Jiwaka accommodation from NZ$119

Our stay started out poorly as the receptionist couldn’t find our booking and so asked me to send me to send a copy of my confirmation email to the hotel email address. Once she received that she spoke to another staff member then told us that they didn’t have any rooms left of the type we had requested. They upgraded us to the next level of room up. That was fine. The room was nice, the king bed was very comfortable, the blockout curtains worked well, and it was spotlessly clean. Although we subsequently discovered some problems - minor but not good considering the rating of the hotel. Eg couldn’t get channels on the TV, fridge do seal was coming off and the toilet bowl mounting lifted from the floor. Following on from our check in issues, during dinner in the restaurant the receptionist said that they could move us to a room the next day that was of the type we had originally booked or we could stay in the room we were in but that we would have to pay the extra tariff. Since we had already unpacked and settled in, that was not something we wished to do. I also informed her that it was not our fault that they didn’t have any of the originally booked rooms ready for us and it was their choice to upgrade us. As a result they let us stay in the upgraded room at no additional cost. Food, included the free continental breakfast, in the restaurant was adequate and better than most meals we have had in PNG hotels and restaurants. Although we didn’t use the pool, it looked great.

Nora went out of her way to help especially when my flight was cancelled and we had to get to the airport by 7am the next day to be certain that I got on a flight. It may seem expensive that she charges 70k to pick up and take you into town but she spends a lot more time than just doing that. She is keen to please. The main problem there is that the internet is pretty patchy but I think that is a problem all over PNG due to the water in the hydro dams being short and therefore a lack of electricity