Luxury Villas — Hotel in Ngatangiia

Te Manava is a small but extremely nice “villa” complex located at the very southern end of Muir. It’s part of the Pacific Resort group, so it’s built to a very high standard. There’s a spa, but no onsite restaurant. If you’re looking for a full service resort experience you’re probably better off choosing Pacific Resort Rarotonga, which is just a couple minutes up the road. Guests at Te Manava have full use of the Pacific Resort amenities, though, as well as room charge back privileges. Te Manava is really for people that want more of a vacation home experience. I think all units have full kitchens. Ours had a washer and dryer too (probably smaller than what you’re used to at home) in a cabinet in the courtyard. The courtyard also had a private pool that was larger than a plunge pool and deeper than I expected. (The pool is also pretty cold.) A second bedroom across the courtyard had its own bathroom and TV. That TV was not a “smart TV,” but we didn’t use it. This second bedroom was keyed separately and could presumably be locked off if the unit was rented as a one bedroom. The living space in the main unit had glass walls on both the courtyard and ocean sides that could be completely opened up. It made the entire thing feel like an outdoor space. In addition there was a covered ocean side deck with chairs and a lower deck area with sun loungers. Steps went down from there went to the small beach. Te Manava’s shared kayaks were parked in front of our unit. One end of the kayak has a bronze clip that attaches to a line that prevents the it from possibly getting washed away if the surf gets high. When I used one, about half of them were faced the wrong way and were not clipped in. The paddles are in the courtyard by the barbecue. The kitchen is well furnished and has a full sized refrigerator. A couple liters of purified water are inside. Water from the tap is not UV treated and you shouldn’t drink it. There’s a UV treated water dispenser somewhere onsite that you can use to refill the bottles. However, I brought water bottles with UV caps and treated our own water. We didn’t actually cook in the kitchen. But it’s handy to have the microwave, etc., if you want to pickup breakfast and eat it in your unit. There are a couple bakery/cafes a short distance away. (Note that what’s listed on Google Maps as LVB Bakery is now called Tiare’s.) My daughter noticed there were even muffin pans if you want to do a little baking. The huge TV in the living room is a smart TV with Netflix, Disney, Amazon Prime, and YouTube apps built in (you’ll need your own accounts). The light switch panel looks like something from the International Space Station. The beach facing glass wall in the living room doesn’t have curtains or any type of window covering. So that might feel odd at first. But you’re a bit above the beach and separated from it by some shrubs. I don’t think beach walkers can really see in when it’s light anyway. You don’t get daily maid service at Te Manava. They only come after a certain number of days (might be after a week) or you can call and schedule a housekeeping service for an extra charge. There are extra sets of towels and linens in the closets. We just washed our towels ourselves. Te Manava is a gorgeous place. If you want peace and quiet, this is it. You’re a very short distance from the things Muir has to offer, though. The women in the concierge office are very nice. (The office is closed on Saturdays. You have to contact Pacific Resort if you need anything...

We stayed in the 2 bedroom Ultimate Beachfront villa (number 2) for 5 nights in April 2025. ||PROS|- the villa is beautifully appointed and has everthing a family would need. |- the beds were super comfy, full kitchen, lounge, TV, great outdoor deck and sunlounges right on the beach, great air-conditioning and fans, in-room safe, complimentary snorkels, kayaks, bikes, refreshing plunge pool, outdoor table and chairs, washing machine and dryer, large bathrooms with all amentities included.|- great free WIFI, which our kids loved especially! They could stream netflix and watch Youtube on the TV.|- the complimentary transfers to Pacific Resort were great and we used this almost every day. The Sandals Restaurant is fantastic.|- great quiet location - no roosters waking us up! ha ha :-) There is a great convenience store, bottle shop and Vietnamese case directly across the street. 10 mins walk to the Fruits of Rarotonga beach for excellent snorkelling. 15 mins walk to Charlie's cafe on the water which was our favourite lunch hangout. So if you didn't have a car, you can still get to lots of great places.|- the sunrise from the villa is insanely beautiful. So many colours. And the night sky is incredibly clear - you can see the Milky Way with the naked eye. It's stunning.||CONS|- the tap water at this resort is undrinkable and you have to walk to a water refill station to get drinking water. We stayed at 2 other hotels in both Aitutaki and Rarotonga on this trip that were 3 star, yet they had UV filtered water everywhere. I can't understand why Te Manava is a 5 star villa but you cannot drink the water.|- our fridge had a built in water filter so they said we could use this for our drinking water which is great. But on day 2, the red light came on to say that the filter needed to be replaced. We reported this straight away, and said they'd look in to it, but it was never fixed. So we couldn't drink the water. |- the villa does NOT get serviced at all during your stay, unless you chose to pay something like $70 per day for it! This information was not explained when we bought our package and we assumed as a 5 star property that our room would be cleaned and beds made each day. |- our pool was really dirty when we arrived. The pool was a great size, and very deep, but it had heaps of leaves and bugs floating. We reported this straight away and they said they would get someone to clean it. On day 2, after being out for the morning, we returned to find that our pool had not been touched. We had to call again and then they finally sent people to come and clean the pool. We watched them work and they swept a heap of muck from the steps and scooped all the leaves and bugs off the top. It was...

This was our second visit to Rarotonga and our first at Te Manava. I was a bit worried that it might be a bit outside the main happenings in Muri but the location was very good. It was a nice ~15 minute walk (along the beach or the road) to the Muri Night Market. Across the road is a small convenience store and a couple of restaurants both fairly new.||We stayed one of their Beachfront Villa Suites which was perfect for the two of us. When we were there (in early May), there is not really much "beach" out in front, just a small strip of sand among the rocks, depending on the tide. This was not a problem at all since we had a beautiful patio with a small plunge pool right on "the beach". Since the villa is a bit higher than the beach and there are some low shrubs in front it also means the patio is pretty private.||The Villa was very well equipped with everything we might have needed and the smart TV and wi-fi were great. We seamlessly connected to the wi-fi at the Pacific Resort and the Little Polynesian as well. We picked up a few items to have on hand for breakfast but did not use the kitchen beyond that. There are a number of small cafes and restaurants nearby. A 3 minute walk down the beach takes you the the Beach Hut which was great.||The staff were really great including Tuaine at the front desk, Ana in housekeeping, and Rupeni and Ari'i. They were all so helpful and accommodating. They really made the stay extra special. We were interested in checking out the other Villas and Ana made a point of catching us when one was free to let us check it out. We also ran into Tuaine and her family at the Saturday market and somehow I mentioned that opening a coconut was on my bucket list. The next day when we returned from a walk Rupeni and Ari'i showed up with coconuts and the right tool. We all went down to the beach for coconut opening class! Meitaki!||Even though we had a car for our stay we took advantage of the complimentary transfer to the main Pacific Resort a few times to use the pool (due to high winds at Te Manava) and for dinner. We also walked there along the beach. Note that, depending on the tide, you may get you feet we right in front of the Villas but you can also just walk down the road a bit then out the the beach to avoid getting your feet wet. It is a very pleasant walk "into town".||We also took ad vantage of the spa and had couples massage twice during our stay. Thank you Wiwin and Komang!||We sort of thought that 2 times to the Cook Islands might be enough but are now thinking about...