September 2023 - Saletoga Sands Resort, Samoa

Talofa to you too Fleur,

Thanks for your welcome home email.

We have had the most fabulous stay at Saletoga.

The resort is beautiful.

THE ROOMS: The hotel rooms we stayed in were average, but we only had those booked for 2 nights so that was ok. The Exclusive villas were amazing! The outdoor shower was used everyday, even in the rain.

If you would like us to be honest we probably weren’t in the best one though. We were in villa 409. Unfortunately the staff used our path to cut through and we got a bit of a shock the first couple of times when we were sat outside on our deck. But it was the early morning meetings held by the gardeners that woke us. They were right outside our window. One morning after their meeting we counted 8 walking down the side of our villa to cut through, so we stopped having our early morning coffee outside. The cleaners also use to cut through too. But that is being really picky. We did not complain. But if we booked again, we wouldn’t want to be in that villa.

THE FOOD: Well what can we say. Everything was amazing. Breakfast was delicious with so much choice. The few lunches we had by the pool were delicious (more on that later).

The dinners were top quality, every time. We ate in the main restaurant every night except for the BBQ night.

THE STAFF: So hard working especially the waitresses. Most are very young and their English was a work in progress, but we loved them all. Gavin did explain the problems they have had in recruiting staff and I think he has done an amazing job.

THE POOL:

This turned out to be the only downside of the holiday. To the point where we are not going to book again, until another pool is built for adults.

When choosing the resort we liked that it had a kids pool and a pool with a swim up bar.

Well, for whatever reason the pool with the swim up bar (main pool), was always full of kids. The parents would lay towels on sun beds for themselves and their kids. The kids hardly ever used the sunbeds. It was very hard to get a bed by the pool. The dream of laying by the pool reading a book in paradise was not so! There were pool toys, balls and noodles in the pool, and after getting hit by the ball a couple of times were not happy!

We returned to our room several times when we could not get a sun bed, counting all the empty beds with towels on. On the days we did get one, were found ourselves getting so wound up by the kids screaming and behavior.

We spoke with other couples who said they had given up on the pool and would not return for the same reason. The pool really was taken over by kids everyday. And they were LOUD, so were the parents, yelling at their kids from their sunbeds.

Sitting at the swim up bar with a cocktail was difficult as the kids loved sitting there drinking their red fizzy pop drinks.

We did have a conversation with Gavin about the need for an adults only pool, in the adults only area and he was actually sat with a guy taking about just that, so watch this space. We will book in a heart beat if this was the case.

So in summary, yes, probably the best place in Samoa for families. Not a place for couples requiring some peace and relaxation.

Have a wonderful day Fleur.
Love Tracey & John Moran