Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Did you already book this hotel?
About
4.0
#2 of 2 resorts in Malolo Lailai Island
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Value
Nestled on the 553 acre island of Malolo Lailai, part of the Mamanuca Group of Islands, Plantation is surrounded by 23 acres of tropical gardens, coconut palms and white sandy beaches that front a beautiful sheltered lagoon. Plantation offers several accommodation options to suit most budgets, and is great value for families, students and fun loving couples. Most of the activities are complimentary including the 'Coconut Kids Club'. Come experience the friendly Fijian hospitality!
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quiet
Lagoon View
Languages Spoken
English, Hindi
Location
Fiji
Plantation Island Resort
2,175 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travellers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
This summary was created by AI, based on recent reviews.
Powered by AI
Plantation Island Resort is frequently commended for its stunning location and well-maintained grounds, with guests particularly enjoying the culturally rich atmosphere and range of amenities, including water sports and dining options. While the rooms are generally described as clean and comfortable, some guests have noted them to be basic with occasional issues such as loud air conditioning.
Opinions on the resort's value and service vary, with praise for friendly staff balanced against concerns over hidden fees and sporadic service inconsistencies.
Location
Picturesque
Atmosphere
Cultural
Rooms
Basic
Value
Expensive
Cleanliness
Pristine
Service
Inconsistent
Amenities
Abundant
Was this helpful?
Tripadvisor is not responsible for this summary or the opinions in it. For more information, please read the traveller reviews and learn more about how the site works.
What a beautiful place to be when the sun is shinning. The location is amazing and the staff are super friendly and take pride in performing their best at all times and during any given situation. The staff make the stay so much more fun, and pleasant, thanks heaps to kids club, awesome team for keeping our kiddies busy and happy vinaka Myfa, Tui, Leala, Ruthy, Lee and Isralei, kids loved being there everyday🙂
The only down side was the food and the amount they charged. It was so average that I actually make better home cooked meals then what they had to offer. It was a bit of a ripoff. I think they need to change up their menus. The lunch menu should offer a variety of salads, seasonal local fruits, wraps, sandwiches, rice and curry, sushi, not just burgers, fries, toasties and pizzas everyday (lunch menu main buffet area). Imagine having this for 9-10 days straight it was very sickening.. there was no balance! Pity their other restaurants didn’t fully operate due to weather conditions.
Overall the location was stunning, the kids club amazing, the Bula bikes cool and fun, activities awesome beach front (Micheal) and daily plan’s for kids and adults on the board by the reception area.
We found it was very expensive and a bit unrealistic with the prices.. Bar didn’t have good choices of wine and cocktails were blah... We found going over to musket cove general store and bar a bit cheaper and they had a variety which was great 😃 but somethings were expensive still.
Read more
Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We really enjoyed our time at Plantation Island Resort. We stayed in the garden terrace room. The room was basic but spacious and had fans and a cooling so we were happy. Rooms were serviced every second day we were told you could ask for more towels or anything else that was needed. We drank bottled water but they did have safe drinking water refill stations which our friends used without issue. Our friends stayed in the ocean front rooms which were similar to our room but slightly smaller in a better location.
The 4 pools were all good and offered a different feel. The beach was great. We went snorkeling and saw lots of fish. Kids hired the kayak and friends paddle boards. The inflatable course in the ocean was lots of fun for the kids.
Overall the restaurants were good. The desserts were a bit limited and could have been better and didn't always seem to come out quite like the description. Service was a bit slow but we also were not in a hurry so that was fine. We ate at the buffet a few times which was always good but got very busy as was expected.
The kids didn't go to kids club much but they did do one movie night and the tie dyed t-shirt session. They did have a good range of interesting activities for both the kids club and teen/ adults we just all preferred to swim.
Having Musket Cove so close was great although we only ventured that far once for lunch and to have a look around. They have a larger store to buy general items such as bread or milk from.
Overall Plantation is a fantastic resort. If you are used to 5 star resorts or are wanting a kid free quiet holiday you might be disappointed but the resort as a whole was great. It suited us as adults as much as our kids (8 & 10). We are already talking about our next trip back.
Read more
Date of stay: July 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
A lot to digest? Read an AI-generated summary of recent traveller reviews.
We were there 9 nights, wish we were there for a few more. Excellent location, really nice staff, they just opened bistro on Beach side and new kids club which is large and modern, both inflatables are in working order, just the red one gets a bit of air before use, snorkelling isn't too bad under the wharf and down off the beach where the sunken museum is located, the best snorkelling is to be had on the various reefs of which u can visit for 35 for deepwater or the sandbank for 25. I saw a decent sized white tip at black Rock and also turtles and whitetip on the dive to mana reef, it's worth it, really good place to base yourself for diving, The food is OK, buffet bfast is good, the dinners can get a little hectic at the buffet, be organised and book dinner early where ever you go, I think a few kinks are being ironed out after such a long break during covid. We went to the tevola restaurant a few times and it was pretty good. A bit less stressful than the buffet experience. I heard there will be more places to dine coming soon. The general store is expensive however if u walk down to musket Cove there is a good general store with cheaper stuff. Management are often walking around and happy to chat and take on any feedback you may have. We found them very receptive. WiFi is non existent but u can buy cheap simcards there. Due to the age of the resort you may see some construction going on, from what we heard they have alot of plans. In summary it's 3.5 star and meets that easily, we had the best time and will be back again as soon as we can.
Read more
Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We have just finished our stay at plantation island. Family of 4. We arrived in the late morning to find we couldn’t check in until 2 so with no access to sunscreen we headed to the beach to wait where we all got hammered by the sun! We found our garden Bure was very dated and tired and not at all like the pictures. Also the hair salon and massage place wasn’t very appealing either. We got a kids eat free package yet breakfast and dinner was $60 each so really there were no real free meals. Service at the bar was also slow. We went to book cloud 9 restaurant to find it was getting towed away for maintenance and there was no mention of this at the introduction which was disappointing. Ready the islands reviews here saying it’s under 4 stars is all good and well but from our end the holiday wasn’t cheap. I’ve take. My family to the Gold Coast and spent less! So I think the resort need to keep in mind people save for a long time to do these holidays if it’s below 4 stars do t charge as much! Also there is no cash you either charge it to the room or use a cash card. At the end of the holiday we were due a refund of $700 only to be told it would take 7 working days to get it back! So make sure you spend it all!! Overall I found it overrated and I think it’s a holiday I’ve done and don’t need to experience again! Vinaka
Read more
Date of stay: January 2020Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from PIR-management, Director of Sales at Plantation Island Resort
Responded Feb 2, 2020
Bula danielkY9255WQ, Thank you for your review about your recent stay at Plantation Island Resort. The Resort's check-in time is 2pm and this information would have been provided to you by your travel agent, or it would be on your booking confirmation. Yes you are very right, Fiji is not a "cheap" destination (we don't promise to be). We do our best to keep prices down however due to high government taxes and a remote island location, prices can be comparable to Australia. We are sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your holiday to the fullest and we apologise for the areas here we let you down, such as slow service at the bar. Thank you for taking the time to post a review about your stay. Warm Regards, Akshay Singh Director of Sales & Marketing
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed at Plantation Island Resort in September. You will read that it is a 3 star resort. At this point I think that is a generous rating. I literally have written a 6 page letter to management outlining all the issues with our stay. I will list them here in dot point.
Booked an ocean bure. Our ocean bure did not have the ocean view as advertised and actually looked back to the garden bures. So we got to look at the garden bures that were enjoying the ocean views we had paid for. If you are going to go ahead and stay at this hell hole, I will say the other ocean bures are fine enough, but specifically ask to NOT be in 310, or 312, (and 306 is debatable as to if it has a good view or not).
When we asked to have a garden bure that has an ocean view, we were told that we could but there would be no refund in the room rate.
The duty manager was rude.
Duty manager confirmed we could move rooms the next day, then the next day renovations started in the room right next door. The noise was extremely loud and unsettling to the baby.
Staff were generally not pleasant.
All meals served incorrectly, and I am not even exaggerating, on two occasions the side was even frozen.
All meals and drinks taking anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour to be served. That is from the time of ordering. So, expect each dining experience to take a minimum of 1.5 hours.
Grounds require lots of maintenance. A nail protruding from the bin area ripped through my husband's shorts and phone case.
Pool areas very slippery. A child’s blood was left on the surface around the pool for over a day.
Management refused to refund out money so that we could leave.
If you go next door for a cocktail be warned you are not allowed to sit on anything except the sand or bar stools.
Basically if you have a complaint about anything do not expect the staff or management to actually take any action. This applies to ALL levels of their management.
The good things........the nanny staff are actually wonderful.
It is a beautiful location.
I left a jacket on the island and the staff actually got it back to me on the mainland in a matter of hours.
The resort has paid for the damage to our property.
Read more
Date of stay: September 2022
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Closely study the resort map. Not all ocean bures have an ocean view like they advertise. Many of...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
After reading many reviews about Plantation Island (either great or terrible, not many in between!) we went for our 7 night holiday with low expectations. BUT we were pleasantly surprised! Our entire trip was fabulous. We went as 2 adults, 2 children and booked a 2 bedroom villa, which was newly renovated, very clean & the separate toilet was a bonus. Kids had a fantastic time in the pools and water park, food was as expected but never lacking.The one meal we had at Black Coral (need to book early on in holiday to get in) was amazingly good. Coffees & smoothies were great at Cocohut; water activities lots of fun. We didn't bother with Bula Bikes as thought they were over priced. Apart from a lack of communication with both front desk and restaurant staff on our last day resulting in a slightly stressful check out, staff were great to deal with and that was our only issue during the 8 day stay. It was not a cheap holiday but great memories were made and we would definitely come again :-) Highly recommend as a family holiday (Don't go without kids as you will be in the minority!)
Read more
Date of stay: June 2019
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My partner, baby and I stayed here for a week in February and had the best time. I had read some of the previous reviews and had lowered my expectations but i couldn't have been happier. We stayed in Beachfront Bure which was a stones throw from the beach. The room was spacious and they provided a cot and microwave on request which was needed for sterilising bottles. The rooms were air conditioned and very comfortable. We found the staff to be helpful and friendly particularly to our baby!. We loved the Tivoli pool and restaurant and our friendly waiter Elia. As we were here in low season there were only 60 guests in the whole of the resort which meant we had the pool and beach to ourselves sometime which was just amazing but i think the resort would still hold its charm when its busy. With beautiful beaches with stunning torquoise clear water (which was like being in a bath) whats not to like?! We loved our holiday here and would 100% recommend the resort. We will be going back for sure. Bula!!
Read more
Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Cleanliness
Service
Room Tip:Recommend a beachfront bure.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
My partner and I traveled to Fiji on the 18th of August 2022.
Plantation Island resort is a magical place! With beautiful beaches, great staff, and tones of water activities.
We spent 7 days in this little paradise! And we couldn’t be more grateful. We don’t have kids but we could tell it is a great place to bring the little ones. But also good for couples that enjoy doing activities outside the room.
The beach in the resort couldn’t be any better. The snorkeling in the area is amazing and the scuba diving is out of this world. The water around the resort is extremely calm and the colour of the water is like a postcard picture.
Let’s be honest, there are multiple resorts in the area, more focused on couples and older people. But if you don’t mind the kids running around and you spend most of the time doing activities, we are sure this will not be an issue.
The rooms are a 3 star resort room, nothing fancy. But a good bed, good shower, good toilet and a good working aircon. If you want the Instagram room you may want to book somewhere else. But for us we spent most of our 7 days out of the room, it was perfect and great value for $$. And the beach is 100% amazing. We can guarantee you will want to spend most of your time there.
When you come here please do at least a dive! And the deep water snorkel trip. The island hoping tour .. was a bit boring, they just take you to other resorts.. not very interesting.
Good selection of restaurants and variety! However please note that the prices in the island for snacks are a bit high. Please consider this is an island in the middle of nowhere, so it is fair the snack store has higher prices. So if you want to save some money we highly recommend to buy snacks at the port or prior.
We loved it there, we hope we can comeback one day ❤️🐬🇫🇯
We saw a lot of bad reviews before we came here and we don’t think it is fair! We are 100% happy we came to plantation island resort❤️
Read more
Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Looks like a postcard, but facilities were only ok, and food pretty bad. It was my first trip to Fiji, and I wouldn’t stay at Plantation Island Resort again. The resort felt like a caravan park, and I would prefer something that feels a bit more special.
PROS: * Everywhere you look along the coastline, it looks like a photoshopped postcard. It was incredible! * Weather was perfect in mid-June - warm every day, not too hot, and then it cooled down enough at night to be able to sleep comfortably. No jumpers needed * The dolphin/ snorkelling tour was spectacular and amazing, even for little kids * Choice of pools * Very kid friendly, and the inflatable waterpark was very popular
CONS: * Facilities weren’t built particularly well, and then the maintenance/ repairs were being done by hospitality staff, so pretty shoddy * Food was pretty bad, and I’m not a fussy person. They didn’t have salt or pepper on the tables, and if you ordered chips they were served without salt. Salads didn’t have any dressing eg I was served “coleslaw” which was just shredded cabbage and carrot, no mayo. When we were there the only eating option was the buffet for most dinners. It would have been better to have some choice * I didn’t actually like the beaches that much, which is one of the main attractions of Fiji. The area of beach close to the infinity pool, the water went opaque white as the tide came up, and the sand below felt quite silty/ squishy. Other beaches had sea grass very close to shore * Underwhelmed by the staff, after expecting the super friendly people Fiji is famous for
Read more
Date of stay: May 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
Room Tip:Do the dolphin/ snorkelling tour!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Raumati Barbara, Sales at Plantation Island Resort
Responded Aug 7, 2022
Bula Sososlmps family, Thank you for sharing your feedback on your recent stay at Plantation Island Resort. It is valuable information to help us improve on the overall guest experience. We're glad you enjoyed the beautiful landscape and wide range of activities we offer at this 3 star resort. We are sorry that you felt the food did not meet your expectations. At the time of your stay in June, we were implementing some changes so there were unfortunately some things that were missed. Since then our team have had more training and hopefully this will prevent the same thing happening in the future. Plantation Island Resort is 52 years old so we recognise that some buildings need attention and are currently working on a plan for this, however we hope you also enjoyed our new a la carte Tavola restaurant, bar & pool area which opened at the end of 2019. We are glad you enjoyed the dolphin tour and hope you were lucky enough to see them up close and we do hope you'll visit us again soon. Vinaka, Raumati Barbara Director of Sales & Marketing Plantation Island Resort
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
We stayed at plantation island resort for 5 nights and it was 4 nights too long. We were dropped off at our room which was the middle of a group of three and had two interconnecting rooms either side. The walls were so thin that we could clearly hear both families on either sides conversations. We requested to move and were told that the upgrade would be an extra $60 per night. We agreed. When we arrived at our new room it was a third of the size of the first room, but more expensive! The rooms are very run down and basic. The food is horrific. Breakfast buffet consistently offered left overs from the nights before buffet dinner offerings and was gluggy and cold. We were told on arrival that one of the restaurants was adults only, reception then told us that all restaurants are family friendly. We hired a nanny for our 15mth old while we went on a snorkel trip, the nanny didn’t turn up so we missed our trip. We rebooked for the next day and a man arrived to look after our son. He has little to no English! We walked our son over to the kids club and requested that the nanny stay at the kids club with our son. Later that day we ran into the nanny and he was in the maintenance crew uniform! They had sent a maintenance man to look after our baby! We paid to go on a dolphin cruise. We didn’t see dolphins. Now I know that they can’t guarantee we would see them but no one we spoke to saw dolphins on the dolphin cruise in the time we were there. The beach and sunsets were stunning but that’s the only thing this resort has to offer and you can get that at many other resorts. There’s no wifi anywhere on the resort and supplies are overpriced! 2 icecreams, 2 cans of drink and 2 chocolate bars $40AU The staff were disinterested and frankly couldn’t be bothered and their English was very basic compared to other places we stayed Overall we were very disappointed and won’t be back.
Read more
Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Travelled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Lisa Costello, Sales at Plantation Island Resort
Responded Aug 30, 2022
Bula and thank you for taking the time to provide this feedback. We regret that you and your family did not enjoy your holiday with us as much as we would have hoped. We recognise from your comments that we have let you down in the certain areas such as food quality and service. We have taken this feedback on board with the appropriate departments to implement improvements. Having just opened after a two year closure we have faced challenges with Staff training and supply. We are working through these issues and remain committed to improving our services and facilities across the board.
Read more
Report response as inappropriate
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
There are more places to choose from in the Malolo Lailai Island area.
PRICE RANGE
C$291 - C$428 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
plantation island hotel malolo lailai island, plantation island malolo lailai, plantation island resort, island plantation resort
LOCATION
FijiMamanuca IslandsMalolo Lailai Island
NUMBER OF ROOMS
195
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
Is This Your Tripadvisor Listing?
Own or manage this property? Claim your listing for free to respond to reviews, update your profile and much more.
