Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Tripadvisor gives a Travelers’ Choice award to accommodations, attractions and restaurants that consistently earn great reviews from travelers and are ranked within the top 10% of properties on Tripadvisor.
Star ratings are intended to indicate the general level of features, amenities, and services to expect. This property is classified according to Giata.
HOTEL STYLE
Quaint
Ocean View
Languages Spoken
English, Filipino
Location
Ara Tapu, Arorangi Cook Islands
Castaway Resort
413 reviews
Getting there
Somewhat walkable
Places to stay are graded on a 0-100 scale. The higher the grade, the easier it is for travelers to find restaurants and things to do within walking distance.
The resort around the restaurant and bar combines every dream you have ever had of a tropical holiday but at a reasonable price. The restaurant and bar area has a Robinson Crusoe/Castaway vibe about it. The bar is called Wilson's like in the movie "Castaway" starring Tom Hanks and there is even a chair made out of a tree stump referring to the movie.
The rooms were clean and spacious. There was a decent full sized fridge and a kitchen area where you could prepare your own meals if you were so inclined.
The pool was inviting.
The restaurant is absolute beachfront. The views every morning from the restaurant where breakfast was served were breathtaking. The breakfasts were filling and copious.
The restaurant has a different menu each night from Japanese to Mexican to Pizza/Pasta. They also have fabulous fresh seafood available.
We dined at the restaurant one night and had the crayfish platter. Not only was it fresh and mouthwatering but the serving was HUGE and an absolute bargain for the amount of seafood crammed onto that plate. My husband and I feasted on it and it was truly one of the most memorable nights of our holiday.
The talented musician at dinner had a great varied repertoire and added to the ambience of our evening.
The tropical bar is open for Happy Hour and they had the most amazing selection of cocktails. Try the Big Kahuna. It is served in a coconut. You will need to share it with at least 1 or 2 other people to get through it. The BEST cocktail I have ever had.
You could swim and snorkel right in front of the resort and the snorkelling was good there.
The location was great too. There was an ATM literally 100 metres away and a little shop across the road. There was also a bus stop right out the front door.
We loved everything about this place but mostly the warm, kind and friendly staff. Nothing was ever too much trouble for them. Everyone from the front desk, the cleaners, the bar staff and the staff at the restaurant were helpful, lovely, friendly and cheerful.
We travelled with my elderly mother and the staff especially the lovely owners Michelle and her husband were so incredibly kind to her and so thoughtful.
Thank you so much to Castaway resort. We had a fabulous time and we hope to return one day soon.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Rooms
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michelle Oberg, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded May 11, 2020
Thank you very much for your review! Your feedback is greatly appreciated. We are glad to hear you enjoyed your visit with us and hope to have the pleasure of hosting you in future :)
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For our 4 weeks on Raro we stayed the first 2 at Castaways. For the final 2 we stayed at an airBnB. In hind sight we wished we had stopped all four at Castaways. There are several reasons why, in Februay the humidity was a killer and the A/C was a welcome greeting to our room. That coupled with a pool to cool off was a bonus as well, our airBnB did.nt have either and we suffered for it. Happy with the room, staff came in every day and made bed and tidied up. The patio doors opened onto the pool and the rooms the other side of the pool, #6,7 and 8 looked like they had been refurbished. The owners Michelle and Paul as well as everybody in the front office were a pleasure to deal with, no problem they could'nt fix. The staff at the restaurant and bar were exceptional, Apo, Treena, Richelle and Mel, truly gave you a Raro welcome. We ate there several times and was impressed with the pizza, especialy the seafood. Other meals included the loaded nachos, chicken vindaloo and the sausage and mash were easily the best l've ever tasted. They have great breakfasts as well, if you are going to have the big breaky bring your appetite with you. The chefs also are a great bunch of guy's and in the morning only they make a certain amount of pies. A couple of times we managed to snag an egg and bacon and a beef and mushroom, yummy. l know the skewers were popular but l did'nt think to much of them, l liked the ones at the Saturday morning market in Avarua more. There's a nice community feel about being on the beach and having a drink at Wilsons in the evening. Most evenings were cloudy but the one sunset we did witness blew us away, spectacular. The loungers around the pool and on the beach look as if they are ready to be retired, but all in all l would recomend the Castaways and we would definatly stay here again should we be in this neck of the woods. Meitaki ma'ata.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Location
Service
Sleep Quality
Room Tip:Â #6,7 and 8. Refurbished by the pool.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michelle Oberg, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Mar 25, 2020
Kia Orana! Thank you for taking the time to write such a beautiful review! So happy to hear you're having such a great time with us and super glad the team here are able to help make your stay here that much more enjoyable! Thank you for choosing to stay with us and we hope to see you back again soon :) Meitaki maata, The Castaway Crew
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Throughout all interactions with staff, from booking to departing, everyone without fail was courteous and helpful. Our room was spotlessly clean with a private balcony with beautiful reef view. We ate at the restaurant every evening and the menu, which changes nightly, was varied and delicious. The cereal/toast/coffee breakfast which is included was more than enough to get you started for the day. Great location especially for sunsets. Highly recommended!
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Date of stay: March 2020
Rooms
Location
Service
Room Tip:Â Upstairs rooms with views
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Michelle Oberg, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Mar 25, 2020
Kia Orana! Thank you for taking the time to write such a beautiful review! So happy to hear you're having such a great time with us and super glad the team here are able to help make your stay here that much more enjoyable! Thank you for choosing to stay with us and we hope to see you back again soon :) Meitaki maata, The Castaway Crew
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The welcome & service that we received from the Castaway staff & owners was truly amazing. With being the first international tourists to visit Rarotonga, a lot of the businesses & resorts were either closed or not really prepared for the first influx of tourists. As soon as we arrived Paul (aka the Sicilian Don) & lovely Michelle made us feel more like visiting family than paying customers. It’s incredibly hard to get that relaxed vibe & yet still have attentive & genuinely caring customer service, Castaways manages it with ease. Beautiful rooms , sumptuous meals and dangerous delicious cocktails are all served up with a smile & great humour. A very big thanks to Trina, Apo, Moeroa, Richelle & Rosally. You made our trip so memorable, enjoyable & most importantly fun! Also the Marketing Director Fe’ena often dropped in to check up with us that everything was ok. Not the usual hotel/resort service! The staff were happy to go out of their way to give out local advice & information whenever approached. We will definitely be returning & are more than happy to recommend to our friends & family. The location was great with shops, restaurants, bars & other resorts within easy walking distance. The resort is absolute beach front with a nice lagoon to swim in, lots of fish if you like a snorkel.
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Date of stay: May 2021Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Talk to the staff with any questions they have great advice on places to visit & things to do!
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Jun 3, 2021
Kia Orana John and meitaki maata for your kind and detailed review! Our team are highly appreciative of your kind words. Both you and Jaimee were an absolute pleasure to host, and are so glad you chose to stay with us for your first holiday in the Cook Islands in 15 months! We look forward to seeing you again, hopefully soon. Meitaki maata!
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We booked the Beach House for a week away with our friends for my 60th birthday. The house was roomy and clean, with a bedroom downstairs with it's own bathroom and two bedrooms upstairs with another bathroom, large kitchen and dining/lounge. I loved that we had a large washing machine and clothes lines, so we could do our own washing. You will need to buy or bring with you your own washing powder. We spent a lot of time sitting out at the large table on the deck. It was a lovely quiet Beach House and we would walk from the Beach House to the restaurant every morning for our complementary breakfast. It was great having the carport under the house so our car was kept cool during the day and if it did rain we could get into the car without getting wet. I want to thank the chef at Wilson's Restaurant at Castaway Resort for making the beautiful cheesecake my friend ordered for my birthday dessert. It was delicious. All the staff are so friendly and helpful. A big shout out to Minnie in particular for unbeknowns to me, my friend spoke to him to organise the cheese cake. Minnie made such an effort to get to know our names while we were there. We went to the resort restaurant on the Sunday night for the BBQ. They had a live singer there and the six of us got up and danced a little which was great. The staff that cleaned our house were very friendly. Thanks to Anita and Liv at the office for being very helpful if we needed any advice or help. We want to say thank you to Paul the owner. We arrived in the dark on the Friday and looked at the board outside the front office, and we were unsure of where our Beach House was. We had hired a 7 seater car so weren't collected by Castaway Resort at the airport. We walked down the footpath with our suitcases and ended up at the Castaway Resorts Wilson's Restaurant. Paul the owner was there and very kindly showed us where the Beach House was as it was one driveway over from the main entrance to the resort and we had our own parking down the driveway. We have purchased meat for a bbq one night and it hadn't been used in ages and not cleaned. The team organised to have it cleaned the next day. There was an oven dish that was rusty and we went over to the restaurant and they kindly loaned us one of theirs. The team at the office are just so friendly and helpful, so if you do have any issues or questions about what to do on the island they are more than happy to help out. They booked a couple of restaurant dinners for us as our phone in the Beach House was not working. They had lodged to have the line fixed, but they said they work their way through the requests, so it could take a few days. I would recommend the Beach House for a family getaway, or for a group of friends, like we had.
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Date of stay: April 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled with friends
Room Tip:Â Go to Muri Beach, they have a reserve there, excellent place to snorkel. BBQ with entertainment...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Apr 27, 2024
Kia Orana, We appreciate you taking the time to write us a review. We are glad to know that you had a great time with us and we look forward having you join us again next time. Meitaki Ma'ata and Regards, Castaway Team
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We went here for lunch on my birthday and got chatting to Trina, she was so welcoming and friendly, as was Paul the owner, and the Crayfish Mornay they had advertised for dinner sounded so fabulous we came back for dinner that night, we got a table right on the sand just metres from the water, Trina was fabulous and had the singer play my favourite song and got the whole place singing happy birthtday. There is a genuine welcoming Raro feeling at Castaways, I didn't see the rooms, but if you are wanting to go somewhere with a spectacular location with the BEST customer service we had on the island, then this is the place. We will definitely come back
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Date of stay: June 2021
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Jul 7, 2021
Kia Orana Sherpa and meitaki maata for your kind review! Our staff are thrilled you had a wonderful dining experience with us! We have shared your review with our staff and they're humbled by your lovely review. Thank you so much! We look forward to having you join us again for dinner.
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Our stay at Castaway was nothing less than PERFECT! We were looking for a nice relaxing holiday and we came to the perfect place. The rooms were fantastic, well laid out and cosy. Spotlessly clean. We had a poolside unit that was very handy to take a few steps and plunge into the water. It was private and yet open to enjoy a nice little balcony area where the afternoon sun streamed in nicely. Great little kitchenette that enabled us to cook our meals when we didn't feel like eating out and a fridge to keep the beer, wine and food items chilled. The restaurant on the beach was fantastic. There is something about dining with sand between your toes that gives you the ideal relaxation while eating and enjoying watching the sunset! And wow what beautiful sunsets from the comfort of your seat. Our hosts Paul and Michelle where so kind and friendly. Nothing was a problem and always ready to help with anything and everything. Their hospitality is 6-star quality. Breakfasts were our daily highlight with Treena on hand welcoming us: "Good morning beautiful people" We looked forward to breakfast every day just to see her and to have a chat and a laugh. Treena goes above and beyond and her friendly nature and banter gave a smile to start our day. She wasn't just a staff member, to us she was our friend. Thank you Treena for being you, and big thanks to the rest of the team who are just as amazing! Thank you, Paul and Michelle, for sharing your paradise with us. We will be back!
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Date of stay: January 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from CastawayResortRaro, Owner at Castaway Resort
Responded Jan 22, 2020
Kia Orana, Thank you for your lovely review on TripAdvisor! We appreciate the lovely descriptions of our resort, the service of our staff and everything else here at Castaway. The team send their regards to you and look forward to welcoming you back should you find yourself on our little island again :) Meitaki Maata, The Castaway Crew
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Booked a poolside villa and received a dark dingey room looking at a wall and a fence, when we asked about it was told that was poolside… what a joke! The shower had cracks in the tray and the floor felt spongey… mould around the top of the shower….two light bulbs that weren’t working… then to top it off used the iron and discovered it had wires exposed in the cord! Would not recommend staying there at all…smoke alarms have been removed also, we were booked in for 10 days but found alternative accommodation after 4.
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Date of stay: September 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Sep 18, 2023
Kia Orana, Thank you for the time taken to submit a review. It is unfortunate that you did not notify us of your displeasure during your stay, nor give us a chance to rectify any issues. The room you stayed in is only 5m from the door to the pool. Many of our guests prefer this room due to the privacy afforded by having your own fenced courtyard for outdoor dining. However, we apologise for the minor issues with your room and would have been happy to resolve them if you had made us aware of the situation. Alternatively, we would have offered to relocate you to another room. Kia Manuia, Castaway Resort Crew
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Great value, Amazing sunsets, Lagoon immediately out front of Resort offers small sandy area for swimming, the reef in this area has an abundance of corals and fish not the easiest to access (better on the high tide) but then the "best" spots are never easy! Staff and service are nothing short of incredible! Food in Resort is of a very good standard. Really enjoyed every meal we had. (huge variety of options) Location is great, other eating/drinking options only a short 10-15 min walk along the beach (North & South of Castaway). Room was comfortable, clean and well serviced, we really did not want for anything more. A very enjoyable experience overall made that little bit extra special by the most hospitable, friendly and helpful staff we have had the good fortune of meeting in many years of traveling. Meitaki Maata to the Castaway Crew.
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Date of stay: March 2024
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Sleep Quality
Trip type: Traveled as a couple
Room Tip:Â Enjoy everything about this wonderful Island, its people, and Castaway Resort.
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Apr 26, 2024
Kia Orana, Thank you for taking your time in writing us a review. We are glad to know that you enjoyed your stay with us and we look forward to your next holiday. Meitaki and Best Regards, Castaway Team
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We had the most wonderful stay at castaways resort. Welcomed from the moment we arrived. Beautiful hospitality and staff are incredible and have a wealth of knowledge. The staff went above and beyond especially with us arriving last minute with no booking. We stayed in a poolside villa downstairs was very clean and tidy and kitchen was spacious.
Wilson’s bar happy hour was spot on opens at 4pm And the buckets of Corona are only $19.
Thanks again for a great stay!!!
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Date of stay: February 2022Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from Castaway Resort, General Manager at Castaway Resort
Responded Feb 22, 2022
Kia Orana jackiecI2228VG and meitaki maata for making the time to leave us such a kind review! We're thrilled you enjoyed your stay with us and that our team could help you out with your last minute booking. We love helping our guests in any way we can! We hope you'll join us again for another stay soon. Kia manuia
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Kia Orana, we have a WIFI hotspot available which you can purchase WIFI vouchers for. It is not complimentary. WIFI vouchers can be bought at the Friendly Mart from across the road.
Kia Orana, it is humid and hot during the summer months (Dec-Feb) and it can be very tropical at times (Long periods of rain) Best to bring a rain jacket, and lots of reef-friendly sunblock
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