We spent 10 days at coconuts. Overall we were very disappointed with our stay. While the first week or so went ok, but halfway through our honeymoon we both got quite ill. On one particular morning we asked the maid to not make up our room, however we returned from breakfast our room had been made up, my suitcase had been tampered with and my wedding band stolen. The staff/management were most unresponsive, we asked to use the Internet to follow up travel insurance info (wifi) at reception - the manager gave us the password to connect to wifi, then left us, we went to the reception area and clearly could not connect to the internet, then the Samoan reception lady told us they don't have internet access and that we would have to go to Sinalei (neighboring resort) to use their Internet. There is a massive air-conditioned office where management have numerous computers but no one ever offered the use of those to us considering what happened. There were only 6 or so guests staying in the resort at that stage. The following day, we found the pool attending in our room, this was totally unacceptable considering jewellery went missing the previous day. Upon asking the man what he was doing in our room- he walked off quickly saying something in Samoan. The manager later confirmed with us that it was resort policy that only the female maids were to go into rooms. The location and surrounds are beautiful and we believe that coconuts has so much potential. It was a lovely spot for our honeymoon. But the staff and their responsiveness was very disappointing particularly when we had things taken from our room. We were on the meal deal, while there was lots of variety on the menu, the food was very greasy and doused in oil. On the meal deal the mini bar gets stocked with 2 beers, 2 soft drink cans and some very dodgy house wine. The pool bar was never open, some of the staff in the restaurant were forever grumpy and almost looked bored, the only saving grace was the friendly Lindsay (the handyman) and his wife who were the most friendly people working in the resort.
Room Tip: Go the beach Fale over the tree houses - fales have beach frontage.
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This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
13 February 2012
Talofa Lava S1234G and thank you for taking the time to leave a review of your honeymoon at Coconuts Beach Club. We are so pleased that you enjoyed our location and surroundings and that you considered it a lovely spot for your honeymoon. As you recall, we did work very closely with you in sorting out the theft from your room. Our general manager and assistant manager took this issue very seriously, and we did work with both the police and our staff. Our housemaids that were working that day, when interviewed separately, had identical accounts of entering your room, cleaning and servicing it, and leaving the room together (at no time was either of them in the room alone). When you approached our office to report the theft, we immediately helped you get onto our resort Wi-Fi (on your iPhone) so that you could contact your Insurance company. You did not mention any issues you had with getting online, and in fact informed our Assistant Manager that you did speak with your insurance company and that they requested a police report for the incident. So, we are not sure why you would complain about us not providing you access to our internet. We then contacted the local Police, who came to the resort and interviewed you for their report. We did receive a copy of the Police report, and we were quite concerned about several discrepancies between what you told us at the resort and what you told the police, as to exactly what was lost, when it occurred, and why the items were not locked up in the personal and private safe that we provided you in your room.
As for the Pool Guy who was near your room, as you recall our General Manager and yourself walked down to the pool to speak directly with him about why he was near your room. His response was that he had seen the maids cleaning the room, and wanted to retrieve the resort snorkel gear that you had borrowed from our Activities Centre. As you know, we do ask all guests to return all snorkel gear and kayak gear at the end of every day so we may keep good and close track of our activities equipment. You had not returned your snorkel gear, and he was simply trying to retrieve it so that a full accounting of gear could take place. He is responsible for all of our activities gear, and since you had not returned the snorkel gear, he was out trying to find it so he could take his daily inventory. Our snorkel and kayak gear are free to use - we simply ask you to return everything to our Activities Centre at the end of each day, and when you did not return the gear, he had to track it down himself.
Our General Manager did speak with you on your last night and again apologized for the lost ring. We do appreciate you telling our Manager that, other than the issue with the ring (and you taking partial blame for not having utilized the in-room private safe), that you had a good time, and that everything else was good, that you had a relaxing time having enjoyed Coconuts Beach Club. This is why we are a bit taken aback at your negative comments about the meal deal, the menu options, your complaints about the minibar, and issues with our staff. That night would have been a good opportunity to address all of your concerns directly with our General Manager, instead of simply stating that you enjoyed your stay. It is truly unfortunate that we have to read about your concerns and complaints after your stay with us, instead of having the opportunity to address any of your concerns during your stay.
In our experience, we have noticed that some of our guests confuse the shyness and quiet nature displayed by our staff and local village as being 'rude' or 'grumpy'. If you had spent a bit more time with our local Samoan staff, you would find them to be lovely, giving, and friendly people, who may just need a bit of prodding to get over their shy nature.
Again, we thank you for taking the time to write a review of the honeymoon that we thought you had enjoyed at Coconuts Beach Club. Fa'afetai.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of TripAdvisor LLC
