just returned from a 14 day holiday, staying at the outrigger - on the lagoon - fiji.
it boasts 5 star, but in my experience is a european 3.5. the staff are mostly very good. polite and courteous. not the cheapest in fiji, therefore i had high expectations.
things i did not like:
cannot get a cheap cup of tea and toast without paying $32FJD for the continental breakfast.
the $40FJD all you can eat full breakfast is what it is. if you can eat 2 or 3, then you are good, if not, it is not worth it. go next door along the beach and pay $15FJD for a mediocre breakfast that you actually choose and want.

the beach is a coral beach, meaning it is not good to walk on. the coral is all sizes and can hurt when walking bare feet. not good for children or adults. the tide goes out often for the day, and the water is shallow all the way up to the reef, which is about 100 yards away. so all in all, it was pretty useless.

weather in jan/feb was raining all the time, but sun does try, and you can get a tan. often we were in the pool so rain was not a problem. it is still warm to swim.

the standard rooms are ok. again, not 5* material, but adequate, and clean.

the good points. staff is generally very nice. they love children (or so it seems).

the pool is good for children, though no water features or flumes/tubes. there seemed to be very little chlorine in it, which makes swimming all day, pleasurable. also you trunks don't stink of chlorine at the end of the day. in fact, it is easy to open your eyes under water.

the sundowner restaurant was the best of the three on site.
the ivi does not allow children, so we only spent one meal there, but it was nice.
the buffet was not worth the $60FJD, as we could not eat more than a single serving for starter, main, and desert. the sundowner has a good menu, and often came to less than $50/head.

tips ?? a mystery. i never knew whether i should or shouldn't. in the end i did 10%, 20%, and none. i was all over the place with them. my rule in the end was to give them $10FJD on top, no matter what the price came to.

would i go there again? no

when it rained, around the pool and corridors are deadly. slipping all over the place, and often. kids, myself, guests, staff, i saw them all go down. so what out, especially if you are elderly.

tennis courts are good. there is a fitness centre which looked good, and good laundry facilities.

drinks cost like AUD equivalent, so don't think they are cheap. sparkling wine was $15FJD a glass, same as an australian restaurant.

plenty of nice guests around.

pillows in rooms are clean, but i found them very uncomfortable. did my neck in.

finally, it is far from any walking site. 10 mins by car into sikatoka. the cabs outside the resort will charge $35FJD for both ways, the breakfast place i mentioned earlier above, 2 mins walk from the beach, will do it for $18FJD.

cabs to airport from hotel will cost $135, where as the other place i mention will do it for $95.

the journey to and from the airport is horrid. even by car. our return journey was at 5.30am, and even then it took at least an hour and a half. roads are bad, and is a good deal away.

so all in all, was ok, but will not visit there again, whether i visit fiji again, is another discussion.

cheers

Fiji was exactly what I had anticipated it to be. A hot place with extremely friendly locals and not much else to do other than relax by the pool and enjoy doing nothing.
This hotel was very nice overall. We stayed in a plantation bure which was very cosy and amongst the gardens. I really enjoyed the food at all restaurants at this resort. There isn't really anything bad to say about this place. Solomon was a good help at the front and even gave us a courtesy call just to make sure we had organized our way back to the airport.
I highly recommend you go from the airport to the hotel in a coach or mini bus. We went in an ordinary taxi and saw our lives flash before our eyes on many occasions. Not safe at all!
Thanku to all the friendly staff at outrigger!

My husband & I had 8 days at the Outrigger in December 2011 to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. We stayed in the building (superior room 108 - the cheapest) close to the pool , beach, many activities & restaurants & thought it a great location. The rooms are excellent - clean & comfortable - but not luxurious as some expect of a 5 star hotel. We hired a car for 3 days & had a look at some of the other hotels between Lautoka & Suva (including Denaru) and were very pleased with our choice of the Outrigger. Staff are friendly & happy to help when needed. The Ivi Restaurant was outstanding & I don't think expensive for the quality of the food & service. We had dinner there on our anniversary & a group of 7 staff brought cake & sang a beautiful anniversary song to us.....& the night before we left they came to our table & sang a farewell song. We also ate at the Bavari & Sundowner restaurants & had coffee at the 2 cafes which was all quite good & I think similar in price to Australia. (You get a token for free internet when you buy something from the cafes.) The pool is great & kids love it but I prefer the beach for a quick dip or a walk. There are plenty of activities to choose from & a daily program available. The tennis court is well kept & the tennis racquets & balls provided good quality. We usually organised our own breakfast & were glad that we took some supplies from home as the shop at the resort stocked 'snacky' type food & the supermarkets (in Sigatoka, Nadi, Lautoka) expensive & often didn't have what we wanted.
The Bebe spa is wonderful & is in a beautiful location on a hill up from the main resort & to get there you are taken in a golf cart....the view is spectacular. There is also a small bar serving drinks & light food up there & a lovely chapel for weddings.......& we had a complimentary yoga lesson in there.
As we were there just before Christmas it was not very busy so I can only comment on our experience....which was wonderful!

From the moment we arrived at the Outrigger we were greeted with a big BULA from the guy minding the gate.

We received an upgrade to an ocean view room (thank you Charlotte) which was amazing, every evening we received champagne and canapes which was a nice way to end the day and start the evening.

The pool is huge and great to relax by, even though the weather was not great during our stay the resort offers wet weather activites to keep you amused.

Bebe Spa is amazing I went there 3 times, first time I got the hot stone massage, second time a facial and the third time, thanks to the staff and other guests my partner and I did the romantic discovery. Well worth it, with Jason (resort manager) even giving my partner a money back guarantee offer (which was not needed). The spa out on the deck over looking the coastline is amazing and relaxing. Champagne and chocolate dipped fruit was served during the spa, then followed by a massage. Everytime I went there I left feeling pampered and relaxed.

We were lucky enough to be invited to the managers drinks, was great to meet the management of the hotel and hear a little bit more about the hotel and its staff and what it does within the local villages.

We did the meal plan, and found this easy and simple. We did dine in the Ivi restaurant one night which was a nice experience, with prompt service and nice food.

On our first night we went to the bar and were lucky enough to hear Esther one of the staff sing, amazing voice, on our last night she even sung us a song.

Usher behind the bar, a smile to die for, and good at making cocktails.

Every staff member you walk past goes out of there way to say Bula which makes you feel very welcome.

On our last night they had the unveiling of the sand sculpting competition and the Discovery Channel was there filming, we were treated to a beach party where we saw local Meke dancers and firewalkers, this was a great way for us to end our trip.

Overall we had an amazing experience and we are definately going to be back next year for another holiday.