This is a review of Six Senses Fiji from a family perspective. We visited on September 23, during the high season.
We have stayed at multiple Six Senses resorts as a family, including Six Senses Koh Samui, Seychelles, Maldives, and Soneva (a legacy Six Senses resort). We had also previously stayed at Six Senses Fiji just before the coronavirus pandemic.
We have a good understanding of the Six Senses philosophy and the standards to which they adhere.
Before going into details, it's worth noting that most of the staff were friendly on a one-to-one basis and did their best to make small talk and show interest in the children. We don't like to point the finger at anyone in particular, as the experience should very much be a team effort.
TLDR: Would you recommend Six Senses Fiji for a family holiday?
Given the number of family options in Fiji, we wouldn't recommend it, based purely on our last experience. It is a very expensive resort; therefore, you expect a certain level of service, particularly when it comes to dining and the GEM experience.
The General Manager did take the time to listen to our feedback. We were offered some complimentary spa treatments, although, in our opinion, this was barely a token gesture. I did try to address these issues to avoid writing a post like this.
Pre-Arrival
Due to an admin error on my part, we took the boat from Nadi Airport to the Six Senses resort. It was about a 30-minute drive from the airport to the harbour, followed by another 45 minutes by boat to the island. Although tiring, this process was fairly smooth, with plenty of representatives to guide us along. The boat is open on both sides and has a toilet if needed. We took the helicopter back in the rain, which was a very enjoyable experience, lasting no more than 15 minutes.
Our immediate first issue was that the items we had requested were not available. Important items like baby sterilisers, which we had emailed about ahead of time and confirmed would be available, were missing. They had to go back to the mainland the following day to pick up a new one. The cot was in the wrong room, and a couple of other baby items were missing, all of which we were told pre-arrival would be arranged. This is not what you want after a long day of travelling. I almost had to demand that they get us a new steriliser and was not happy with the other solutions they were providing.
Rooms/Resort
Our second issue was the location of our villa. We stayed in a Hideaway Pool Suite, Villa 15. The placement of this villa was along one of the main access roads through the island. Construction of some houses at the far end of the resort meant that trucks and construction noise were passing through very early every day and continued all day long. It was not relaxing, as construction teams were dropping off people and making plenty of noise. This road is also the main access path in and out of the resort. If you're looking for a relaxing stay, avoid this villa. I did request a room change, but none were available due to the high season.
This villa is also near the Rara Restaurant and Bar, which hosts the evening entertainment. Therefore, if you're looking for a quiet night and want to put the kids to bed, you'll hear the noise through the walls—it's very loud.
In general, the rooms and the resort feel very tired. It appears that there has been little investment in these areas, which is understandable given the impact of the coronavirus on the island.
However, cleanliness was not up to par; there was a lot of black mould in the showers. It was clear that the cleaners were not doing a thorough job. We asked multiple times for the cleaners to keep the doors closed in the evening, as our children and partner have severe reactions to animal bites. Yet, these simple instructions were consistently ignored, and multiple doors were left open.
Our pool pump kept breaking, causing our pool to fill up with dead bugs and stagnant water. I eventually gave up asking them to come out and clean it, although the pool guy was very polite and nice.
Everything looked exactly the same as during our first visit, just more tired, broken, and worn.
The resort is situated in a nice little bay or cove, making it very safe for kids to play in the water, even if there is some coral underfoot.
Six Senses GEM
The GEM (Guest Experience Maker) service at Six Senses is a personalised butler service. GEMs assist with tasks such as dining reservations, transportation, and activity planning to enhance guests' stays. The service aims to anticipate and meet individual needs for a seamless, tailored experience.
We encountered a number of issues with our GEM. There was very little in the way of "exceeding expectations"; it felt like the bare minimum was being done. We had very little conversation with our GEM, unlike our previous experiences with the service. There was definitely a communication barrier. Although the Six Senses management team offered to swap our GEM, we felt it was too little, too late.
Six Senses Fiji Dining
The main dining options at Six Senses Fiji are:
- Tovolea: This restaurant offers Pacific-inspired dishes like kokoda and coconut cream ceviche. The setting includes views over the pool and beach, and the Tovolea bar offers "living cocktails" to enjoy while watching the sunset.
- Rara Restaurant & Bar: This venue offers themed dinners from around the world, using locally sourced ingredients. The restaurant provides a calm marina view and serves signature cocktails and homemade tonics.
- Teitei Pizzeria: Beyond serving stone oven-baked pizzas made with fresh ingredients from their herb garden, Teitei also functions as a cooking school. You can enjoy the pizzas on-site or take them away.
- Ice Creamery: Offers homemade ice cream made from fresh and local ingredients. They recommend topping it off with ginger and honeycomb.
- Gourmet Deli: Located within Rara, the deli offers a range of foods, fresh produce, snacks, and beverages. It's ideal for grabbing treats to take back to your villa or for a picnic.
Our Review:
The Gourmet Deli and Ice Creamery felt just as barren and soulless as we remembered from last time, somewhat isolated from the rest of the resort. Compared to other Six Senses Ice Creameries we've visited, this experience was totally underwhelming. Ordering a smoothie from The Gourmet Deli could easily take over 30 minutes, even when there were no other customers waiting. It's clear that the people working there are likely just helping out. However, the smoothies were nice. The place feels soulless, especially when you visit during the day and find yourself surrounded by cleaners in the Rara restaurant.
We didn't visit the Rara Restaurant as the fixed menus were not to our taste and offered less flexibility for the kids.
The pizza restaurant is open only a couple of nights a week. The pizzas are basic with a limited selection but nice. The kids enjoyed the cinema evening. If I were to be picky, the cinema experiences at other Six Senses resorts were superior, offering more seating, snacks, and an elevated experience. The service at the pizza restaurant was okay one night (the day we spoke to the General Manager) and then reverted to the norm on our other visit.
The main restaurant is Tovolea, where most people dine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We encountered numerous issues with the service and quality of food here, including but not limited to the following. These issues occurred at almost every meal, every day:
- Slow service every day
- Coffees often taking 30+ minutes to arrive
- Meals taking 45+ minutes, despite ordering the kids' food as we sat down
- Staff were instructed that we wanted to eat promptly
- Orders were incorrectly processed; we had to keep sending food back, which we don't like doing
- Always waiting for menus to be given; couldn't understand why this wasn't happening as we sat down
- Ignoring clear, concise instructions about baby food; they kept adding salt and cheese to everything despite our instructions
- Food was quite bland, lacking the usual fresh Six Senses energy
- Food often felt heavy and not light or fresh
- Incident where one of the chefs was arguing with 4-6 of the serving team in front of everyone at lunch, creating an awkward atmosphere
- Food seemed like it had been sitting under heat lamps for an extended period
- Food felt greasy, and ingredients seemed to be coated in a similar taste
- Restaurant staff would all congregate around the till area, not attending to guests; I counted seven staff standing there as we waited for water and menus
- Difficult to get water topped up
- Breakfast choices felt limited and underwhelming compared to other Six Senses resorts
- The whole "sleep, rest" format of the menu feels dated and cliché now
We continually encountered issues due to a lack of communication between management and restaurant staff. We were told multiple times that we could dine early with the children and essentially order what we wanted. However, this consistently became an issue when we arrived early at the restaurant and found no staff available to serve us. This only exacerbated the issues we had with dining at Six Senses, Fiji.
Pool Service
I'll touch on this briefly, but Six Senses Fiji is leaving money on the table. During all the times we sat by the pool, we were asked only once if we wanted food or drink. The one time we requested a drinks menu, it was not brought over.
There was no one cleaning up towels and beds, preventing other guests from using the now-empty, dirty beds. This is a far cry from other Six Senses experiences, where staff are very attentive by the pool and surprise guests with daily treats.
Six Senses Kids Club Fiji
Our 5-year-old loved the Kids Club; she enjoyed all the activities and had a great time playing with the staff and other children.
The actual Kids Club facility is a bit tired, with an old building and a worn toy selection compared to other Six Senses resorts. However, 5-year-olds don't care about that, and she loved it.
We did experience a very serious issue where we waited over an hour to find out where our child was and why she had not been returned. While the island is generally safe, this lapse was unacceptable. I immediately raised the issue with the General Manager and was told it was due to a communication breakdown. Communication improved thereafter.
We didn't use the babysitter service, but other guests spoke highly of it.
Six Senses Fiji Spa
We hadn't planned on using the spa but took the opportunity to have 90-minute massages, with 60 of those minutes being "complimentary."
This was one area where the resort's wear and tear really stood out. However, the massage I received was by far the best I've ever had at a Six Senses spa. It was excellent, and we passed our positive feedback onto the spa team, who were also very pleasant.
One annoyance occurred while I was enjoying the cold bath and hot spa: people who had just finished working out in the gym would immediately jump into the cold pool without showering and were quite loud. While this isn't directly Six Senses' fault, I felt they could manage this better for the sake of all guests.
Beach Club
One area where I found the staff to be less polite and even borderline rude was the Beach Club. On a couple of occasions, we used the paddleboards, and the staff took their time attending to us. They were constantly on their phones. I mentioned that it was my daughter's first time on a paddleboard, and they showed zero interest, despite her excited nerves. We were then required to carry the boards up and down the beach ourselves. The staff were also unhelpful when I was looking for some lost property. Overall, they lacked the energy and helpfulness we've experienced at other Six Senses beach clubs.
Wrapping Up
There are many positive reviews about this resort, so I encourage you to read them all. We are just one family among thousands that visit each year. There are also many returning guests. What didn't work for us might work for others.
Given the financial and time investment we made, coupled with the level of service and accommodation, we would not choose to stay here again. Our daughter had a great time, but she too was frustrated with the dining service.
It seems there has been a lot of change in ownership and management at Six Senses resorts recently; perhaps that's the issue at a group level. The format and unique selling points (USPs) that were fresh 10 years ago have become a bit stale and are no longer unique.