Oure Lodge Beach Resort

The location is spectacular - Paradise! - quiet, peaceful, not too large and direct beachfront - however the actual resort desperately needs updating - (moldy lounge chair mattresses, broken curtains, broken furniture - small details - however there are lots of them - so the place looks shabby and tired). I believe it has been operating for 20 years now - would be great to see them spend some money on the place, Oure tera has the definite potential to be a Top Class Resort given the perfect location/positioning they have - and would then justify the AU$600+ per night accommodation I paid for a Beach Bungalow. Lunch is the best menu of the day and food quality - the dinners - alas, really not value for money given the food quality - (steak was like rubber) - however the dinner service crew (the ladies) - were really lovely.

The rooms are comfortable and spacious, if a bit tired and reasonably clean, not more than that, but after all - you come here for the location. The staff - mostly friendly, but quite laid back. The swimming pool in the photo is a masterpiece of perspective - in reality it's probably just a kids paddle pool and a nice photo op for dinner. The beach is the best part - make sure you snorkel on the left end, over the coral reef, and if you kayak over the bay ("rental" is free, which somehow they don't tell you upfront) you will see plenty of turtles. Everything is overpriced, especially the food: I didn't try the breakfasts, the packed lunch was OK, dinner would have been OK for a home-style dinner, but certainly not what I would have expected for the price and pomp that were involved. I wanted to dine at the next-door gite's restaurant, but couldn't get hold of them over the phone (should have just walked over to book - it's literally next door), so I ended up eating 2 dinners at the resort - grossly overpaid. For lunch - you can easily walk over to the Nautilus restaurant on the next beach over, even without booking. It's not a lunch to write home about but also not that grossly overpriced. For activities: definitely go to the "Natural pool", but make sure you ask for all the information when you book - they don't volunteer any information... You must bring your snorkelling kit, closed shoes for walking, water-shoes, food and water and probably best to ask for a map of how to get to the pool and where to meet the shuttle afterwards before you leave the hotel. Going there on the "traditional pirogue" is nice but not a must. It's very long and monotonous. You could take the shuttle to the same destination. Overall the snorkelling at the resort and at the "natural pool" were the best I had in NC - far better than the other little islands you reach on water taxis from Noumea.

Great location on a beautiful bay but rooms are tied and in need of refurbishment. Meals are OK but breakfast was disappointing – light-on for healthy choices and food not regularly replenished. Service was generally good except for tour information and management. Tours appear to be contracted out to third parties with hotel management taking no responsibility for negative outcomes. Notably, our island boat tour was a real RIP-OFF. If you do take one, avoid the half-day "numerous bays & islets" boat tour @ 7,500 XPF operated by Jeremi. He bundled us up with the half-day Brosse Islet tour (@ 4,500 XPF) and pretend it was the (more expensive) bays and islets tour. When we caught him out, this unscrupulous operator refused to refund our money, so did the Hotel! Best to avoid these tours altogether, or stay elsewhere

We enjoyed the beautiful location, gardens and comfortable bungalow with patio. The layout of the resort is spacious and allows privacy for guests in their rooms. Some staff were friendly (especially our cleaner) but others in the restaurant did come across as surly - language barrier? We found even in reception at times there was no one who could communicate in English. We also had trouble finding staff working at the activities kiosk, and after two days of looking we climbed in the window to get paddles so we could use the free kayaks! Similar story at times in the restaurant (especially the last half hour before breakfast finished) … and yes, the cats still jump on the tables and eat off the guests plates when they leave. Breakfast had a good variety of fruit, bread and cheeses, but after one mediocre lunch we never ate another meal here (except the included breakfast). The quality of the food and service just did not match other places on the island. We too ate at the Hotel Kuo-Bugny for half the price, and had an excellent meal at Le Meridien for a similar cost to lunch or dinner at Oure. Although we preferred this location being close to other restaurants, snack and stores in Vao, the Oure Lodge is best rated as three star and seemed overpriced. We could have stayed at Le Meridien for the same or possibly a lower cost.