德沃斯 - 私人住宅(DeVos - the Private Residence)

16 of us from Australia and New Zealand converged on the incredible De Vos Residence crew with the wonderful Sue overseeing! Nothing was ever too much for them. Colee, we all fell in love with you and can't wait to be back to see you all again! It shows that you all love working there with one another, there is always music, smiles, dancing and laughter! The meals were incredible and abundant with special mention of the fluffy pancakes Rita makes who was also kept very busy with massages on the beach, sooo relaxing listening to the waves. Volleyball, kava ceremony, BBQ, swimming, horse riding, kayaking, surfing, hair braiding, singing, dancing, bonfire, eating, sleeping, eating again, reading, sun bathing, laughing and laughing, massages, relaxing, walking, boat trips and my absolute favorite, snorkeling! So many beautiful fish to see! Even though there were 16 of us, we had our own privacy with our separate rooms and ensuite. Every morning we woke to a spotless house and were called for meals and events by the beating of the drums which sounded fantastic and could be heard from wherever you were on the property. We have decided as a family that we will be coming here for our holidays from now on, our experience was so wonderful! Vinaka vaka levu to you all!! See you soon 🩷 The Roddis family

I can't comment on the physical property as we did not get to stay there but their communication and service during the booking process was the worst I have ever experienced. Booked a room in Sept 2022 for a stay in May 2023. Received an email in Feb 2023 saying "we cannot accommodate your booking with the room booked due to our availability and Inventory". I emailed back for clarification and didn't get any response for 4 days despite multiple follow up attempts. There is no telephone number for DeVos the Private Residence listed anywhere that actually works. Finally I called their other property in Suva and was told that there was a "mixup with the calendars" and due to a large group booking they couldn't honor our reservation. When I pushed them to honor the booking they then claimed the group booking had been made earlier and there was no way they could accommodate us. The funny thing was though that I had been monitoring the prices at the resort (so I could cancel and rebook if the price went down) and there was availability the whole time I was monitoring it. So my assumption is that they got a group booking and decided to just cancel our booking so they could accommodate the larger group. Now I get that's its a business and they want to maximize their occupancy, but that's just super sh*%ty. Throughout their communication was worse than abysmal. No number to call. No one picked up the phone to call us. No one responded to multiple emails for days. (Our last communication I emailed them on March 1 and finally heard back on March 5th). Moral of the story, if you like being cancelled on and then ignored for days on end then this is the place for you! If you are concerned about making sure you have a reliable place to stay that's not going to leave you scrambling to find a suitable hotel, then don't book here! You never know if a more enticing reservation will come along!

Upon arrival we were greeted warmly by all of the staff and given welcome drinks. We were then given a quick rundown of the Residence and given our room keys. We were told to lock our doors at all times which at the time didn't think much of but we locked them anyway. As it was dark we were all led to our villas and rooms some which were upstairs in the main house which were like a hostel room at best. See picture of sheets attached. The villas themselves were tired and in need of maintenance. There are a lot of things i could put in this review such as blocked toilets, water leaking from air conditioners, etc but the review would go on too long. We also paid for the meals package which was average but we understood it was never going to be high quality as we weren't at a five star hotel. The pineapple was the best thing at all of the meals. Pretty hard to make that taste bad when all you have to do is cut it up. That being said we were happy to overlook all of this as the location was fantastic being right on the beach and water. As we were soon to learn the location wasn't as great as it all seemed. On our 3rd night of a 9 night stay the drum beat for us to all go to dinner. It was dark and the sound of the drum was obviously a sign to some local thief that the rooms would be empty and everyone would be at the main house eating dinner. During this time one of the villas was broken into by them pushing down hard on the door handle to break the lock. As you can see by the pictures of the villa next door to the one broken into, that wouldn't be hard to do. Over $2000 worth of items and cash were stolen. We don't blame the owner of the villa for the break in but the way it was handled by them was extremely poor. We had the police come to the villa that night to fill out a police report for insurance purposes etc. We spoke to one of the managers as soon as we found out the room had been broken onto to let them know what happened. In the morning we assumed management would be onsite to discuss what had happened but were only greeted by staff who would barely make eye contact with us. I rang management to discuss the break in and to let them know that we didn't feel comfortable or safe to stay there anymore and to request a refund out of goodwill from the owner for the remaining 6 nights to help us pay for accomodation for the rest of our stay. We said we were happy to leave the food package money to cover any costs that were incurred. ($5500) The response we got from the owner was that it was "very unfortunate" and that it was unusual and hadn't happened there before. There was no "i'm sorry" this has happened whatsoever. We have later been told by staff and other locals from the area it has happened before. We were also told our police report doesn't reflect what we were saying (why would we lie) we were advised that the door lock was fixed straight away. (it was still broken 36 hours later when we left) We were told that the staff re arranged

Our villa was perfect! Very spacious room sleeping 6 people, comfy beds, a panaramic view of the beach foot steps away, with the pool directly behind us. Our room had an outdoor bath which was great for relaxing after a long day of 'touristing'. The staff were EXCEPTIONAL and made our first time in Fiji unforgettable.. Collie, Jossy, Lo, Loreena, Peceli, Rita & our amazing chef Toni (We miss your french toast daily!) Nothing was too hard for them and it was all done with their infectious big smiles. We fell in love Fiji not because of what the beautiful island has to offer, but because of these beautiful souls that made it hard for us to leave. Our children also miss them terribly! (Aged 17, 16, 8 & 5) We all left abit our hearts with the staff of De Vos. Last but not least Chris the owner, that went above and beyond to ensure our stay was memorable. Always checking in to make sure everything was ok. THANK YOU DE VOS FAMILY!!! WE LOVE YOU!

The staff at Devos are honestly amazing, they brang my family and I so much joy and are definitely the best part of our holiday in Fiji. We’ve made friends for life and will never forget our time we spent with them. The place was beautiful with great food and service. I loved how close the pool, chill out place and dinner were to eachother and the stairs in the back lead that straight to the beach. Everything about my experience was just perfect. Definitely coming back here the next time I visit Fiji.

We were a group of 11 who recently spent 7 nights at de Vos. We booked de Vos exclusively and as such it was just us, the staff, and the local dogs - who we were more than happy to be adopted by. Special shout outs and pats to Knight and Charlie. I agree wholeheartedly with earlier posters regarding the staff at de Vos. From our host Loreena to Tony in the kitchen, they and their team were great and contributed to the success of our holiday. De Vos catered for all breakfasts and 5 of our 7 dinners. All meals are served buffet style, and we found the range of choices great (we arranged the menu prior), the food was tasty and plentiful. Lunches were either eaten out or from de Vos’ blackboard menu - which changed daily. The facilities across the road were handy with a central area which had 3 different food options and a bar. There is also a service station, ATM machine, supermarket, and a spa. We had dinner twice across the road at Craigs Diner and the Tipsy Italian and were more than happy. We had 4 bures and 2 upstairs rooms (Mango 1 and 2) and would describe the accommodation as ‘rustic and authentic old school Fiji’ but more than adequate. The air con was certainly welcomed. The main purpose of our stay was to celebrate our 30th wedding anniversary. This was the highlight of our trip with the de Vos team arranging a special lovo dinner and with entertainment provided by 4 fire dancers and a local musician who played a 3 hour set for us. The only negative aspect was the main pool. It was very murky and despite their efforts, the staff could not remedy this during our stay – we still used it, but it was not up the standard expected. Fortunately, the property is beachfront and we all enjoyed snorkelling and kayaking. Many thanks to Annemarie, Loreena, Tony and the entire de Vos team for looking after us all so well.

We were so lucky to have found this beautiful, authentic accomodation! We were welcomed with open arms by lovely Loreena, which was here for us the entire time sharing ideas, offering help and organising the most delicious breakfasts and dinners! Together with Coly and the whole team it was such a pleasant stay and we'd love to come back soon! ☀️😍

We stayed 5 nights at De Vos with our 3 young children. We simply loved our stay. The food was amazing (thank you Toni!), air conditioning was cold, there was great snorkelling right out front - we loved seeing the friendly baby sharks most days. We were the only guests, and felt very spoilt having the place to ourselves. The kids loved the pool and the gorgeous lounge area. The staff were amazing with our kids and so friendly and accommodating. They really went above and beyond to make our whole stay enjoyable. The staff involved the kids in making a lovo, braided their hair, organised horse rides, took them on a reef walk, and they did a village tour with Rita, visiting a waterfall and local school. Their nightly dance parties with Loreena won't be forgotten in a hurry! Coli's pinacoladas were excellent too. Our bure was beachfront. It was spacious, very clean and tidy, with comfortable beds and ample pillows. The room was serviced often, and spic and span (thank you Logi!). It was great to have the bar fridge, and tea/ coffee making supplies, and coffee plunger. The swimming pool was great and the outdoor bathtub in our bure was a lovely surprise. I highly recommend the Tipsy Italian across the road if you are looking for tasty, authentic pizza. Your place is a hidden gem. We will definitely be telling friends and family to come and stay. Thank you!

We stayed at the Devos residence for 7 days for an extended family holiday. We had a group of 16 made up of 4 families and the location and design couldn’t have been more prefect for our group. The villas are all separate and gave each family their own space while being close to each other. We opted for the full catering option which was prepared buffet style for each meal and we were really surprised with how good the food was. The staff were exceptional and super friendly (thank you to collie & Loreena) and we’re happy to give us lots of local tips which made our stay a lot easier. We went on a island day trip from the beach house which was recommended by the staff and it was amazing! Would highly recommend this trip to a private secluded island. The location was the best part! We were right on the beach and woke to the sound of the waves breaking every morning. There is a local pier about 100m walk down the beach and I’m the beach is a marine reserve so unfortunately no fishing but the snorkelling was great, we even saw baby reef sharks sunbathing which were told is an attraction for the area. We were so happy we decided on staying at Devos over a larger resort as we had the privacy that we wouldn’t have had in a big resort and spent quality time together which was really important as a lot of our extended family hadn’t seen each other since before covid. We can’t wait to be back again in the future, thank you to Loreena and the whole team ❤️