**SMO** Are you out there?

[Ms.Goggles]

Hey there, lady! Soooo, I just remembered that you were going to be staying at Royal Davui in December...did you go!? What did you think? Gimme all the details!

 

[Ms.Goggles]

just bumping in case she comes around!

 

[Smo]

Oh my goodness! I can’t believe I forgot about updating you Ms.Googles! I am so, so sorry! Blame it on my post-holiday blues!

Well Royal Davui, it was fantastic, we had such a lovely and relaxing time. However, I have to say that it wasn’t as good as our time at Taveuni a few years ago but still an unbelievable holiday. I think you would have an amazing time there but I am not sure whether it is better than the other islands you are considering. I know we enjoyed Taveuni more.

Here is what I loved:

The villas are as beautiful as they look on the website, when we walked into the villa I just couldn’t believe how lucky we were to be staying. They are amazing and the views from every room are unbelievable. We had quite a long transfer and it ended up taking all day (other people’s planes were late and so we had an extra 3 hour wait) and so when we were unpacking, they sent up some delicious freshly baked banana bread! I remember saying to my partner how lucky we were!

The service was really amazing and nothing was ever a problem. The Fijian people are amazing, so friendly and kind. For my partner’s birthday they prepared an amazing meal out of the fish he had caught the day before whilst game fishing (if you are your fiancée are into fishing, you have to do this! He caught at 25kg mahi mahi, it was amazing!).

The main pool is really great, plenty of loungers, the pool was huge and the perfect temperature every time! We spent so much time down there and it was great to be able to have lunch by the pool or a cocktail (well usually several!)

Here are a few things to be aware of:

The plunge pool in our villa was way too cold to use, so if you go make sure that you stay in a villa that has heated a heated plunge pool or it is just a waste. Had someone told me before we went that I would be complaining about the plunge pool being too cold, I would have though they were crazy but despite super hot days, the pool was ice cold and neither of us used it! When we chatted with some of the other guests, they said the same thing and the managers said they are planning on heating all the pools this year. This was the most disappointing thing for me and I was especially annoyed as it wasn’t much more expensive to upgrade to a villa with a heated pool, but no one told us and we totally would have paid the extra amount.

The food ranged from really great to pretty average. I think they try really hard to make everything great, but given how far away they are from the mainland, perhaps they have trouble with supplies?

The island is really tiny and had we had a less stressful year, I think I would have been bored by the second week. For us it was perfect, I did very little but lie in the sun, read, eat and drink. We did a bit of snorkeling and my partner went game fishing for the day but that is about it. I would definitely take a laptop and loads of DVDs as there are no televisions on the island. I know when we had been out in the sun all day, it was really nice to retreat to the bedroom, turn on the air con and relax with a movie. Also take a lot of books, they do have a tiny library of books that people left behind but I am a huge reader and ran out of books in the first week.

Finally, I know you guys are getting married there and in terms of setting, Taveuni wins hands down. It isn’t called the garden island for nothing! Mind you, we arrived after they had been through a big cyclone and so the trees were still bend over from the force of the wind and missing their leaves, so maybe it will be better in a few months. Also, the cyclone meant that they no longer do the sand spit picnic which I had really been looking forward to and I know you thought about getting married at this location.

I hope this helps and regardless of where you guys decide to go, you will have an amazing time! I think when you are choosing between the 3 resorts you are looking at, you can’t go wrong, they are all super luxurious and you will be totally spoiled.

Let me know if you have any questions, and again so sorry I forgot about updating you.

 

[Ms.Goggles]

THANK YOU! Your review was so great!

So, we did end up booking our Fiji trip back in September (I think? So hard to think back that far!) We decided to do the first week at Royal Davui (and have the wedding there) followed by 5 nights at Likuliku. From everything I've seen and read, we're really excited about Royal Davui, so I'm definitely glad to hear you enjoyed it. We were really excited about Taveuni Palms and Taveuni in general, but it just ended up being out of the budget.

The one thing I am really worried about is that plunge pool! We weren't able to fit the premium vale into the budget- it was something like $2000US MORE just for the heat! We were really hoping to spend a lot of time in the pool though, so I'm really disappointed to hear that it was so cold. I actually contacted RD to see about the upgrade, but they said it's not planned for anytime this year.

Was the resort full when you visited? Maybe I will have to cross my fingers that we will be blessed with a weddingmoon upgrade? I won't get my hopes up but, man, I really want to be able to sit in the plunge pool at night with a glass of wine in hand and my new DH by my side.

 

[Smo]

So glad I could help and sorry again you had to chase me up.

I think you guys are going to have such an amazing time! Where abouts are you getting married in the resort?

Relaxing in the plunge pool with a glass of wine was exactly what I was looking forward to (after a long day of lying by the pool etc!) so it was a shame we didn''t get to do that. Especially as the plunge pools were the main reason we chose RD. That is expensive for an upgrade. I though from our discussions with the manager and Deb (our travel agent) that some of the Deluxe Vales were heated? Maybe I misunderstood, have just emailed my bf to double-check. The other thing to keep in mind is that our villa only got the morning sun, if you are in a villa that gets the afternoon sun maybe it will be a bit warmer?

We also emailed Deb to let her know about the plunge pools, she said that she found them "refreshing" so maybe you will as well? I think regardless you will still have an amazing time, it is such a beautiful island and a great place to get married.

The resort was partially full before New Years and totally full after New Years. When will you be there?

 

[Ms.Goggles]

What villa were you in? Our TA was just there at the end of November and she recommended #13 for the reef view. I''m pretty sure that one will only get morning sun. Ah well....c''est la vie. We will figure it out. I would have **loved** to stay in #5. It looks absolutely spectacular and we booked far enough in advance that we probably could have made a request, but this trip maxed out the budget. A heated plunge pool didn''t seem like a big deal!

No idea where exactly we''ll have the ceremony. Since it''s just the two of us going, it''s pretty flexible. We''re planning on investigating the island for a couple of days before the wedding anyway, so we''ll get to choose whatever feels right! Any recommendations?

We''ll be there the first week in July. CANNOT wait. I am in need of a vacation!

You''re so sweet to write such an honest, detailed review. I really, really appreciate it!

 

[Smo]

haha! We were in villa 13! The view was spectactular!

I am sure you will have a great time, heated plunge pool or not. I don''t know how you could have a bad time at RD.

Hmm, I think if the sand spit is back (or a similar alternative) I would definitely do that, the pictures on the website look amazing! Otherwise, the beach by the jetty (not the main one by the pool) is really nice and more secluded than the "main beach".

Make sure you go and feed the fishes at sunset, we didn''t get around to it until the last two nights and it was so much fun. We took a bottle of champagne down and sat on the jetty with a bag of bread for the fishes. We saw such cool fish and some baby reef sharks!

Oh and one more thing, make sure you slather on the highest SPF sunscreen you can buy and cover up. The sun is really strong and I got really badly burnt on our first day (and I have dark skin and never burn). Don''t want a nice red sunburn to clash with your wedding dress!

Oh and my final tip, we bought wine with us onto the island (most people also did this as the drinks can get pricey) and this was nice for pre-dinner drinks our villa so make sure you stock up at duty free on you way to Fiji (we were able to take 6 bottles in with us) and stock up on Pure Fiji products (particularly their sugar scrub) on the way out!

p.s. would love to hear your review of Likuliku when you get back!