Holiday Inn Resort Vanuatu — Hotel in Shefa Province

We stayed 8 nights in last week of Sep'17 and are a family with two young teenagers and had a fantastic time. If you want a true resort, this is it. Nothing was too difficult from the staff, they made our stay feel special, especially Ben who heads up Food and Beverage. Not to mention the wonderful lagoon location. The photos can’t do it justice, it’s a wonderful location and we loved doing the many activities.

If you are considering doing the Romantic dinner on the beach, we highly recommend it! We did this as it was our 20th wedding anniversary. It’s a superb 5 course menu with a very a romantic atmosphere. We recommend that you try and go for the Lobster if it’s available as the main meal, the chef has a great recipe! It’s very private with a wonderfully setup beach cabana, and they even had a love heart message in the sand from breakfast onwards all day wishing us a happy anniversary. They also organised a wonderful bouquet of tropical flowers for my wife when I asked, nothing was too hard! Ben & his staff did a fantastic job setting this up for us and Diana who served us dinner! Thanks also to Dora from reception that setup the wonderful flowers for my wife too!

We also did every Buffet dinner (Sat, Tues and Thurs). These are all on the beach and each has a lot of variety of food and the included shows were great, especially the Fire show on Thursday night. Highly recommend you do all of them, we loved the atmosphere of eating on the beach on tables with our feet in the sand. On some nights there is dancing on the beach which makes it a lot fun.

This is true resort in that there are plenty of sports and activities. The lagoon is very large and extends quite beyond so you can go out quite far on the included catamarans and still be in view of the resort. The kayaks and paddle boards we also had a great time with and you can swim in the beautiful waters. There were many activities on the beach and the activities team(especially Robert) were all wonderful and had many events during the day for kids, teenagers and even adults!

The main pool area is very relaxing and great size pool, very nice selection of pizzas and we enjoyed many relaxing times around the pool area too. The other pool is more secluded and beautiful as well.

We stayed in the Resort Garden family interconnecting room with Bunk Beds which were brilliant. Our Kids are young teenagers & loved the bunk bed. It even has its own separate additional Flat TV for the top bunk. The room and beds are very spacious for the kids with furniture to suit the jungle theme of the room. The parents’ room can be very private as it’s separated by a solid interconnecting door than can lock. It is very spacious with very comfortable bed. It’s a garden view , but you can still see the ocean in the lagoon if you can gain the 2nd floor like we had. It’s very convenient location within the resort and it was not loud from other rooms when we stayed. There is a separate bathroom and toilet in each. Very clean and kept clean with good amenities.

Thanks to Ben, Matthew and all the staff for making our stay so special and how genuine you all are. Highly recommend this resort...

Worst Experience at IHG Vanuatu – A Tale of Favoritism and Neglect!

If you’re looking for a hospitality experience that redefines bias and neglect, look no further than IHG Vanuatu! Our stay from December 16 to December 19 started off decent until an earthquake struck. While the hotel staff worked tirelessly to manage the crisis—kudos to them for their genuine effort—our real issue began with the hotel’s General Manager, Rashmi, who deserves a special mention for her stellar display of favoritism.

Rashmi, who is of Indian heritage (like us), decided that her priorities lay elsewhere. While she showered other nationalities with hugs, reassurances, and endless chit-chat, we were treated like the invisible guests. Despite the fact that we expressed concerns about being left out of crucial updates to her in person—especially on how to get back home—she chose to ignore us entirely. Side-eye glances became her only acknowledgment of our existence.

To make matters worse, we had our 1-year-old baby with us, but apparently, even that didn’t earn us an ounce of compassion. Forget a check-in to see if we were managing—why bother, right? After all, Rashmi was too busy playing host of the year to others. It’s baffling how someone in hospitality can operate with such blatant disregard for impartiality.

The cherry on top? We had to contact our own authorities to sort out our evacuation because, clearly, Rashmi and her team couldn’t care less.

Sure, you might find glowing reviews from others. But hey, they were the chosen ones! If you’re not a part of her preferred circle, good luck surviving on scraps of indifference.

In conclusion, Rashmi, here’s a pro tip: Hospitality is not about hugging and consoling select guests while ignoring others. Try impartiality—it’s a great look for a General Manager.

Thank you, IHG Vanuatu, for showing us the real meaning of “selective care.” Never again.

Update on response:

Dear Rashmi,

Thank you for your response, though it reflects much of the behavior we experienced during our stay. Unfortunately, your dismissive and sarcastic tone aligns with the treatment we felt throughout. It’s clear that expecting fair and equal treatment was unrealistic in this case.

Your reply avoids addressing the specific concerns of bias and favoritism, instead focusing on deflections like “confidential tasks.” To clarify, we never expected personal room visits or control over consulates—just basic respect and inclusion, which were noticeably absent.

This feedback is not intended to attack but to serve as an opportunity for self-reflection. I urge you not to be defensive or sarcastic when addressing genuine concerns from guests. Leadership in hospitality should embody fairness, inclusivity, and empathy for all, regardless of background.

We hope this helps in your future interactions and wish you the best in fostering a truly inclusive and respectful experience for all your...

Seeing all the past reviews on this resort gave my partner and I a good expectation of this resort and we were honestly very excited especially because it was our son's first overseas holiday. Unfortunately, it was no where near our expectations! The one star I gave is for the lagoon view from our room and the activities but overall the experience was a real disappointment.

The staff's customer service and management skills were really lacking which is surprising since tourism is a main player in their economy. They simply didn't seem motivated, initially I thought they were just on 'island time' but they were extremely slow and frankly very forgetful! Many mornings, we've had to order coffee at least twice. On our last breakfast, the same lady who took our order, asked us whether we ordered coffee another 2 times. On our last night, we decided to dine in at the restaurant which was the biggest mistake, as it took us over an hour to get the kids meal and more for the adults meals only to find out that my chicken wings were undercooked and still oozing blood! No apologies were given, they took the plate back to the kitchen, cooked the same chicken (even though I'd already touched it) and served it back to me on a different plate! Needless to say, I lost my appetite.

Trying to get assistance about the tours or even simply booking the massage was hopeless! Don't get me wrong, Ni-Vanuatu are friendly, they're just not helpful. It took me 3 visits to get a booking for the massages, first they didn't have the book at reception and second we got told by reception to book at the massage room where it was unattended. 15 minutes into waiting, the same lady who I spoke to at the reception went in to the room, looked at the book and left the room, totally disregarding us. I think we got more information on the tourist spots from a fellow Aussie who was teaching ballet to the kids than at the tourist desk.

The kids ate free as long as it was ordered with an adults meal. They charged us incorrectly almost every single time. When we checked out, they forgot to credit the 10,000 Vatu included in our package.

The place is a bit run down and in need of maintenance. There's quite a few pavers loose near the pool which squirted water every time you step on it. There is some loose tiles near the kids pools that were hazardous. There's loose wooden panels above the restaurant that could come crashing down at any time. I'm pretty sure I heard some pests running about in the vents on our last night as well. eeeek.

I've travelled quite a bit in my life but I've never stayed in a place where I could definitely say I wouldn't want to return to... until I came to...