Thinking of staying at The Warwick Fiji? Or have you already booked your trip and you want to prepare?
Here’s our experience staying at The Warwick Hotel, Fiji for a week with kids.
The Warwick Resort made for a relaxing, enjoyable holiday, and we were travelling with two little kids, so that’s saying something (one almost two-year-old, and one almost-four-year-old).
I’ll start with the cons:
Proximity to the airport.
The resort is two hours away from the airport. It’s a beautiful drive along the coast of Fiji, so maybe for you, this is not a concern, however, when you’re travelling with kids, this is something to consider. My daughter cried the whole bus ride, late at night, from the airport to the resort.
Not my idea of fun.
Hotel-style Rooms
The other thing to consider is the rooms, as far as I am aware, the rooms are hotel-style. We had a family room with a queen bed, single bed and we had a portacot for our daughter. There was a little alcove area we put the cot in. Our family are not co-sleepers and we have never really shared a room with our kids. We were a little apprehensive about how it would go. It went well. I think the kids were actually more settled knowing we were in the room next to us. The room also didn’t have a lounge, kitchen or laundry. I hand-washed clothing and we had an all-inclusive dining package, so we really didn’t need a kitchen. In the end, the room worked fine, however, I understand other resorts have apartment-style accommodation with a number of bedrooms, a lounge, kitchen and laundry facilities.
Honestly, other than that, there really weren’t any cons. We did have one Covid related-issue, however, although it was a frustrating experience, it really wasn’t the hotel’s fault and they dealt with it the best they could.
The Pros:
The Location
Honestly, the location is truly beautiful. Set right on the beach, the only barrier between the rooms and the beach is the swimming pools.
Our Room
The resort is two stories. If you have kids, try for a ground floor room so they can play right outside your room. Depending on your preference, some rooms are near the pool, and others were on a grassy patch. If you have little kids, being away from the pool might be your preference! Our room was by the adults-only pool, meters away from the poolside bar. The downside was, I had to watch them like a hawk outside. The upside was being able to sit on our veranda, swim and order food and drinks, even when the kids were snoozing.
Amenities
There was a shop at the resort with nappies, wipes, some basic medication and snacks (muesli bars, chocolate, chips and lollies). It also stocked snorkels, sunscreen, basic beauty products, basic clothing and local gifts. Our kids loved choosing a souvenir to take home (a doll for my daughter and an axe for my son). There was also filtered water available at the restaurants. The closest supermarket was 30 mins drive away and you could easily take a taxi. We never needed to.
Kids Activities
The resort had a Kids Program from 9am to 9pm. There was also a kids club with games, a pool table, air hockey, tennis and a playground. It did look as though it had seen better days. The kids’ activities seemed to centre around the pool and beach (and it would be a shame to be indoors at such a beautiful location!). There was fish and shark feeding, rock pool exploring, water volleyball and so on. There was also a nanny service for $14FJ per hour and $12FJ after the first hour. Our kids were pretty happy playing with us in the shallows of the beach. One of the restaurants is situated on the end of a pier, and the kids enjoyed exploring this ‘island’ during the day (the restaurant was only open at night). There was also a glass-bottomed boat that ran twice daily, and the kids enjoyed that and so did us, adults!
Adult Activities
We were pretty happy relaxing: eating, drinking, swimming and snorkelling. It’s amazing how you can spend a whole day doing almost nothing…and it was bliss! There was also an array of water sports on offer. A Day Spa (hello couples’ massages!). We didn’t even leave the resort. In the peak of Covid, we didn’t think it was wise, however, we really didn’t feel the need to go anywhere anyway!
The Package
Our package included house beer, wine and soft drinks. The house wine was De Bortoli and I thought it was quite good quality. The beers offered were Fiji Gold or Fiji Larger, they were pretty similar in taste, but I quite enjoyed them! Nice to have something local. We also enjoyed many glasses of refreshing soda water. Our package also included food, a glass-bottom boat tour, airport transfers (a nice, airconditioned van that we had all to ourselves) and a 30-minute couples massage.
Food and Restaurants
The food was all pretty good. There were four different restaurants to choose from: one with Italian Food, one buffet restaurant, a Japanese Teppanyaki Bar and a fancy restaurant out at the end of the pier, surrounded by the ocean with a sandy floor (like that Friends episode!). Our package included any restaurant except the latter. You could also order food from the bars by the pool, and your food would be brought out to you from the main restaurant. Breakfast was a buffet at the main restaurant. You could request a chef-prepared egg, any style you like. There were a variety of hot and cold options. We normally enjoyed a pizza or fruit platter from one of the pool bars for lunch. And for dinner, we alternated between the buffet, Teppanyaki and the Italian restaurant. My parents sprung for dinner for us at the fancy restaurant and we enjoyed lobster and cocktails. With the all-inclusive package, you could choose one-two course from the menu. They were great with our (fussy) kids and generally brought anything we requested for them, even outside of the menu (a bowl of plain rice or a sandwich for the trip back to the airport). I think the prices would add up if you didn’t go for an all-inclusive package. The prices were on par with Aussie restaurant prices. All in all, we were definitely well fed and the food was fresh with a good variety on offer.
It was a really long day getting to the resort from our hometown of Geelong. My son (almost four years) loved every moment and was very relaxed on the flight. My almost-two-year-old daughter cried for a fair chunk of the journey which was pretty exhausting. I cried on arrival at the resort and I vividly recall thinking “what have we done? Surely no holiday will be worth it!” A few hours in, these thoughts were far from our minds, and we had an absolutely wonderful week! My kids are still asking when we can go back to Fiji.