Stayed at Tamanu for the last week of the year. Maybe it was just an assumption on our part, but we didn't think wet season meant almost continuous cloud cover and a lot of rain. Not the resorts fault obviously, but beware of this when you travel to the Cooks. We (daughter) found the staff to be extremely friendly and very helpful. Whatever they could help with they were very willing to do so. The room, towels and linens were very clean. Itty-bitty ants in the room, but not a big deal. I think a car or scooter is a must, and the rental company will pick you up (not Enterprise) and drive you to their location. The resort has kayaks for the taking, and lounges on the beach. If you choose to do so you can snorkel directly in front of the resort, and it is perfect for swimming and lounging.
Meals at the resort depend on what your expectations are. The morning buffet is rather skimpy, but you can always have hot food cooked from the menu. Take a scooter and explore all of the various cafes and grills around the island. All in all you should be very happy if your choice is Tamanu Beach Resort. WARNING: there are roosters all about that have no clue as to when sunrise is, nor when the are supposed to crow. They will start crowing around 3 am and continue until about 7 pm. This will occur right outside your open windows. so hopefully you are a very deep sleeper!

Stayed at Tamanu for a week in June 2011. Aitutaki is one of the most beautiful places I've ever been, and we loved our stay at Tamanu. Their slogan is 'casual luxury', and sums the vibe of the place up pretty well... if you're after high end 5 star accommodation with top notch service, go to Aitutaki Lagoon (and pay double the price).

This was just a great, laidback resort with a very nice stretch of beach, pool, lovely restaurant and friendly staff. The huts were clean and comfortable. If we are coming back to Aitutaki (I hope we will!), I would definitely stay there again. It was lovely.

We vacationed at Tamanu Beach on Feb 10, 2010 and experienced Cyclone Pat. We were treated as family during this horrific event and Thank you very much to the Henry's and staff. February 2011 we returned to have our vacation of a lifetime and were treated like royalty, thanks so much again. Teking took us out into the lagoon and we were amazed beyond words, this is the best place on earth! The people are so helpful and friendly, we were safe to roam around, day or night. The food at Tamanu was delicious and the staff were lovely.
I have to say that this is a great place for Canadian's to come as this is their summer and it is really quiet, we are planning on returning again in the next few years.

Kia Orana.
We recently returned to Aitutaki. We last visited 29 years ago and back then there was only one accommodation option on the island and this was the Rapae motel with from memory only about 6 or 8 units. Our unit we stayed in is still there but is now a private residence. The Aitutaki Lagoon Resort was in the process of being built. What impressed us on that visit was the fact that you could walk down the beautiful beach for half an hour and not see anyone. Lo and behold. It has not changed. You still can, to spite the dramatic increase in visitors. The island has recently taken a hammering from a tropical cyclone and signs of this are still quite obvious as you drive around, but the resorts are fine with no signs of the damage they must have suffered.
We spent two nights in villa 103 at Tamanu Beach Resort for a special birthday celebration and we couldn’t have picked a nicer place. Lovely clean well equipped room, quiet, infinity pool virtually at your doorstep, for reasonably priced accommodation what more could you want. Sure, no TV but who needs it with those views. The units, while they are reasonably close together don’t seem it. They are thoughtfully angled and staggered to give the impression when sitting out on your deck that apart from the units opposite that you are alone.
Sure, there were a few ants poked there heads out and there were the odd mozzie floating around at dusk but hey; we are in the tropics. What do you expect. The rooms were equipped with fly spray and mosquito repellent rings if they did worry you. They sure didn’t worry us. Although we didn’t need it we did notice a nice big umbrella in the wardrobe undoubtedly for the walk to the restaurant. Nice touch! As were the flowers in the room when we arrived.
The resort is split in two with a private residence and the restaurant in the middle. This, in our opinion only added to the charm of the place. It made it seem smaller and more intimate than perhaps it actually was. The 50m walk along the beach to the restaurant for the evening meal was one of the highlights and sure beat the 150m walk to the restaurant down a concrete pathway behind a row of high buildings that we had in Raro. Perhaps it wouldn’t be quite so good in high heels.
We found the restaurant to be good value considering how isolated this place is and the staff in the resort cheerful, efficient and friendly.
Special mention of a lovely young lady that took us on a most informative round island tour. Thank you Nane of Tropicool Tours. Your serenade made our day.
The Tamanu Resort was everything that we expected. Its middle of the road considering the other options available, and we feel represents very good value for money considering where it is. We would not hesitate to return and would certainly recommend it to others judging on our experience.
Bruce & Sue