The photos you may see on the web make the place look far better than it is. The hotel is aged and not maintained as well as it could be. I have stayed here on and off for 10 years. The staff are always helpful. These days there is water most of the time as the Hotel has a reverse osmosis unit put in by Veolia Water. I'd still drink bottled water as the big storage tank has probably never been cleaned (best to be safe). Don't expect too much for Breakfast, lunch or dinner - it is very basic, but on the other hand there are times when I have been pleasantly surprised. There a TV and fridge in most rooms. To be honest it is really the only hotel to stay in in Nauru. But remember relax you are on Island time.
Also bear in mind there are no Taxi's in Nauru.

I stayed a week at the Menen. The room was spacious, had a nice view across the pool and the shore and was serviced daily, even on the weekend. I had hot water for my entire stay and got a tv after a couple of days. The aircon worked but I would have had to talk to house keeping to change the temperature (no control in the room). There was no phone in the room but mobile phone reception is strong, so no problem staying in touch with home if you are set up for roaming.

The restaurant was a bit of a disappointment both in terms of food and service. Apart from a few tiny ants there was no vermin in the room but I heard some tell-tale noises from four-legged neighbours in the walls ...

There is a fair number of permanent residents in the hotel but this did not bother me.

I found the bed too soft but that is a matter of personal preference, I guess.

The last three days there was no water for the toilet flush, so I had to manually fill the cistern when I wanted to flush the toilet.

The Menen Hotel is a sprawling complex stretching along the eastern shoreline of Nauru, and certainly looks as if it has had (much) better days. The hotel is incredibly run down, with an emptied (or semi-emptied, depending on how much rain there's been) swimming pool and some old rusting satellite dishes littering the shoreline between the hotel and the water.

The rooms themselves are quite spacious, and are equipped with the normal furnishings, plus a fridge and a television (though whether or not you can get anything on the TV is another matter). The suites at the hotel are even bigger, and have marbled bathrooms, dual sinks and a spa, which even by non-Nauru standards is quite nice. Strangely, pretty much everything from the sheets and towels to the toiletries are Menen-branded. I'd be inclined to think there's more important things this place could be spending their money on!

At the Menen, I have experienced a mouse in my room, a non-flushing toilet, no hot water, no TV, having to serve myself at breakfast, the bar not opening, my room not being ready on arrival among other things, however in reality, you shouldn't be coming to Nauru expecting all the modern conveniences. You could forgive many of these things if the service were also warm and friendly, but sadly this is also lacking. I didn't bother complaining about any of the above issues, because I couldn't help but think no one would care anyway.

Having said all this, it's not really all that bad, and you won't have much of a choice on Nauru anyway, so try to be good-humoured about it.

Typical of most things in Nauru, this hotel is well beyond it's best days. The staff is helpful and friendly, but that's about the best part of the Menen. My room was fairly clean, had a functional refrigerator, and a pair of comfortable twin beds. The plumbing was ok, I had hot water, but my colleague had no hot water in his room for the entire stay. The general condition of the hotel is extremely poor. The drapery in my room should have been replaced 15 years ago. The grounds of the hotel are completely run down. There are a large number of permanent residents who hang their laundry on balconies. Several areas of the hotel are filled with junk, although the staff attempt to keep the place clean. Another of my colleagues was awoken by a large rat eating his fruit which he left on his dresser. The bar is the best place there, it's clean and has a pool table. The beach is scenic, but you cannot swim because of the coral. The Menen is the best place on the island. I was charged $115 per night, which is about $80 more than it's worth. The other large hotel, the Od-N Aiwo was scary looking, and I was told that there is no hot water there.