Reviewed By:
Shaunagh
Travel Date:
October 2006
My husband and I and our daughter (3yrs 10mths) have just returned from 7 nights at Le Meridien Resort & Casino in Vanuatu (October 2006).
Unfortunately the weather was not very favourable with a Cyclone hovering off the coast for most of our stay, bringing with it wind, rain and no sun.
However, this did not deter us from enjoying the wonderful facilities offered at Le Meridien. Our room was basic, clean and practical, we had a nice view of the pool and beach (Lagoon View). The resort is set out very well and has everything you need. A small gift shop which sells some grocery and toiletry items, a day spa and a Kids Club. The staff are friendly and efficient.
Our daughter enjoyed Kids Club immensely. The kids club is free for children 3yrs-12yrs, for younger children and babies you can hire a babysitter, although mums and bubs are welcome to visit for a play. Our daughter spent a lot of time at kids club, despite our best efforts to coax her out. The staff are wonderful and all children seemed relaxed and happy when spending time with them. They are very gentle and honest people, and I had no hesitation in leaving my child with any of them at anytime. The kids club is modern and airconditioned and full of all the things you would find at a normal creche/daycare centre, plus there are always activities such as coconut painting, weaving and grass skirt making. It made our holiday all the more enjoyable as we knew our daughter was happy and safe, and we could relax and enjoy our time to ourselves. Our daughter ate and stayed free, a special kids meal was served between 5-6pm each night. This consisted of either a buffet meal, or we ordered off a special kids menu. We all enjoyed a lovely continental breakfast , so all we had to pay for was our lunch, a generous burger with chips and salad was around A$12 at the resort, or we went into town.
When not enjoying the wonderful (free) facilities at the resort (2 pools, kayaking, sailing, beach volleyball , 9 hole golf course, swings/playground, nice beach.. just to name a few!) we ventured into Port Vila to shop (without being hassled) and dine at the many restaurants and cafes. We can honestly say we
didn't have one bad meal the whole time we spent in Vanuatu. The meals at the resort where both delicious and generous, and the prices where what you would expect at a 4 star resort and quite comparable to Australian prices, the meals in town where cheaper. You must try any of their beef products, the steak melts in your mouth, but unfortunately Coconut Crab has been taken off many menus due to the species being endangered, I hear it is delicious but a very large meal that takes some time to consume!
We made friends with a local taxi driver who took us to Bluewater Island Resort to feed turtles, sharks and fish, (there is a rather extravagant entrance fee, but worth it for small children if you can afford it, would pay to enquire about price first, we where unaware until we got there and our taxi driver negotiated A$30 for the three of us, including food to feed the turtles) then to Cascade Waterfall which was a reasonably easy walk and very beautiful but a bit too cool to swim. We also went to Hideaway Island for a few hours and enjoyed lunch and a swim off the beach and a snorkel on the reef. You can catch a bus or taxi to Hideaway Is. There are organised tours that you can take you to see all these sights, but since this was my husbands 6th visit to Vanuatu we organised our own sightseeing, which was cheaper and very do-able as the locals will not as a general rule rip you off .. and by the way they do NOT like tipping, but love anything with Australia on it, such as a Wallabies Rugby Union cap, which our taxi driver now proudly wears.
I would recommend Vanuatu and Le Meridien resort to any family with young children. We will
definitely be returning to Vanuatu and recommending Le Meridien to our friends. Happy holidays.
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family travel in Australia and the Pacific
