One of the finest experiences I've ever had at a hotel/resort, period. Oyster Island is less of a resort and more like staying with family...family that happens to live in paradise. The environment, people, service, food and accommodations are all top-notch. I stayed for four days during a tour of the South Pacific last month which included Tanna Island (also in Vanuatu), Fiji, Tahiti and New Zealand. This was easily the best hotel I stayed at. I will return!
The Oyster Island is just a paradise. The location give a reel pleasure sensation. The accomodation is perfect, typical and very clean with an incredible view on the lagoo. All the staff are Professional, the food and the service are perfect, and more over the GM Nabil is a fantastic person and do all the time his best to give satisfaction to his guests.
It was a fantastic experience and i recommand warmly this resort
Serge
You can't argue that it has a fantastic setting. Stunning surrounding coastline, quaint little huts and nicely decorated layout. The island is much bigger than you think so have a good walk around. There is a path that loops it!
Free kayaks was awesome and we really loved the food each day. Top marks to the chef especially for the steak!
The staff are all very friendly but don't confuse that with great service. A lot of little things which could have made our stay so so much better.
Here are a few things:
- They had no idea who we were when arrived and took us to 3 separate rooms until they worked it out.
- Staff were not aware of the best snorkelling spots around the island.. ?
- Directions on how to walk around the island/kayak were not very good and left us confused
- Our transfers back to the airport we had booked prior to arriving were forgotten about and booked last minute the night before
- We had to leave early on our last day and although staff were around we were not offered the normal breakfast. Just bread.
We felt it was probably down to poor management of the island. So it could easily be an incredible resort, they just need to get a little more organised and up the serivce and it would be fantastic!
We loved the friendly staff especially the lovely Christina, and appreciated the professionalism and care from managers Bev and Nabil. There is so much to do at Oyster that we could have stayed a week - snorkelling, exploring islands by canoe, or doing walks on the island to quiet and private beaches. We stayed in the budget accommodatiion after a month visiting remote parts of Vanuatu and it was a real haven to be on Oyster. Great place for kids, and love being away from technology there. To the new owners - please don't change anything!
Firstly, Oyster Island is a truly beautiful place in a fabulous location. We never got tired of the outlook from our room, or walking the perimeter of the island, and the grounds and common areas always looked very tropical and well kept.
Often the place felt deserted, even though we knew what other guests were there.
Not a problem for us, as having paradise to ourselves is a luxury!
Plenty to do and see around the area, Santo is a stunning place, and most tours etc, can be organized at the resort.
However, communication problems abound, particularly when management are just not there. This led to some issues with guests missing tours and excursions.
Personally we got along well with management and thought that Bev and Nabil were friendly and approachable. All the recent issues for mine seem to evolve from them not being around and tending to their other hotel on the 'mainland'.
The local staff were excellent, particularly the wonderful Christina, and also Richard and the Johns.
Food was really quite good, excellent fish and lobster. And as is part with all of Vanuatu, food and booze will take up most of your money!
We had such a relaxing holiday in such a beautiful place that 4 stars is a fair guide, even with some of the managerial and logistical problems.
Oyster island is a beautiful island ! We made a walk around the island and discovered some pretty amazing beaches, the resort itself feels a bit tired..The paths around the island were not maintained, there was no decent way to get into the sea.Their main attraction a plan wreck to snorkel to was badly signed and was almost impossible to get to, you basically had to crawl through the dead coral. We booked a standard room facing the river which was basic, small room with fan and a small bathroom. Probably you get what you pay for, but the resort was completely empty! We were the only guests, upgrading wouldn't have costed that much! Breakfast was ok, almost a la carte since we were alone. Dinner was better than expected ( good meat and lobster risotto). We were there the same moment a religious conference was going on on the main land, not the fault of the resort but the enthusiast preachers (for hours) were a nuissance. Management was a bit absent, they were more interested with closing down for maintenance than with their actual guests. No farewell,.. strange !!
