Sad is the word to describe this resort. It is old and shabby but is set in beautiful grounds which are well kept. Even the staff seem to lack the usual happy smiles of other resorts and hotels in Vila. The big problem appeared to be the one dining room which tries to deliver a fine dining experience(with the prices that go with it) with a holiday camp style all you can eat buffet. The service was slow if you wanted other than self service. The water on the tables was not chilled and tasted stale.Fine dining with paper sachets of salt and pepper and pre- packed margarine,I don't think so!!! General maintenance at the resort is poor with toilet doors not closing and only one toilet for a huge dining room. The resort does not include the local tax in its prices and this can lead to a bit of a shock in the bar and restaurant. The setting on the lagoon for this resort may have been pristine at sometime but now this area of the lagoon is often stagnant and smelly. All in all there are many other places to be based for a lovely holiday in Vanuatu with much more competitive prices than this resort. I advise future travellers to shop around.

The setting is very nice. The restaurant for breakfast has a very beautiful outlook on the lagoon. The room had a good feel to it and was clean and tidy. Service by the local staff is attentive and nice. One thing we seriously disliked is their pricing policy: everywhere else in Vanuatu we found that the prices quoted included the mandatory 12.5% tax, in the Meridien the prices compare to the upper end of pricing for drinks, etc, but it does not include the tax, so you get slugged with an additional 12.5% every time you buy anything there. Everyone got stung by this little ploy of Le Meridien: we compared the prices and thought they were par with the high end of town but then, at the time of paying, we discovered we had to pay an additional 12.5%. Got quite peeved. Problems we had: 1- the electronic lock to our room ceased working for a couple of days so we had to have a security guard open our room for us with a master key every time we wanted to access our room. 2- one of the bands playing in the lobby bar shook every bit and piece of our room till way past eleven at night -this was a nightmare! we could not muffle the sound with anything because the bass was so loud and deep. Called reception a few times (they had trouble hearing what we were saying) and always got the same answer: this is the last song and we will ask them to lower the volume ... and nothing changed, and the music kept playing. 3- the room never got serviced before 4pm. Half of the days we spent there (10 days overall) we had people servicing our room after 6pm while we were trying to take showers and get ready for dinner.

My wife and I stayed at Le Meridien Port Vila for three nights in what we believed was going to be a fantastic room. The rooms and facilities sounded great and looked fantastic in the pictures we saw over the internet. Unfortunately on our arrivial the room was a little disappointing. The room was small and the beds were, well small to say the least for a classic king room, but anyway. We had problems with moisture in the room and the tiled floor often became a death trap as the tiles became slippery. The air conditioner made a shocking noise and we could not keep it on all that long with out it driving us batty so we ended up utilising the services of the ceiling fan for the duration of our stay. The staff are very friendly and the facilities of the resort / hotel are fantastic however the disappointment of our room put a bit of a dampener on our Port Vila experience.

Having been to Fiji, Tahiti, Norfolk Is. my wife and I (both over 70!) looked at Cook Is, Tonga, before deciding on Vanuatu, and didn't regret it. Having travelled a fair bit, our expectations were not for a 5*+ in a place like Vanuatu, but we were pleasantly suprised by the resort's facilities in terms of rooms, meals, and recreation. VERY friendly staff, not gushing or fawning, but plenty of smiles and talk - one must remember to switch onto 'Island Time', things get done eventualy but always with a smile. A real cross-section of ages and nationalities staying at the Meridien, but all seemed to be very happy with the set-up. Keen golfers would have to go to the P.V. Golf Club for a decent game, the 9 hole course is a bit frustrating greens -wise, but you don't have to cart your own clubs over on the plane. Our only negative comment would be that the first impression as you drive in is spoilt by the continuation of the shocking roads on the Island (the roads in Vanuatu consist of a series of large potholes joined occasionly by a bit of tar seal) . First impressions are important, we noted Le Lagoon had a very impressive drive up to Reception, however once at the front dor of the Meridien, this was counteracted by the welcome at Reception. Did several town trips - P.V. 5min by taxi 'Chills' is a good eating spot. Hired a taxi for 5 hours $V12,000 good value taken to local knowledge spots off usual tourist routes. All in all a fantastic week well worth the package price.