Hotel berhampiran Neco Marine Palau, Koror

I found this place as a hidden gem when I stayed here 12 years back. And it still feels as exotic, romantic, and rustic as it felt back then. On an island more known for waterfront results and luxury digs, this jungle beauty is a refreshing break thanks to it being nestled amidst a grove of Coconut trees and thick jungle-like greenery LOCATION: Close to Palau downtown inside a lush green setting. With easy access to the waterfront from the back of the property DINE + DRINK: The Jungle bar is a super cool place to hang out in the evening and comes with an African jungle lodge bar vibes blended with a funky dive bar. The Restaurant was closed during our stay ROOM: We stayed in Room PAPAYA COTTAGE, so this review is based on that; VIEW: sweet view of the coconut trees and greenery from a romantic balcony attached to the room; SIZE: Spacious enough for 2 adults and simple baggage; AIR-CON: Perfectly functioning cooler that helped in setting the perfect room temperature; BED: Comfortable bed that played the expected part of putting me to sleep; BATHROOM: Spacious enough and comes with a nice Bathtub and shower; TOILETRIES: Good quality cosmetics FACILITIES: No gym on site. But there is a sweet swimming pool in the middle of all the greenery! SERVICE: Friendly staff that took care of all our needs with a smile and made us feel pampered and well taken care of. Special Shout out to LISA who was managing the property for accommodating all our special requests, and LEONARDO who ensured we had a great time at the fabulous Jungle Bar HOW WIRED YOU WILL BE: Free Medium-speed Wi-Fi that works well all over the property. No Television in the room, pure jungle chilL!

I was pleasantly surprised. The staff were very helpful and friendly. I was greeted by name everytime I walked through the door. The hotel appears to have been recently renovated. Everything is spotlessly clean and the lobby always smelled nice when you walked in. It is a short walk to restaurants, shops, ATM, etc. All the activities I did, offered pick up from the hotel. The staff were very helpful helping me find something to do for the 2 days I didn't have diving planned. Due to Covid, there was not many available options but the persevered and I had something to do every day. If you want a clean central location with exceptional staff to use as a base for activities you can't go wrong.

We stayed at the Palau Pacific Resort for 11 nights. This was my 3rd time back. The stay was lovely . The property is wonderful and everybody who works here is so friendly and helpful. Lucy and her staff did everything to make us feel at home. Whether it is the front desk people, the restaurant staff or the pool boys, they are all wonderful and service oriented people. We had fresh flowers on our bed every morning after cleaning and everybody is smiling when you see them. Every morning we enjoyed sitting down for a great breakfast enjoying the ocean view. The beds are very comfortable and the rooms are nice. The bath rooms could use some update - but giving that everything else is so wonderful, this is very minor. We will definitely come back. One of the nicest and relaxing places I have been too. Thank you so much for your great hospitality!

The room was was fresh and clean. The most comfortable bed I've slept on in a long time with 4 very nice pillows. Great air conditioning, almost too cold for my taste. Bottles of water were replenished daily in the fridge. The balcony was spacious with a beautiful view of the ocean, and I had spectacular sunsets nightly. Definitely make a trip across the street to the Best Coffee and Donut House. I wasn't expecting to have such a fresh and a delicious treat. It's a hidden gem, with a YouTube video, too. The only thing that will make me not want to return to this hotel is my experience during checkout. I had to wait while the room was inspected by the manager. After being approved I stated I did not steal any towels, pillows, or lamps. Not even the complimentary soap or shampoo bottles. I was so extremely offended that I offered to open my suitcase for inspection. I had a bottle of water with me to take to the airport, but I purposely set it on the counter and said that I certainly didn't want to be accused of stealing.

Headline: adequate but disappointing for the price point. Service: this was the biggest disappointment. Check in and check out times were very strict and inflexible. I arrived early (9:30 am), and they told me I would have to pay to get into the room before 3pm. I declined and stored my luggage, which was appreciated, but fairly standard. When I asked for late checkout, they gave me an extra hour and could not offer later checkout even for a fee, so that I checked out at 1pm, but my flight was not until 2am. Friends at the hotel across the street had complimentary late checkout at 8pm, just saying. Room: the AC wasn't great, and the shower temperature was variable. Clean enough; not pristine. Amenities: Gym was great--lots of different machines and weights. Nice steam showers. The bar was consistently empty and understaffed--the one time I tried to order room service, no one picked up. Breakfast had limited western or vegetarian options--not necessarily a ding, but something to be aware of. The main pool was closed for renovation while I was there, and seating around the smaller pool was very limited and within the ”splash zone” of kids playing in the pool.

We thoroughly enjoyed our 3-night stay at Palau Central Hotel, a great base for a stay in Palau. It is located on the main road right in the heart of downtown, close to numerous shops, supermarkets, and restaurants. The onsite resto, The Canoe House, is an excellent place for a meal or drink. All the hotel staff were extremely friendly and helpful. They assisted us in organizing snorkeling tours and rental cars and provided other bits of useful information about the local area. Our room was excellent, one of the few facing south out to the Rock Islands, so we had the most excellent views from our spacious balcony. The room was very big, well-lit, and airy and spotlessly clean. Everything as modern and tastefully furnished with a huge king-size bed. The room had all the mod cons including great AC, satellite TV, strong Wifi connection, and a good little mini-fridge. The hotel buffet breakfast was quite good with a good variety of hot and cold options. However we were disappointed with the lack of fresh tropical fruit – just imported apples and oranges available for some reason. Seems to be a big problem in getting fresh tropical fruits across Micronesia!! We made use of the mini-gym on the 2nd floor. It was indeed mini, only enough room for 2, maybe 3 people. There was a treadmill and a rowing machine, as well as a few dumbbells and a multi-gym. All equipment was of the lowest quality, but luckily it was relatively new so still in working order. Not very impressive but better than nothing! We also had the fortuitous experience of being the first people to use the hotel rental mountain bikes. We gave them a really good run around the streets of Koror. They were adequate, but again, very low quality, so may not last long if not well looked after. Overall we had an amazing stay here and would highly recommend it to all travelers looking for a good, comfortable base in Koror.

Looking for a resort for your wife and family to hang out in the day while you are out diving then this is not the place. Go to Cove. Looking for a resort that has a poolside bar and big western bar /restaurant /lawn /buffet then go to Cove. HOWEVER, if you want a special secret place that is 1/3 the price of Cove and a great place to sleep while you use your hotel arranged $50 /day car rental then stay here! The hotel is local and smaller so it is a great place to sleep at night with good size breakfast and plenty of free breakfast coffee. It is similar to Cruise Control Diving Center, which Leo, Shell Hotel Manager, helped me find and actually drove me to. I wish I could have given him a big tip! CrCont Diving is Japanese tailored, English speaking, Japanese traveler and Western traveler place that is larger than Sams and Fish&Fins, yet not as well know outside the Japanese tourists. It is less than half the price as the others and all the dive places use the same 500 hp boats and go to German Channel, the Big Hole and Blue Corner etc. (The three biggest sites). How did I find out about it? Leo from Shell Hotel personally took me there! Getting back to Shell, it was great. I lived the clean Balinese interior. There was no mold, no bugs on the floor and modern toilet, shower and sink that are even better than my upscale home in the USA. I have not written a review of a destination hotel before. I did this because I owed travelers this inside only special gem of a place that charges so much less and isn’t on the Google searches. I wish they would put this on Google Maps or the Apple Maps that comes with the iPhone. That way more people would know about it. Yes, they rented me a car for $50 per day including insurance. They took me to Cruise Control Diving. I hadn’t heard of them before either. I did put some pictures of Shell on this review. Again, Shell is not the place you will want to hang out at all day. It is a more local hotel that is a great place to lay your head at night. It is priced lower because it is not a resort. If you want to go to Palau and need a super clean and helpful staff, oh yes, did I say 1/3 the price of a resort :) , then this is the place to stay where you won’t feel ripped off. It is like a B&B but your own and not in someone’s house. In it’s category I highly recommend it 10/10. The staff will give you all the inside knowledge of Palau and take you to locals priced places. Thank you Leo!

I stayed at Airai Water Paradise Hotel during the COVID pandemic. It is still an unforgettable experience to travel to Palau at 2021. The employee shortage resulted in the closure to most of the restaurants and shops on the island; you won't have choices of the meals even in the hotel's restaurant. Please try to visit Palau after the pandemic.