Sheraton Denarau Villas — Hotel in Viti Levu

Stayed here recently in the pool access villas. To be honest if I returned I would probably stay in the ocean view rooms as they are the more modern ones. I read online that the hotel had recently been renovated and assumed as we paid the highest room rate that that meant ours would have been renovated but that is not the case. I would give the pool access villas a 3.5 star rating if I could. I also read online that the pool access villas were away from the main pool and more private but please note you still get crowds and anyone sitting right outside your villa are noisy, and the last few days the screaming kids have been very loud, so therefore it does not feel very private. When I walked the large site the ocean view rooms seem very private and the views are beautiful. I would have much to have preferred the ocean view and easy access to the beach and other facilities near the main pool. The pool access rooms which I said only deserve 3.5 stars feels a little outdated, and BIG NOTE TO THOSE TRAVELLING WITH KIDS, most of the wooden Venetian blinds in villa 829 and others surrounding I could see the blinds are all broken and do not go all the way to the ground. They stay a good foot or two off the ground therefore letting in a lot of light around the villas and kids were waking up super early (it’s light by 5:30am). We thought maybe the hotel could assist us in closing or fixing but they were unable to be fixed and no apologies made. I ended up having to place pillows around the room to try and block out the light but we didn’t even have enough pillows to do that. In the second of the two bedrooms (where the children were sleeping) there was a big blind separation) down the middle of blinds also which made it even more difficult to block out their light.

Our arrival day was very frustrating - we arrived before lunch to use their facilities but as we had been travelling alot over the past few days we were very tired and had hoped we would maybe be able to access our room a little earlier - 2pm would have been nice. BIG NOTE RE CHECKIN it is not until 3pm which I think is too late and OUR ROOM WAS NOT READY TIL 4pm, with 3 hot and tired young children this didn’t start things off on the right foot. We also quickly discovered a lot of our amenities hadn’t been restocked so I also had to get them to bring me back sugar, coffee and more towels.

THE VILLA SET UP IS ANOTHER WEIRD ONE - As soon as we arrived we entered the room With the king bed and instantly assumed that was ours (as we have 3 children) so we moved all our luggage into this room and started unpacking (whilst we still did not have access to the second room it was still being cleaned post 4pm), once we eventually Gained access into the second room we quickly discovered they had the MASTER ROOM set up for the kids … which was very annoying… but too late to change… and to be honest by the fixed bed heads I don’t think they could change the set up of the two double beds in the second room - so the kids ended up with the master suite & lounge room & kitchen & laundry & large bathroom… and my husband and I ended up in the small room which we also had to rearrange as you couldn’t watch tv from the couch - the tv was facing a blank wall. Very weird. If we were given the two rooms at the same time we would have quickly noticed this and requested for a roller away bed - stuck the 3 kids in the ‘kids room’ together… and my husband & I could have enjoyed all of the above features but still would have meant we would have had to sleep in seperate double beds. I’m not sure if this is the same set up in other villas but after check in I did read some other reviews online had also complained about this.

Anyway after 7 nights at the most beautiful Castaway island we didn’t love our stay here, and probably will definitely not rush to return again with the kids, just didn’t tick all the boxes for us & We don’t find there is enough to do here to keep us happy and...

fantastic accommodation, great layout|- entry is through a front foyer. One side is the main bedroom and a bathroom, the other side is a kitchen, lounge and dining which has doors that lead to another large room with 2 double beds and a bathroom that also has a washing machine and dryer|- double beds were comfortable. King bed was not - too hard. |- housekeeping was hit and miss. No washing powder left for 3 days, face cloths often not replaced, no bath mat etc. Not a major but inconvenient and not what you’d expect from a 5 star resort|- I also do don’t like some house keeping practices. Some cleaners would leave the main door ajar whilst they were cleaning the villa. Given they branch off to two different sides there was definitely potential for someone to slip into the rooms.|- We lock everything even suitcases and put everything in the safe especially any jewellery. The night we checked in a guest was reporting a theft that had occurred in the villas. I’m sure this isn’t isolated to the Villas so don’t let it put you off, it’s more about being careful. |- Fijian people are so friendly however this visit to the Sheraton, the staff were disappointing. They don’t seem happy, most appear to be just going through the motions and some aren’t even doing that. |- the villa pools are great - there is an infinity pool with bar - also great for children as it is a walk in pool so very shallow initially|- the lagoon pool is huge and so even with a lot of people doesn’t feel crowded. The loungers do need to be replaced - other resorts have better loungers. |- the service at the villa pools is pathetic (we also stayed at Malolo Island and the Hilton Denarau and visited the Sofitel x 2 for dinner - all these resorts had a far superior service and happier staff) |- the buffet breakfast at the Sheraton was okay - nothing to rave about but I appreciate it is the low season however there were lots of people around. I was put off by the bird droppings all over the light shades and the birds frequently all over tables and picking at the buffet food. Sheraton Villas I think you could do something about that. |- my daughter sustained an injury at the buffet restaurant from a broken chair. The restaurant receptionist we reported it to was absolutely useless but once the restaurant manager was made aware the Sheraton were fabulous. The manager went above and beyond. |- there is a small supermarket/store in front of the Sheraton Villas - this was great for grabbing snacks for afternoon drinks. |- dined at The Edge Water - it was okay. You can get better food at the Port. The large chicken pizza at Cardos is huge and really tasty for $45 FJ. |- our best meals were both at the Sofitel - Madam So (a new Vietnamese restaurant) and Waitui Bar & Grill. Waitui was relatively pricey - $500 FJ for 3 (that included a couple of drinks each but no dessert) Madam So was amazing - food was delicious and is reasonable if you share plates as intended and as we did - $213 FJ for 3 again a couple of drinks and no dessert. TO NOTE: both have a $150 FJ cancellation or no show fee. We would return to both. |- the bonus with Denarau is you can go to and from all the resorts to eat or browse (the towels at the resorts are all different to deter people using all the pools) either walking, via taxi or the Bula Bus. Be mindful that a taxi to and from a resort will cost $6 FJ if going to a dinner reservation at another resort as a one off but a one day Bula pass ticket is $11 FJ pp. The bus is a lot of fun and fine if you have a concession ticket ($35 FJ pp for a 5 day pass) or you are going to get off and on the Bula bus all day which you can do. |- OVERALL I’d return to the Sheraton Villas due to the accommodation & pools. I’m not sure I’d include breakfast as there are plenty of eating places (there are good cafes at most resorts) and others down...

Location - great. Rooms - great (huge 2 bedrooms condo). Pools -great. Nearby restaurants & shops - great. Not so good - WiFi, coverage was terrible even inside the room. We even swapped rooms & it was hit-n-miss. This is 2019, you got to have WiFi for the young adults. Not so good - service, housemaids took 3.5 hrs to clean our unit on check-in. We didn’t get into our unit until 4:30 pm way past the 3 pm check-in. Plus they weren’t even finished, still listening to music & talking while we waited. Fiji time. We asked them to leave even with room unclean. This place supposed to be 5-star? I’ve been to other 4-star & 5-star resorts in Cancun. This is us not even 4-star IMHO.

Update - I was too generous with 1 star. 2 days during cyclone Sarai (Cat 2 max), many restaurants & shops were closed, including pools & room service. Understandable. After cyclone, power keeps going off & reset minutes later not seconds. You would think they would be more prepared. I forgot. We are on Fiji time. No worry man. No towels at pool after 3 days, was told go to Westin or the Sheraton. All 3 resorts under same ownership, good thing right. Got to Westin, towels are only for guests staying at Westin. Found out from my daughters, they only got towels 1 out of 3 tries this week even without bad weather. The dinner buffet, $69 FJD, during the storm was not even half as good as a Golden Coral buffet in the states for 1/3 the price. Sorry to say this is our 1st & last trip to Fiji. We spent almost $2,000 FJD yesterday for a personal tour guide to take us to the Kula adventure & wildlife park, then a horse ride along the Natadola bay of the coral coast. Most names or titles of places of interest are misleading. Please do your homework. Horse ride was you sit on horse, then a young kid walk the horse along the beach. Coconuts were not fresh, old & tasted nasty. Fiji is a poor country, even worst then Cancun outside resorts area. Fijians are very friendly & social people. We went to a local Catholic Church twice during our stay & did not feel like we were watched although it was very obvious we were foreigners - all 15 of us. Just the resort was poorly managed. BTW this resort does NOT have a lobby. You check in/out at the Westin, and eat breakfast at either the Sheraton Fiji or the Westin. No TV today either, lost antenna signal (does not have cable TV). Balcony got flooded during storm, water would come into room if not for my shoveling water by hands. Maintenance came by and unclog the balcony drain...