Staying at Club Raro
by calbears91 about Club Raro
Hi,
My wife and I stayed last year at Club Raro. The Raro tours shuttle from the airport took us to the hotel charging us about 20NZD for both my wife and I. The lobby is open and breezy. There is a small restaurant that has a cooked breakfast in the morning. The pool is located in the middle of the resort and the bungalow surround the pool, and some stretch along the water. The water there is rocky, although I did see people snorkeling. The sound of the water crashing against the ref was mesmerizing. We stayed in a waterfront bungalow. The room was clean, and simple. The bed was a queen, and the TV was a 19-inch with only 4 channels (Local Cook TV (not on much), CNN, Cartoon Network, French Movie Channel). The bathroom is large and clean.
The resort is located about 2 miles from town. The cab ride into town is about 10NZD. There is a good restaurant within walking distance. You can walk to town, however, there are no sidewalks so if it has rained the side of the road will be muddy. The restaurant is Tamarind (http://www.tamarind.co.ck). The food is really good, and the wine list has a great selection of NZ wines.
Overall, I enjoyed the resort. It is older--mid 1970s, but clean. The staff is nice, and the town is accessible. The biggest drawback would be that the water is rocky, instead of the nice beach most people prefer.
Chris Open Air, Friendly staff, near the ocean. Close to town
Rarotonga
by calbears91 about Club Rara
My wife and I stayed last year at Club Raro. We arrived very early in the morning due to the flight being delayed (Aloha Airlines). The Raro tours shuttle from the airport took us to the hotel charging us about 20NZD for both my wife and I. The only problem was waiting for the tour bus to fill before they left. There were no cabs at 3:00 am. The security guards let us in. The lobby is open and breezy. There is a small restaurant that has a cooked breakfast in the morning. The pool is located in the middle of the resort and the bungalow surround the pool, and some stretch along the water. The water there is rocky, although I did see people snorkeling. We stayed in a waterfront bungalow. The sound of the water crashing against the reef was mesmerizing. The room was clean, and simple. The bed was a queen, and the TV was a 19-inch with only 4 channels (Local Cook TV (not on much), CNN, Cartoon Network, French Movie Channel). The bathroom is large and clean.
Forum Posts
Club Raro Stay
by Chester143
Hi,
Wanting to know if anyone has stayed at Club Raro, Rarotonga.
Planning a 10 day stay on a limited budget.
Also, are there any places of interest, restaurants, cafes and bars around or near the resort.
Thanx
RE: Club Raro Stay
by FletteMette
Didn't stay at Club Raro - but I believe that's just outside the main town on the island (Avarua) - you'll find lots of cafés & such in town.
This web site is great for info about the Cooks: www.ck
Enjoy the Cooks - I wish I was the one going there...:o)
RE: Club Raro Stay
by calbears91
Hi,
My wife and I stayed last year at Club Raro. We arrived very early in the morning due to the flight being delayed (Aloha Airlines). The Raro tours shuttle from the airport took us to the hotel charging us about 20NZD for both my wife and I. The only problem was waiting for the tour bus to fill before they left. There were no cabs at 3:00 am. The security guards let us in. The lobby is open and breezy. There is a small restaurant that has a cooked breakfast in the morning. The pool is located in the middle of the resort and the bungalow surround the pool, and some stretch along the water. The water there is rocky, although I did see people snorkeling. The sound of the water crashing against the ref was mesmerizing. We stayed in a waterfront bungalow. The room was clean, and simple. The bed was a queen, and the TV was a 19-inch with only 4 channels (Local Cook TV (not on much), CNN, Cartoon Network, French Movie Channel). The bathroom is large and clean.
The resort is located about 2 miles from town. The cab ride into town is about 10NZD. There is a good restaurant within walking distance. You can walk to town, however, there are no sidewalks so if it has rained the side of the road will be muddy. The restaurant is Tamarind (http://www.tamarind.co.ck). The food is really good, and the wine list has a great selection of NZ wines.
Overall, I enjoyed the resort. It is older--mid 1970s, but clean. The staff is nice, and the town is accessible. The biggest drawback would be that the water is rocky, instead of the nice beach most people prefer.
Chris
'HELP NEED ADVICE" PLEASE'
by supermum
Hi everyone,i'm in desperate need of advice.I am wanting ot geT married sometime this year(maybe july or nov) we were going to go to fiji but when WE checked out the prices we found raratonga to be cheaper then fiji(we could be close to nice beaches and not pay to much,if in fiji we would only be able to afford to stay on the main land.) MY QUESTION IS When is the best time to go is it ok in july or nov? Also is club raro resort a nice place to stay,we have a young toddler and can not afford to much in the way of accomdation but neither of us have been out of new zealand and want to enjoy ourselfs.Maybe someone knows of another islannd also that may be suited to us!!!!! PLEASE HELP.cheers :)
RE: 'HELP NEED ADVICE" PLEASE'
by bpolt
Hi,
It looks to me like JULY would be better --less rain, a little cooler. but you may want to research this yourself at www.wunderground In the SEARCH box, just write Rarotonga. On the Rarotonga page, about a third down find Almanac and History. Be sure to change the year to 2005 (later you can check other past years also.) Put in any date in July (later do November.) You will get a page with the weather statistics for that date. Go directly to the line that says Daily Weekly Monthly; choose Monthly. there you will find the range of temperature highs and the range of lows for the month and Precipitation figures. Scroll down. Near the bottom there is a calendar for the whole month. To see the statistics for any one day (for instance, the rainiest) click on the date. You will find an HOUR BY HOUR report below the summary for the day. You can look at other years, other months, and so on. this is a great web site. (My directions may seem complicated. You can just go to www.wunderground.com and look for the choices, step by step.
For more on Club Raro, go to their web site www.clubraro.co.ck They have a "Garden Room' category at an Internet Special rate of $150, with children under ten (12?) free. sounds good. Check the location.
Is it near other facilities? If you rent a car it won't matter, and there is probably a resaturant there; but if you want to go anywhere else, you may have to use the more-or-less hourly bus, which runs only during business hours.
If you do a Google Advanced Search for "Club Raro" you can get further information.
I, myself, was about to research lodgings when I got distracted by your message. (I am going in June.)
If you have time, read the reports on hotels at the Virtual Tourist site.
Enjoy your honeymoon and have a happy life together!! (Two marriage rules: 1. It's not a 50/50 proposition. It's 100% for each! 2. Remember the Golden Rule --and follow it)
weather and accomodation in raro
by sarahlw
Hi there
I am going to Rarotonga in mid august next year, does anyone no what the weather is like?
Also i was going to stay at club raro, but the travel agent said she would not reccomend that one and that the beach is not nice at all... yet i have read good reviews about it. can any1 help?
Re: weather and accomodation in raro
by nzlilibet
August is winter, but most days will be sunny and mild. You might need a light jacket in the evenings. In theory it's the dry season so you may not get much rain, but that's the luck of the draw.
Your travel agent is right. Don't go to Club Raro. It has the worst reputation on Rarotonga and probably also the worst beach (the reef is very close to shore so there's no lagoon to swim in).
Re: weather and accomodation in raro
by abbs_the_snail
Hi,
Try Varas Beach house... a backpacker hostel right on Muri Beach - one of the nicest beaches on Rarotonga. They messed our booking up when we got there so ended up staying in their beach bungalow for a knockdown price. Or you could try Papa Rau's... a hostel with about 4 rooms and a really homely feel. The owner owns the local bakery and brings fresh bread over every day. Its right opposite a lovely stretch of quiet beach and quite close to the start of teh cross island trek. This was our favourite place as we made the most friends here.
On a previous trip we stayed at Backpackers international and had a ball, but when we arrived this time it had seriously gone downhill... the staff were fed up and the hostel itself was dirty throughout.
You will absolutely love the cookislands... they are truly paradise.
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Entrance to Club Raro
Lobby of Club Raro
Entrance to Club Raro
Lobby of Club Raro
