Palm Grove — Hotel in Takitumu

UPDATE--- After getting a response to my rating 2 years later (...) just proves my rating to be more accurate than ever, I need to set the record straight.

The owner, in a pathetic attempt to make my review illegitimate, once again lies and has zero comprehension.

I did in fact contact Palm Grove prior to our arrival (2 months before) because I had made a mix-up with another booking. My father had passed recently and I was not well at the time! One of the employees replied to say it would be no problem and mentioned the non-refundable policy of the booking (no problem since it was my fault). I then managed to change the other booking I had made at the same time, so the problem was solved. Hence I contacted Palm Grove again after TEN DAYS (10 days! Not "several weeks" like the owner falsely claims) saying that we'd stick to our original plan and there would be no change after all. The employee quickly responded and stated that it was fine. Problem solved.

So not only the fact that the owner then basically slammed the door in my face, but also her non-apologetic and simply untruthful reply 2 yrs later PROVE exactly why she deserves 0* in the first place.

So fellow Rarotonga travellers: there are really nice accomodations out there. Don't make the mistake of choosing one where you'll be treated like that. The sheer rudeness one can get away with in a business like hotellery amazes my to this day.

ORIGINAL RATING:

We would have given Palm Grove a 5* rating for its good food, nice and clean rooms, highly motivated staff (pick-up guy, ladies at the restaurant, house maids as well as the reception girls were just really very kind altogether!!) as well as the nice location.

However: the owner of Palm Grove deserves 1* star and 1* only! She is a rude, unfriendly and uncooperative lady. But let me explain.

We had made a booking for 3 nights and when we checked in, we were told by the very nice reception lady that she was glad she got a room for us (well, hello what are you talking about?) and declared that they only have 3 different rooms for 3 days. Meaning, we would have to change rooms EVERY DAY. Although annoying and clearly a nuisance for us, we were given a discount by the nice lady at the counter, so that was okay. We could have lived with it, considering we also got a free bottle of champagne (honeymoon gift) and we're very laid back travellers! :-)

BUT: the behaviour of the owner afterwards was just plain rude and very unprofessional. After the 2nd room change, I went to the reception to ask if we couldn't stay in the 2nd room one more night as I knew it would have been possible. (We had been told at the beginning that there was 1 more guest who hadn't shown up. He should have shown up the morning before we arrived. The excuse why we couldn't stay in 1 room even for 2 nights was as of this moment: "he might show up any minute and when he does, he deserves a room". Clearly, he was a no-show, and we were the paying guests that were THERE.) So when I went to the reception after the 2nd night to ask (politely) if maybe we could not keep the room, the owner of the hotel came stomping out of her office (the ONLY time she ever left it btw! Talk about greeting customers or having a chat, just: show management's presence) and actually slammed complaints AT US (customers!), saying that it was our own fault that we had to change rooms every day (!!!). With that said and not waiting to talk, she stomped back into her office and was never seen again. I was left there, puzzled and now angry/disappointed. When we tried to clear the situation in person (rather than writing such a bad review now :(...) she would not come out of her office and just ignored us! 0* if possible for such a...

This was a tricky one. We had high expectations for this holiday and had earmarked this beautiful location as where we would love to be for this important family holiday.

Our accomodation was very disappointing when we first went in. It did have everything we needed, lots of air con that really worked well etc. Only one toilet though which for a family of 6 was pretty challenging. Our youngest was 17. The pool was nice. Small but adequate and a good place to chat with other guests. Hello to them!! And who knew what pickle ball was until we met the Canadian NO. 1 there. Wow.

It's absolutely 💯 👌 the top location on the island for the best snorkeling beach. We fortunately went at a time when things weren't as busy I'm sure which added to our enjoyment of that. We did quite a bit of beach hopping and this was by far the best one.

There was an incredibly wonderful waitress who was full of joy and welcome 🙏. Thank goodness for her or I would have rated this a 1. The owner and manager were quite possibly the most miserable and rude people that I have encountered in hospitality globally across my 50 something years. They were actually very scary when you walked near them. Never a hello just a vacant, hostile glare as we dared to ask only 4 questions across 7 nights. We had a complementary event pass and car hire with our package that in the end we were just afraid to take after the experience of trying to ask about the rental car. So we went a ways down the road and paid $350 for one rather than deal with her humiliating and frankly appalling attitude. The manager was no better however we managed to avoid her on most days after the first two days by not using the bar or restaurant and not going to any of the on-site events. How very very sad because we'd booked into most of them. 10/10 for strategy though, if this was their way of getting us to leave them alone.

If you're going to visit here, I'd suggest calling in advance maybe and asking what service you can expect. Prepare to hold them accountable and make sure you receive the respect you deserve. We just aren't that kind of family who were able to deal with it and change it. So it dramatically impacted our confidence and enjoyment across the week. How sad for such a huge family investment. It was very upsetting.

We found solace in that lovely waitress and some of the friendly ground staff and the...

Beach front studio, directly onto the daily manicured sand and beautiful coral lagoon. Very comfortable, king sized, bed. Plenty of bath linen. More than enough kitchen crockery and cutlery. Gardens very well presented with fruit and flowers in well defined garden beds and very tidy paths. That said, at the advertised price point, the presentation quality of the room should be much higher. No sink plug in the bathroom. Toilet cistern flush always stuck in open position. TV reception very poor quality. Aerial was being repaired the day we left. Portable radio similarly poor quality reception. Might have benefited from an aerial amplifier? Refrigerator insulation above the freezer box must have decayed, because condensation developed on top of the fridge every day. Time for a new fridge. The “sliding” doors onto the balcony, no longer slide. Salt atmosphere corrosion and sand contamination, at a guess. On the penultimate day of our stay the staff began the usual clean up, then departed and never returned to make up the bed. The advertised free use of canoes and related equipment included a very old and much repaired, two person, moulded plastic canoe, with the drain bung missing and leaks through the repaired patches such that the “sealed” hull took on water during our use. Over in the public dining room, the daily continental breakfast offering included two self-serve toasters, one of which remained broken and un-repaired throughout our stay. The other was missing the handle from its actuating lever. Adding all these things, large and small, together, the overall feeling is of an hotel which is struggling to maintain a standard that might have existed at some time past but no longer does. In defence of all Cook Island holiday experience, the local population is unrelentingly friendly and approachable although we heard again and again that the local hospitality and tourism sectors are suffering from a very serious loss of staff to alternative jobs in...