Taumeasina Island Resort — Hotel in Tuamasaga

We are experienced travelers, in our 60's and regular posters to review sites. Writing this after 8 nights of a 10 night stay in January 2023. Most staff new and still learning after pandemic lockdown. I was told management and supervisors are trying to get this back to a resort over the first half of 2023 as the locals have propped it up during the pandemic so it has turned into a loud nightclub and bar most nights. As other reviewers on various review sites have said this resort is really noisy at night and gets lots of noise complaints and guests over-ran with locals. The music volume was so high you cannot hear others talking in the restaurant and bar and the front desk staff can't hear you. I can't imagine how they can talk on the phone. It is nearly to the point of needing ear plugs. After the second night I emailed the Resort Manager who to my surprise met with me and appeared to agree the music is too loud. I was of the understanding he agreed with me and instructed his staff to reduce the volume. Third night was again loud and was advised the security staff in charge of ensuring a suitable volume was away offsite. Volume was acceptable for a few nights then it returned to high levels again whilst at dinner. We could not hear each other over dinner. When in a restaurant we expect quiet or background music. I registered a complaint to the restaurant entry desk and she rudely laughed in my face. So I went to the front desk and was directed to a manager who advised this music volume will remain as it is part of a show. Really does it need to be that loud? Why do 20 bar patrons get priority over 100 restaurant guests? It appears they are ignoring the Resort Manager and don't get that this is a resort and not a noisy nightclub. If you choose to stay here be warned to make sure you get a quiet room a long way from the bar and restaurant. The building acts as a natural amphitheatre so elevates the noise so the DJ has no idea how loud it is. If you like noisy busy places at night they have lots to do here. Sailing, canoes, snorkel gear to explore the coral and colourful fish just off their private beach. Safe and no dogs. A chapel and function rooms on site. Resort shuttle bus to town not operating in January so need to pay WST$10 for a taxi to town and another $10 return. Taxis easy to get to and from resort. Airport transfer WST$45pp one way. Resort advertising makes out there are lots of bars and restaurants but in reality it is all the same place but you are just sitting in different areas. Sina restaurant is closed except for private functions. There is no Sunset Bar and the sun sets over the building and not at the beach or bar like you think. This resort struggles with new inexperienced staff but they are friendly and try. Getting drinks can take from a record breaking 8 minutes up to "never getting them" but usually takes 20 to 45 minutes. My wife made a game of it by setting her stop watch. Included buffet breakfast was okay but a limited choice compared to other resorts of this size. Was told the chef is fairly new so menu options simplified so he can cope. Lots of locals eat and drink here which has kept the resort trading in difficult pandemic times but I feel management need to decide if they want a noisy nightclub at night with empty accomodation or turn down the volume and win the tourists back. This is the biggest resort in Samoa. We met other tourists before we arrived who had stayed here and complained bitterly about the noisy busy atmosphere. Once we got here we found it true but only at night. As we were staying 10 nights we tried our best to be friendly to staff and good happy guests but at night the noise made us regret staying here. If coming to Samoa again I would not stay here due to it being noisy and busy with local drinkers unless the...

Positives: Beautiful view of the ocean. Resort dining is good. Rooms are clean.|Negatives: Our stay didn’t start off well from date of arrival, we unfortunately stayed a total of five days, which was too long. Our stay at this resort ruined our remaining days in Samoa. It so happened that this was my first-time holidaying in Samoa and I would never recommend this resort to anyone. It commenced by having a faulty door latch which made our room unsecured. We reported this issue, and it took an hour for a maintenance man to arrive only to be advised that he (maintenance man) “wasn’t a carpenter” and couldn’t fix the door latch until the next morning. The duty manager advised that they would send the maintenance man at 8am but would ring first to ensure we were in the room. A call was received and I confirmed that we were waiting for maintenance to arrive. While I was in the shower, maintenance decided to open our door and come right in. Well… he was confronted by my husband who gave him a verbal fright by entering without permission. The maintenance man was still unable to fix the latch, so it took my husband (a builder) to fix it! In room dining menus were outdated and not replaced. When we finally ordered room service, staff didn’t bother bringing cutlery on two occasions! In general, service was appalling! We would wave at staff to grab their attention while at the pool and they would look at us and continue speaking. When they did grab our order, it took them an hour to bring us a drink. Making/placing orders were difficult, as they either didn’t understand or didn’t bother paying attention, one time we heard a lot of giggling on their end and had to repeat orders several times. One evening we reserved a table at Siva Afi for a Fia Fia show (which was amazing), we elected to take a taxi rather than drive ourselves due to road signs not visible and google maps didn’t work well. The resort called a cab who took us to the wrong place and when my husband asked for directions at this wrong place, the cab driver locked me in the cab. My husband couldn’t get back in until he was forcing the door to open. Cab driver was really sketchy. Furthermore, we decided to attend a Fia Fia night at the resort, and at time of making a booking we were advised that they were fully booked and WOULDN’T reserve us a table. When advised that we were in house guests, they still wouldn’t budge even though we were advised that guests took precedent. Another person spoke to me and said whilst they were fully booked they would make room for us, after the back and forth, my husband was so furious that he no longer wanted to attend Fia Fia paying 99 Tala. Oh, and there was a fire evacuation one afternoon and guests were advised to evacuate. We evacuated and attended reception to confirm the assembly area which they had no idea there was even a fire evacuation. There was no urgency, some guests didn’t bother leaving their room, people were going about their business and staff were scrambling not knowing what to do. The whole experience at this resort was horrible!! I would never return or recommend this resort to anyone as service was poor and staff are poorly trained. This resort is very commercialised and holds no Samoan culture. The gym is small and don’t be tricked about their advertised spa… There is no spa!!! Breakfast buffet has limited options, it’s not that great. Samoa is beautiful, but don’t stay at this resort if you want to have a memorable experience...

Disappointed in the service leading up to arrival. Communication is so bad, I’m still trying to get my payment issue resolved and we fly in on 24/09

Long review but if it wasn’t for us flying in next week, I would have spent my money elsewhere.

we originally booked with Expedia and opted in for the “book now pay at resort option”. This was booked back in Feb/march 2024 I then received a call around June/July (can’t recall exactly) from Taumeasina telling me that I need to pay a 50% deposit to secure our booking due to high demand during the time we arrive. (Keep in mind, my booking was already secured with Expedia for the pay later option). I told the resort I opted in for the pay later option and they kept pushing saying I need to make a payment or no booking due to high demand. I escalated the issue and told the reservation team that I would not be paying a deposit and will be paying at arrival and due to their lack of organisation they cannot be calling me asking for payment or giving my room away since my booking is secured with Expedia. In the end, they agreed to keep my reservation and payment to be paid on arrival. however, then I looked further into my booking with Expedia I notice was charged extra for an adult (we booked the 2 bedroom villa which can accommodate 5 people & we only have 5 people, so I was confused on the extra charge). I ended up calling the resort back asking them what this extra charge is for and they said the extra charge with Expedia is to cover breakfast for the other adults (The room we booked covers breakfast for all 5 people) so I was confused. The resort said, when you book with Expedia, even if you booking a room that can accommodate 5 people, breakfast is not included for everyone but if we book directly with them, breakfast for all people is included. The resort offered to cancel our booking with Expedia and book direct with them at a cheaper rate. We agreed to cancel our booking and go direct with the resort. The resort requested for 50% deposit to secure our booking. I made 1 payment first with my card on 2/08 and the rest via internet banking - international payment on 6/08 I was told internet banking payments take sometime to clear but once cleared I would get an email with an invoice for the remaining 50% to be paid at arrival. I kept calling the resort following up if they received my bank transfer and even provided proof of payments & the resort kept saying they would follow up with their finance team I then got an email on the 09/08 advising since I’ve provided proof of payments, my booking is secured and they would follow up again with finance team. I didn’t think much of it since I got confirmation my booking was secured so I left it and didn’t follow back up. I called today 20/09 for the remaining balance so I can put the money aside only to be told bank transfer still not received. The resort had the whole of August/beginning of September to notify me so that i could have gone back to my bank to see what they could do to help me but they failed to do so.

Im frustrated because we fly in 24/09 but don’t check in till 07/10 but if it wasn’t for me calling today, the resort wouldn’t have known my bank transfer payments have not been received and they won’t tell me the remaining balance left to pay because they haven’t received all My payments. Which means I may have to pay the full booking amount even though I’ve...