We stopped at Castaway Beach Villa for 6 days on our way to Australia. I highly recommend it if you want a quiet, low keyed vacation. Because it was the end of the raining season, the entire island seemed quiet. The hotel has 12 units, but only 3 to 6 were occuppied at any one time. We had one of the two beach front villas. We really enjoyed being able to see the beach right from our porch and easily walk straight to the beach. It is the hot and rainy season, and all the locals complained about the heat. That is why we came, so we were just fine. There is no air conditioning in the Beach Front Villas, but the ocean breezes made it comfortable enough for us. Other units had AC.

We seemed to have the beach to ourselves most of the time, except on the weekend when some of the local kids were playing in the water. The hotel had kayaks and snorkeling equipment readily available. You can only snorkel from the beach at high tide, but you can walk on the rocks at low tide and watch the fish swimming in the shallow water.

There is a nice cold breakfast with the room rate everyday. A few days we were offered hot food as well. You get to meet the other guest at that time. There is a nice litte restaurant as well, but due to the low number of guest it was not open many days. The food was good both times we ate there.

While the hotel is a little ways from town, it is only a short walk to 3 or 4 other restaurants. As I said above, the beach is nearly empty and it is a very quiet area. You can rent a scooter or car to get around, but we just used the island bus line.

We have been to Castaway Villas twice now, with a third trip happening the beginning of May 06. We love this resort so much, as well as the owners Dorothy & Cameron Robertson. While Rarotonga itself is beautiful, this resort and its hosts keep us coming back. I could not imagine staying there under any other circumstances.

Because this is a smaller resort, the hosts have an opportunity to interact with the guests on a social level as well as professional. Their restaurant boasts some very good food, as well as their Wednesday night beach barbecue with live music. It's just a fun and natural place to be. Along with the other tourist type activities on Rarotonga, at Castway Beach Villas you only have to step outside your unit to have beach, pool, bar and sunshine!

It is very clean, decorated well and I would not hesitate to recommend it ... and I have. It's a long way to go from Canada and we have had friends book into Castaway Beach Villas, trusting that we would not go there 3 times if we did not love it so.