Fiji Marriott Resort Momi Bay — Hotel in Viti Levu

Strap in for a very in depth review -We spent 8 days here with a group of 7, including 2 seniors and 1 child. Overall it was lovely, but it could be something really spectacular with a few improvements. We stayed in lagoon front rooms with the Bula Bubble package, and added the drink package upon arrival. The breakfast was wonderful, with many choices for every palette and a make your own mimosa bar. They do run out of things very often, and the heat, oh the heat. Especially if you're right next to the cooking stations - please invest in more/better fans. We also witnessed the birds eating from the omelette station on the regular. The rest of the food was average, but expected for the location, and the service ranged from over the top wonderful, to just rude, and we did try every restaurant. The fish bar was our least favorite - the views are beautiful, but the service and food greatly lacked. We had a hard time getting drinks, and when we tried to get our own at the bar, got scolded. It was strange. We all ordered different things - I ordered the "Salt tasting menu", which meant each course was supposed to be accompanied by an individual flavored salt to enhance the flavor. A large party was seated after us, and apparently ordered the same, so I just didn't get mine, with no explanation or offer to order something different. So I paid handsomely for a lackluster meal. Plus we all had stomach issues after eating there. The Lagoon House was mostly good, with hit or miss service, but they straight forgot my mom's dinner one night, and after we asked twice, she finally got it AFTER the rest of us ate, and we watched them microwave her lamb. Again, no apology or explanation. Goji bar, food was good, service was rude. We reserved the Fiji night BBQ, and when the weather turned, they moved it into the buffet with everyone else and no option to opt out or discount. We weren't able to participate in the kava ceremony, due to everyone else in the buffet crowding in, and the food was the exact same, and not great. Very disappointing. The bars - swim up and lobby were great, the one in the adults area, just so so. Pools - family pool was great and bar service fantastic, but would be perfect if there were a hot tub there. Infinity adults pool was pretty - but no swim up bar?? Weird. Kids Club - hours were strange, but my daughter loved it. Just be aware that they do charge you for everything. The kids club may be included, but nothing else is. We were fine paying for it, but with the money you pay to stay, well, you'd think a single cupcake with raisins wouldn't cost 15fjd extra. But, she did love it and make friends, so as an only child, absolutely worth it. The rooms - very spacious and well laid out, but the beds were absolutely treacherous. No exaggeration - they came and put feather mattresses down and they were still horrible. And this is coming from frequent travelers who move from 2* to 5* hotels all of the time. We literally stayed in a La Quinta in LAX to catch an NFL game on the way home, and that bed was waaaaay more comfortable. If you're a drinker, ask for the package when you check in, it's definitely worth it, but they don't advertise it a lot. The hours are strange though - only 11-9, as opposed the hours of the bars, and the inclusions are confusing. Absolutely check your bill at departure - they did give us a discount on the BBQ experience and the Fish Bar, after I asked for a manager. A few shout outs to some of the BEST people we've ever met - Jokapeta (spelling??), Epi, Epili and Jason. Joka was our girl - always friendly and AMAZING service. Epili and Jason were great bartenders and super friendly, and Epi was at the front, and that man is just a gem. Overall I would have given this resort a 3, if it weren't for the people. Definitely not what we expected from a Marriott, especially when we paid more for the name, but ultimately, we did enjoy ourselves. Next time we would pay less for a more authentic experience, but this was a splurge trip. I should also mention that I have been to...

This has been an absolutely outstanding holiday. I am so grateful to the beautiful people of Fiji who welcomed us home and shared with us some of their culture, as well as maintaining a high level of professionalism and impeccable service. The fire show was a highlight, as was the Fijian guys who climbed up the coconut tree’s to get us coconuts, and then opened them for us so we could drink fresh coconut water. This resort aims to give you a good mix of luxury, whilst still allowing some authentic Fijian ways of life to come through and I thought they struck the balance right.

The rest of my review is just to help other travellers with their plans when travelling to the resort, as I used other people’s reviews to help us plan our trip, and below is some of the stuff I’d wish we had known before coming :)

The room we had was spacious, and felt private despite being close to other rooms. We had a lagoon view room and had loungers right outside our door that we’d spend the evenings in, dressed in our gowns sipping wine and star gazing. Our room was also close to Gogi restaurant, Voi voi bar, and the pool with the swim up bar. The resort is massive though, so take your time exploring, and if you’re not into walking, there will be staff that are happy to drive you to where ever you want to go in the resort in little golf carts.

Everything is well thought out. Swimming in the lagoon is a great experience - though it is important for not confident swimmers to know there are not life guards there. You can order drinks to wherever you’re sunbathing from your phone by scanning a QR code. The staff will also give you beach towels that you can keep with you for the duration of your stay.

The food is good. Contrary to what some other reviewers have said, there is plenty of options that should suit most people’s dietary requirements and the wait staff are very caring and attentive. The buffet breakfast is worth including in your package.

The Fish Bar restaurant is definitely a very expensive restaurant, but the food is outstanding, and the service is great. This restaurant is located right next to the adults only infinity pool with an ocean view - a wonderful place to watch the sunset.

We also decided to try room service and dining in our room. This was our best value for money meals, and the food was delicious. It was actually a highlight of our stay to just order room service. There is a delivery fee of $10FJD - so pretty much like a resort version of uber eats, and there is also plenty of options on the in-room menu as well. This is why I can’t understand why a few people take issue with the food.

Additionally, whilst the resort is in a remote location, there is so much to do and see on the resort. You don’t really need to leave the resort, especially if you’re only there for 4 or 5 days, as we were. However, if you do want to take a day trip to another part of Fiji, you can easily book a trip somewhere at the information desk. There is loads of pamphlets, and there are all inclusive day trip packages so you don’t have to worry about transport to and from the resort.

There are also a few gift shops on site, and a shop where you can buy snacks, panadol, and sunburn skin care stuff as well as togs, souvenirs etc..

Overall, I think this is an amazing holiday destination for everyone from those having romantic honeymoons to those travelling with young children. You can tell a lot of thought has gone into creating a perfect holiday destination, and I absolutely loved every minute of it.

For those who complain about the billing or the bond, basically you pay $200FJD per night for your bond, and if you spend absolutely no money on the resort (which probably isn’t possible) you will get your bond back, however, if you just charge everything to the room (like all your meals, etc) then this comes off your deposit. It actually makes for a more relaxing time not having to carry a wallet...

Overall: Bula! We really enjoyed our stay overall. The resort was beautiful, the room was amazing, and the staff were extremely accommodating. A couple things to note: The resort is a 50-60 minute drive from the airport, and rush hour does apply. Anywhere you wish to go that leaves from the Denaru area will be quite a hike. A cab cost around $100 Fijian one-way This is definitely one of those resorts where your day to day is more around relaxation, then going out to explore The W-Fi was perfectly adequate for emails and normal web surfing. However we couldn’t stream any movies on our iPads. Both our AT&T and Verizon cell service also worked with ease at the resort on their roaming partners.

Room: We stayed in one of the over the water burre’s. These are as amazing as you think they are. Having such beautiful views and stairs directly down into the water is amazing. The water depth closer to the other side of the lagoon is shallow enough that you can stand-up, and the closer to the burre you get it gets deeper. The room was outfitted with a fridge (though it never got all that cold), and a Nespresso maker and kettle. Each day housekeeping left us 6 bottles of water which was more than enough for day to day use. Each day the room was always serviced (even if we left later in the day). The linens were clean and plentiful. The bed was firmer then I would have liked, but I know that is somewhat personal preference. The room itself was in very good shape, and had lots of space to spread out. The shower was HUGE and had louvers you could open to the outside to help vent out the steam and let extra light in.

One thing to note, if you get in early (our flight got in at 545am), and you are staying in the over water burre’s - your room wont be ready until close to 3pm as they are always fully booked. This lead to a bit of waiting around with nothing to do. We certainly understood based on the normal check-in time, and the GM did come by and express his apologizes for the wait. Definitely something to keep in mind however.

Staff: You wont pass a single staff member that doesn’t throw a “Bula!” Your way. Everyone was extremely nice, accommodating, and went out of their way to make sure you were having a great stay. English is the default language throughout the resort and we never had any language barrier with anyone.

Food: This is where we would mark the resort down. While never of the food was “horrible”, nothing was quite right either. For examples - ordering baklava, it contained no nuts, only shredded coconut. A Cesar salad had a dressing of just mayonnaise instead of the usual emulsion. Almost all the dishes lacked much flavor - even the Indian dishes were dull and lacking flavor. The Fish House definitely had the best food in the resort, but even then everything was just okay.

One thing we found odd was that the restaurants all were open air (even the ones with windows and doors that closed). This made the restaurants very warm, especially mid day. Your drinks got warm quickly (even with chilled glasses), and some days you didn’t feel like eating when it was so warm and humid. Breakfast was the worst - as they serve it buffet style from Goji kitchen. You walk through the actual kitchen area to all the stations, and it was EXTREMELY warm - by the time you got your plate back to your table you were sweating.

There were certainly vegetarian options, and the occasional vegan option. For non-dairy milk there was soy and almond milk available. However, out of our 5 nights at the resort, upon asking for almond milk at breakfast for coffee, we only ever got it 2 of the days. There were also days that we got our coffee after we had finished our actual meal. They did have traditional drip coffee in both regular and decaf...