RAMADA PLAZA

At under A$200/n (in July) I thought this hotel was good value. It’s close to the shops, eateries and beach at Anse Vata, but a bit away from all the noise and bustle (though to be honest there wasn’t much in July) The room was spacious, clean and had a nice balcony overlooking the racecourse Note there is no food available in the bar or the revolving restaurant on Sunday- Tuesday although not a big problem as there are plenty of places to eat nearby Also the room is not serviced during the stay (maybe you could request a service, I didn’t check)

I can't recommend this hotel, much as I'd like to. It's an older hotel with a lot of lovely features, in a convenient location ten minutes' walk from the beach and amenities. Our studio room was spacious, with a king bed, single bed, desk and table. We also had a nice private balcony, but didn't enjoy it as much as we expected to because at our level (third floor) there was a lot of road noise. There's a nice little pool, like a mini-lagoon, but the bottom and the pool surround are strangely gritty - hard on bare feet. Our stay was marred by a few major inconveniences and a handful of minor annoyances. We knew in advance that the room would only be serviced once during the week. What we didn't know was that the towels wouldn't be changed either. For a week-long stay in a humid climate, that's not good enough, especially when the towel allocation is stingy to begin with: two bath towels, one hand towel, no washcloths. When the room was serviced, one of the replacement bath towels was frayed and stained. Other minor annoyances: lighting in the room was poor, made worse by one of the lamps not working. The bedside clock didn't work. The ironing board wobbled, which turned out not to matter because the iron wouldn’t stay hot for more than a few minutes at a time. The toilet paper and tissues weren't replenished in the weekly service. We were visiting off season, but even so, the hotel seemed understaffed. There is no concierge desk, just a "conciergerie" corner with a few brochures, so reception staff had to handle all requests. Most of the staff were lovely, but a few seemed disinterested in helping us, and one gave us misleading information.

This hotel may once have been a decent place to stay but unfortunately it is now a very down market place to stay. It isn't really walking distance to anything and it's almost impossible to get a share car (Zygo) or a taxi at certain times. the hotel itself is old barely staffed at all. The 360 restaurant was closed when it was advertised as open and on the same night I had planned to go to eat there the bar was also not serving any food. Our rooms were not cleaned in the 4 days we stayed there. We had booked for 7 nights but left after 4 nights and flew back to Sydney. The Island is beautiful full of sparkling yachts, huge apartment blocks, blue water and lots of greenery but no life, few people and no infrastructure for tourists. Also incredibly expensive.