Post #454637 by tikineekie on Mon, May 18, 2009 3:08 AM

Samoa is amazing! I went there in February. Stayed at Tanu's Beach Fales in Savaii and just loved it. If you want adventure & excitement Tanu's probably isn't for you. It is definitely the place to relax. We went in off season so it was very quiet. At most 15 people any one night but we met some great friends at the communal meal times! They even put on a fia fia for us. It was great. Very authentic and without the glam factor some of the bigger hotels put on. Across the Rd from Tanu's is Robinsons or Robertsons. Pretty darn cool. Lots of tikis. A tiki bar that looks like it's left over from the 50's. It doesn't have the kitsch factor but it is pretty authentic - same can't be said about the drinks though!! But definitely worth a look!
Also stayed at Aggie Grey's in Apia for 3 nights. Very expensive for what it is but also very cool! We stayed in the Nixon Fale. Loads of tiki's around the gardens & there's a great Fia fia in the restaurant.
Samoa is definitely worth the holiday. It is dirt cheap there. Picked up some fab masks and war clubs. Had a wee quarantine problem though - declared them through customs/quarantine and they were cleared, but a week after getting them home discovered little piles of sawdust sitting next to one of them and some borer holes. Rang quarantine & was advised to bring them in, which I did. They "seized" them for fumigation but I was able to pick them up a couple of weeks later.
Will definitely go back to Samoa. Get there before it's ruined by commercial tourism!