Five of the best Fiji resorts

FROM fun family beach clubs to romantic hideaways, we show you the best accommodation in the Pacific paradise.

fiji escape jan 13 best

IT'S one thing to fancy a tropical South Seas holiday in Fiji. It's another to decide where to stay, as the sheer range of accommodation for every kind of traveller is, well, Bali-like.

On a recent journey around Viti Levu, the biggest of Fiji's more than 300 islands, we sampled a variety of accommodation from luxury private island resorts to intimate boutique hotels. The result? Our Fiji five ways guide. Best for cashed-up couples - Royal Davui Island, Beqa Lagoon No kids' pool, no kids' club, no kids' menus. In fact, no kids are allowed at this calculatedly low-key 5-star retreat. The only possible ankle-biters are the crustaceans in the Royal Davui's nightly crab race. The resort, set in a manicured, jungle-like garden, allows a maximum of 15 couples at a time, providing for rest, relaxation and romance, although there are plenty of activities, such as scuba diving, snorkelling, kayaking and catamaran sailing, should you exhaust yourself doing nothing. The 16 elegant, open-plan private vales are in elevated positions above the island's shoreline and are equipped with plunge pools. Even your arrival and departure - a scenic, high-speed boat transfer to the resort from its jetty at Pacific Harbour on the Viti Levu coastline - is a pleasure in its own right. If you don't feel the romance here, you need your pulse taken. Doubles cost from $970 a night for a luxury villa with plunge pool, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. - Don't miss: The amazing sunsets over the boat-dotted Pacific Ocean, savoured from the comfort of your heated plunge pool for two.  See royaldavui.com -- Best for fun and sun-loving families - Castaway Island Resort, Mamanuca Islands Kids' club, kids' meals, babysitters. They love children at this popular Australian-owned 4-star private island resort. And children and their parents love Castaway Island, with many repeat visitors, even across generations. One of the original Fijian resorts, dating to the 1960s but not looking any older than an adolescent, Castaway Island is a deserved favourite and an easy 45 minutes by boat from Port Denarau near Nadi. Snare one of the large, shaded beachside bures, sleeping up to four, with access to coconut tree-shaded sun-beds strewn along the white sand, by the wonderfully temperate waters of the South Pacific. Try, too, to arrange a meeting with the resident celebrity, Wilson, the volleyball co-star to Tom Hanks in the film Castaway, shot on nearby Modriki Island, which Castaway Island's management insists is authentic. Tours of Modriki Island can be arranged. Doubles cost from $500 a night, room only. - Don't miss: Blissful drinks between 5pm and 7pm (adults-only time) at the rooftop Sundowner Bar overlooking the Pacific and the other islands of the Mamanuca chain.  See castawayfiji.com Best for lovers of affordable luxury - Outrigger on the Lagoon, Coral Coast The Australian-owned, 254-room Outrigger on the Lagoon has to be one of the best-value and best-run, 5-star resorts on Viti Levu. Kids are welcome here but they don't dominate and an adults-only area is due to open in March, featuring a lap pool, lagoon pool and swim-up bar. A new wedding reception area is also being built and there are two kids' clubs for children aged three to seven and eight and 12. The welcome from the Fijian staff is as warm as the tropical Fijian sun and, if you're lucky, you may be serenaded on your departure. It's quite a touching and moving experience. Outrigger on the Lagoon is close to Sigatoka Town, where two of the Coral Coast's best attractions, Sigatoka River Safari and Off-Road Cave Safari, are based. And Outrigger's list of daily activities reads like a TV guide. The resort's excellent hilltop spa, with views down the coast, is a destination in its own right. Doubles cost from $236, room only. - Don't miss: Splurge on a table for two at the resort's restaurant, Ivi, one of the finest in Fiji, with a focus on fresh local ingredients.  See outriggerfiji.com Best for fine food fanciers - Sheraton Fiji Resort, Denarau Island, Nadi If your idea of a tropical holiday involves fine food, the 274-room Sheraton Fiji Resort on man-made Denarau Island is an appetising option, and Nadi International Airport is 20 minutes away. The resort's most notable outlet is Flying Fish Fiji, a spin-off of celebrity chef Peter Kuruvita's Sydney restaurant, Flying Fish. Try to secure a beach table on the sand, although there are also private booths. In addition to Flying Fish (signature dish: seared yellow-fin tuna with sweet crackling pork and ruby grapefruit), the Sheraton Fiji Resort features four other eateries, including Feast Restaurant, overlooking the lagoon-style pool; and Pantry in the lobby, where you can grab a decent Australian-style caffe latte. Another advantage of a stay here is that should you exhaust the considerable facilities of the Sheraton Fiji, you can access those of the adjacent Sheraton Denarau Villas and Westin Denarau Island Resort and Spa. Doubles cost from $334, including buffet breakfast. - Don't miss: Still peckish? Pop out for a feed at Indigo, a popular, stylish Indian-Asian restaurant at the shopping centre at nearby Port Denarau, gateway to ferries departing for the Mamanuca and Yasawa islands. See starwoodhotels.com Best for boutique hotel devotees - Five Princes, Suva The capital, Suva, is often overlooked but is worth one or two nights as it is the biggest and liveliest town in Fiji. Not only does it boast some beautiful colonial buildings, gardens and a stunning seaside location but there are good Indian and Chinese restaurants. Your visit will be enhanced by a stay at the Five Princes, a colonial, weatherboard mansion of sorts, once home to Harold Gatty, the Australian aviator who founded Fiji Airways. This quiet, small hotel is favoured by diplomats and business types. Five Princes is set in tropical gardens, with a modernised swimming pool, which Gatty built in the 1930s - the first in Suva. Stay in one of the rooms with polished timber floors, in the airy main house or in one of the separate garden villas closer to the pool.Doubles cost from $130, room only. - Don't miss: A home-cooked meal on the deck overlooking the rooftops and treetops of Suva and beyond to the harbour and islands of the Pacific.  See fiveprinceshotel.com  -- The writer was guest of Holiday Specialists, Tourism Fiji and Air Pacific. -- Go2 FIJI  - Staying there Holiday Specialists offers holidays to Fiji, including accommodation at the featured resorts and hotels. Ph 13 13 81 or see holidayspecialists.com.au - Getting there Air Pacific, due to be rebadged Fiji Airways this year, operates regular direct flights to Nadi from Sydney. There are domestic connections from Nadi to Suva and other Fijian destinations. See airpacific.com  More: See fijime.com