It was my first time in Apia. My other half that I traveled with new of Outrigger Hotel. It was a pleasant experience and very worthwhile. The staff were very helpful, giving tips of where to tour, hot spots, nice romantic restaurants, etc...

The rooms are like apartments with amenities like air conditioning, fans, refrigerator (small size)...A suite with all the comforts of home. A kitchen with every convenience, you can cook your own breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Also they serve free breakfast every morning. Finger foods and very filling.

They have a really nice big pool in the back area where breakfast is served. There's a supermarket called Lynn's for your convenience. A five minute walk there won't hurt. The town area is less than ten minutes from there if you take the taxi and it will only cost you 2 or 3tala.

If you're looking for a budget hotel, this is the one for you. We really enjoyed our stay at Outrigger, I would stay there again and would also highly recommend it to anyone...

We were travelling with our two children, ages 4 and 9, and the Outrigger was an oasis. We stayed in the large and airy family room just off the lobby, and it was perfect. The pool, the covered terrace, the attentive staff, the proximity to the centre of town and Vailima, everything, made this a perfect stop on our family's tour of Samoa. We'd recommend The Outrigger without hesitation.

I stayed at the Outrigger for 3 nights in Nov 2006. One night at the start of the trip (After stepping off the plane at 1am in the morning,) and 2 nights at the end of the trip. Overall it was a very nice place. It was clean, friendly and economical. My friend and I shared a room with a fan for $120 tala per room per night including a basic breakfast with fruits and tea and coffee and pancakes (pancakes were not too flash though). Shared toilets and shower. They were nice and clean. Towels were provided but not soap or shampoo, The bed was comfortable enough, but as always, I brought my own pillow.

For those who would like a traditional experience you could always stay at their garden fales next to the pool; however, I have heard that it is very hot in the fales, no fans. For those who prefer an airconditioned room there are some available.

Samoan Outrigger is about 10-15 minutes walk to town- this sounds like quite a short distance but the hot humid weather was a bit uncomfortable for me.

There is a little pizza place 5 minutes walk called Giordano's. $35Tala for a super large pizza. For other places to eat you'd have to travel into town. You can get beer and bottled water and instant noodles and snacks in a little shop 5 minutes walk away.

This is a great place for those who like to self-cater. I would recommend catching a taxi to the fish market and the food market to purchase fresh local ingredients. Taxi to town costs $3 Tala each way, and travel between fish market and food market by taxi is also $3 Tala.

The Samoan Outrigger has an roofed deck area downstairs where you can eat, socialise or just sit around. There are some chickens running around waiting for you to feed them, and also 2 cats roaming about.

There is a biliard table, board games (we played scrabble), and also TV (didn't watch it at all!)

Internet access is available on dial up at 42k, $5 Tala for 15 minutes.

The staff are friendly and helpful, smiles all the time. It was kinda strange having 5 people serve 10 people breakfast!!

The type of people who stay range from backpackers to families. Mainly people aged 18- 35. It's not really designed as a romantic place for couples though.

Oh yeah, one drawback for the place is that it gets fairly noisy at times, especially early morning... light-sleepers beware. However I was so tired from the day's activities that I slept well anyway. Bring your own alarm clock or you can ask the staff to wake you up.

I would recommend booking ahead, you can call the property direct or email them. Credit cards are accepted and 1 night's cancellation fee applies.

I enjoyed this place. For my next trip I would definitely stay there again. 8 out of 10

The Outrigger was our first stop when travelling to Samoa in August 05. You can arrange transfers direct through the hotel but its cheaper to catch the airport shuttle bus for only WS$10pp (have the address on hand for the shuttle driver). Located about a mile back from central Apia, its a bit of a hike for walkers but a taxi into town will only cost you WS$2 and you can flag one down easily enough. The rooms are pretty basic, but reasonably clean and comfortable with lockable doors (WS$20 key deposit required). The hotel offers a variety of room types at very reasonable prices. You can choose from:

Fales WS$45pp located down near the pool and kitchen, with shared (clean) facilities, security boxes in each fale and mossie nets.

Double WS$110 or Triple WS$130 in the Main Fale (upstairs) with shared facilities.

Double WS$160 Air-Con Rooms (downstairs) with en-suite, mini-fridge, small verandah - table & chairs, tea/coffee facilities. Single & Family rates also available at reasonable rates. We spent less then $130 aussie per night for 6 ppl (not bad considering).

Your room rates include an all you can eat breakfast - nothing special but it is filling (toast, tea/coffee, jam/butter, seasonal fruits & coconut). One of the benefits of the Outrigger for the money conscious is that the kitchen is open for guest use - you purchase your own food items and can prepare your lunch & dinner meals for yourself/family...this can def. save you some money. Just ask for your own storage box and label your items in the fridge...theft of items was not an issue while we stayed there. You also have access to the in-house laundry (I think there may be a small fee).

Staff are friendly and more then happy to help in anyway, at night if you need to visit the front desk and its unattended, just lean over the counter...you'll find your friendly desk clerk asleep on the floor! Bottled water and Samoa's own Vailima beer can be purchased here for WS$4 each. There is a small communal TV and a billiards table in the foyer. One computer and printer is available for internet hire (WS$5 per 5mins I think).

Other guests congregate in the dining area next to the pool and you'll find some great conversation, hints and tips there. Scots, Kiwis, Americans, Aussies & Germans make for some fun talks....