Cook Islands Hotel Tips by FletteMette

Vara's Beach House seems to be the place to stay if you want to party all night long - if you ever want to sleep you might have a tiny problem... The night we stayed there, a huge, loud barbecue party took place just outside our bedroom window - all through the night...

There are single, double and twin rooms, as well as a dormitory - the shared bathrooms, lounge and kitchen certainly weren't the cleanest I've seen.

We had booked for three nights here, but were very happy when we were able to negotiate our way out of staying more than one night.

Vara's has several other accomodation options - some in the hillside and some right on beautiful Muri Beach.


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Theme: Pension/Guesthouse
Comparison: less expensive than average

Address: Muri Beach
Website: http://www.varas.co.ck/index.html

At Are Renga, in the village of Arorangi on the western coast of Rarotonga, you'll find cheapish, very basic rooms - but the rooms are reasonably clean and most of them have a small kitchen and private bathroom.

Price per room 60 NZD.

The beach across the road is quite ok, and has some great sunsets - and the other, better beaches are just a short bus or scooter ride away, anyway - like everything else on Rarotonga..:-)

Unique Qualities: Free airport pick-up
If you're lucky you might also get to pick fruits in the large garden...:-)

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Theme: Motel
Comparison: less expensive than average

Phone: +682 20050
Address: Arorangi
Website: http://www.arerenga.com/
Other Contact: arerenga@oyster.net.ck

Rino's, on the western coast of Aitutaki, offer four garden and four beachfront appartments. We had a so-called beachfront unit, but as there was another building in front of ours we didn't really see much of the beach from our balcony..:-)

The apartments are clean and quite ok, even though the decorations are rather tacky...:-)

Rino's is just a short walk away from Ureia, a small village where you'll find a few shops.

The white-sand beach is beautiful, but not good for swimming or snorkelling. You'll get to see some fantastic sunsets, though!

Price: 111 NZD per garden unit, 169 NZD per beachfront unit.


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Theme: Other
Comparison: about average

Phone: +682 31197
Address: Village of Ureia, Aitutaki
Other Contact: rinos@aitutaki.net.ck