My personal review

CLUB RARO RESORT

Ara Tapu, Avarua, Rarotonga.

Club Raro is located on the North/East coast of Rarotonga. A beachfront property only a few km’s from Avarua where you can explore the shallow lagoon or surf the great break close by.

The property is a resort, catering to all travellers; singles, couples, families and groups. There are many rooms here surrounding the central hub consisting of the lobby, restaurant, pool and bar heading through the resort towards the ocean.

Breakfast is included in the rates at Club Raro so every morning we were able to feed up before heading out around for the day. The food on offer each morning changed just slightly with the morning buffet including coffee, juice, cereal, toast, scrambled eggs, baked beans or tin spaghetti and of course some island fruit. This was a fantastic way to start the day and an expense that is not needed while staying here.

It is the most affordable resort accommodation in Rarotonga but this also means it’s busier with more travellers and staff accounting for more daily noise. I definitely got more of a social, party vibe while staying here and it would be easy to sit by the bar drinking cocktails for hours. The staff at the bar and pool area were funny and interactive with the guests providing some good laughs.

Scooters and bikes are available for rent here but it is at a higher cost compared to anywhere else on the Island. You’ll have to leave the resort to find many other places for a much better price.

Club Raro have their own WiFi data available to purchase at the front desk in the lobby costing $50 for 1gb. This is the same cost as Bluesky data at $25 for 500mb but annoying if you’ve already purchased WiFi as you won’t be able to use this in the grounds of Club Raro. If you need to access your data you can do this out by the main road in the car park area otherwise wait until you get to Club Raro to purchase your WiFi data.

We stayed in a room for 2 people located on the East side of the resort, behind the fairly new 3 storey building at the front. Our room had a Queen bed which was getting a little old but still ok for a 2 night stay. A very clean bathroom that had THE hottest, best shower I’ve had on the Island! Also in the main area was a kitchenette with a small fridge and cooktop, microwave, kettle and toaster. We had a TV and watched some local news and also some viewing from New Zealand and Australia. Some available rooms are more self contained than others (cooking facilities) so make sure you check the room you want has what you need.

Rooms are made up if needed and towels are replaced every 2 days but Club Raro have a water saving policy so if you don’t really need fresh towels (as this wastes precious fresh water on the Island) you can choose to keep the towels you have already and assist in saving water. There were no flyscreens on our windows so you might get a few mozzies in over night. A ceiling fan is above the bed and Air-con is only available in some rooms at Club Raro. A small safe is in the wardrobe area but this is quite small and will only hold passports, money and maybe a camera.

This was a great value property to stay at for $171.50nz per night. It was a little harder to stay grounded here on the last 2 nights of our trip with so many other travellers around the property (a personal thing for me as I like to switch off). It’s a bustling little place that caters very well to all travellers; solo, couples, older families and groups. It’s a perfect spot to chill by the pool,  grab a bite to eat or enjoy a few cocktails knowing your room is only metres away when you’ve had enough exploring or lazing for the day.