I stayed at the Malagan Beach Resort 23 to 26 February 2009. I arrived at about sunset on the first day and I was immediately taken by the beauty of the location. Literally right on the beach, the time of day made for a memorable arrival. Few hotels are blessed with a more attractive site.
Unfortunately, the location is about the only positive I could find for this hotel.
I have travelled extensively in Papua New Guinea and so expect that accommodation will be wanting. It is fairly standard to find hotels which are wanting in maintenance with limited facilities. Generally though staff of hotels in PNG, while often unsophisticated in terms of customer service, are nonetheless friendly and usually trying their best. This could not be said of the staff at the Malagan.
Surly and unhelpful are the words which best describe the staff as I found them. Generally when not actually attending to a customer, all the restaurant and reception staff would gather around the pool smoking and socializing with others from outside the hotel who came and went as though they were guests. If you wanted a drink you’d need to rouse the bar man from the pool area. He then seemed determined to show what a tribulation it was for him to attend to you, so he’d shuffle over to the bar at glacial pace, mouth red stained and his breath redolent of beetle nut.
The resort markets itself as the place to go for a famous New Ireland seafood dinner. On none of the three nights I was there was seafood available, with the exception of fish of the day. Actually I’m only assuming seafood wasn’t available on the last night. When I asked at 6.40pm (ten minutes after dinner service started) the staff couldn’t tell me what was on the menu as the cook hadn’t arrived and didn’t know when he or she might get there. I made the mistake of eating in the restaurant on the first night and after asking for a medium rare t-bone, was served a steak cooked so far beyond well done that it was inedible. I sent it back and received another which was much the same.
The cleanliness of the room was also disappointing. I don’t believe the sheets had been changed from the last guest and daily servicing was poor. Floors weren’t well swept, used tea and coffee wasn’t replaced, used towels were removed and not replaced, the hot tap on the shower worked only spasmodically and every tap in the room leaked. In addition the air conditioner did not cool the room well and could not be adjusted.
All of this was in a hotel for which I was paying about 150 US dollars a night.
It would take very little to make this one of the better hotels in PNG. While my visit there was memorable it was, regrettably, for the wrong reasons.
- Malagan Beach Hotel
