Tokatoka Resort — Hotel in Viti Levu

Thinking of booking Tokatoka?

Give this review a read before you book to avoid any potential disappointment. (hint: just book Fiji Gateway and save yourself some money and hassle).

For some context, my partner and I were on our last day before flying home from our wonderful Fiji vacation. We had an early flight on New Year's Day and needed somewhere to stay that was close to the airport and had decent reviews. We stayed at Fiji Gateway Hotel on our first day on the island and had a great experience there. When we initially booked back in March, we had no idea how much better Gateway was for what we needed and we were unable to book a new room given the holiday. Unfortunately our stay on the way back was way less than desirable and I actively discourage travellers in a position to ours to avoid.

Here's the main reason(s) why:

Pungent smell and noise:

We soon discovered our "villa" (room 235) was right beside one of the management rooms. It was the kind of setup where a door can attach two rooms together for larger families. Unfortunately, we had no idea when booking that the room next to us was set up as an apartment for a staff member and their family. It apparently had a kitchenette and master bedroom in there - hence the remainder of this review. Reasonable noise is expected - particularly for NYE, but unfortunately the staff member's kids were extremely loud and all over the place (literally felt like they were given sugar overload). We could hear everything clearly through the wall as there was only a door separating us. We tried to be patient, assuming that this is a resort catered for kids and that noise around this time was somewhat expected. However, around dinner time, it was clear the family was cooking curry, or some other food with Indian spices. I love Indian food, but when you're exhausted and want to get a good night's sleep, loud, screaming children and the sound of nonstop cooking with banging pots and pans, and the smell of spices, is literally the last thing you'd want to deal with. I ended up having to walk to the front office (a total of 2 times) as the room phone was not working. The staff let us know there were no other rooms for us to move to (as it was NYE), so they initially asked us to be patient as the room was for management. About an hour later, I had to go back again to the front office and ask for them to contact our neighbours as it was incredibly disruptive to have active kitchen noises and children screaming to a remotely pleasant stay. Based on this experience, I would actively discourage people from visiting here and to just go to Fiji Gateway.

Other minor notes:

No bottled water given to you. You have to buy from the restaurant if you want to drink anything. Wifi is $20 for a day and a bit patchy even if you upgrade Grounds of the place was gorgeous, but the insides of the rooms are very dark and hard to see even with lighting. Need lots of updating. The bed is a bit like a trampoline - expect springs. Staff not as pleasant as other Fijian places we visited throughout our visit. Menu was less to be desirable, we ended up walking to Fiji Gateway for dinner. Very thin walls. Expect to hear everything next to you. Outside of the rooms are pretty.. that's it. Very fast shuttle service to the airport Friendly shuttle worker I'm assuming if you have kids, the water park area...

We opted to stay at Tokatoka Resort for two primary reasons: the pool with a slide and its convenient proximity to the airport. Our 3- and 5-year-old boys are avid waterslide enthusiasts, so their disappointment was palpable when we discovered that the pool was restricted to children over 6 years old. Despite our assumption that our kids’ experience at Wet & Wild back home would suffice, we soon realised our mistake

The concete slide is poorly designed with a 90° corner at the point of max acceleration, which lead to a frightening incident where my son nearly flew off the side. He was on my lap at the time, which paradoxically allowed me to prevent a disaster, but later discovered was likely the cause of the incident, as outlined in the rules.

Continuing with our disappointments, the hotel food was disappointingly expensive and at best mediocre, which in hindsight should be expected with a western style menu in Fiji.

Secondly, we encountered a lack of genuine tourist information from reception. We repeatedly asked different staff members for recommendations on day trips to the islands; however, they all insisted on promoting only South Sea Cruises. To be honest, we looked at the South Sea Cruises available, but they were all all-inclusive with a hefty price tag. This didn't suit our needs because we didn't need endless alcoholic drinks and the kids couldn't do snorkeling and stand-up paddle boarding. So, to explore other options, we decided to take a FJ$50 taxi to Denarau port, which lead us to booking with Beachcomber Resort.

Thirdly, The kids playground is a cool theme but unfortunately the see-saws are broken or breaking.

Whilst this review overall has negative undertones, during our brief 2-day stopover in Fiji, the location proved ideal for proximity to the airport as well as for day trips. The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming. The resort’s location with spacious and clean accommodations were definite highlights. Furthermore, the spacious pool, complete with a charming little waterfall, was a very lovely place to cool...

It saddens me to be disgusted enough by a place to feel the need to share a bad review. We booked this hotel out of necessity due to a connecting flight that required one night’s stay. This is the closest hotel to the airport, maximum 2 minute drive. That’s all the positive. Maybe add the pool for the kids, if you have any.

The room is the root of all problems. The silver lining is the floors, general space was fairly clean and bug-free. The corners looked swept.

The bed and shower is where it gets nasty. The shower curtain was perhaps once white. It is mildew-y and yellowed and disgusting to touch after a fresh shower. The towels we were provided are shredded and few (they gave 2 towels and 1 hand towel). The shower is handheld and not angled very well considering how awfully tiny the actual shower is. The shower stream shoots outside of the shower basin and into the bathroom, with the shower curtain doing nothing to stop it. We used 1 hand towel to line the floor outside the shower to help with the wetness.

The rooms do not have phones. They give you a printed handout with a number on it to call for help if you need it.

The bed was next level nasty for what we thought would be a reputable Warwick Hotel. The sheets were visibly stained, with oily stains, black streak marks, and more questionable colors. The “comforter” was just several sheets that lined a musty blanket. Sleeping on it would have been out of the question had we any other option. We laid our jackets over the bedding and tried sleeping that way to get through the night.

Based on responses to other less than stellar reviews leads me to think they are unlikely to take complaints seriously or any action to improve. So this review is really for anyone considering a stay here. The best part of our time here was it is one night only. Hope that...