Manea on Muri

We stayed here for 2 nights after our wedding in Takitumu. Grateful we could access early however the office was wide open and no one in sight, very hard to get hold of anyone to discuss check-in. Photos do more justice than the actual accomodation itself. There was construction out the front of our room and around the pool area which was disappointing as we were not informed of this. Black mold in the bathroom along with a huge cockroach. Some lights were not working and some didn't even have bulbs. My husband had the first shower there and water went cold part way through it. Pool was lovely. Very basic accomodation. Will not return to this accommodation.

Not the best. Good views. Cleanliness need to be improved.

The villa was spacious with lovely view of lagoon and could hear the ocean in distance. The location was excellent with best snorkeling, close to restaurants which we sometimes walked to along Beach. The staff were all very helpful. Thank you for a memorable holiday.

Manea on Muri to us was outstanding. It has everything you need and on the doorstep on one of the best parts of the Island (Muri beach). We only had about a 100m walk from unit 2 straight into the lagoon past and great pool with a view.   The view was outstanding looking out from the deck onto the lagoon and both Oneroa & Motutapu Islands. Manea on Muri was bang for the buck compared to other property’s with lagoon views.
Found Manea on Muri to be quite like what you would expect from a kiwi batch. Bit rough around the edges but everything you need is there. It’s not the Nautilus or Muri  Beach Resort but a week’s stay at Manea cost the same as one night at these other places.
I will definitely be back thanks to all the team @ Manea on Muri you made our 8 days in Raro one to remember.   The fruit, late check out and fantastic commutation was a great cherry on top.

A great place for family's. If you're looking for a perfect romantic get away, book a resort instead. We stayed in the 3 bedroom unit by the stream. Yes the units are older, tired, not 100% clean. But the beds are comfortable, it's spacious and it met all our needs.
The stream next to the villa is full of fish and other creatures, there's nets so the kids can try catch them! Also big mud crabs kept the kids entertained too. It's a very short walk to the pool and direct lagoon access, which is shallow enough the kids can stand and see the fish in the water, but deep enough for a good snorkle too. We brought our SUPs with us and cruised around too, but there is a SUP available to use and a paddle (with one broken fin).
Yes the chickens and dogs are loud but that makes for an authentic rarotongan stay, it didn't effect our sleep.
Just out the drive way there's a bakery, restaurants, water station and a convenience store. And the muri night markets, lagoon cruises and shops are a bit further along.
It is the perfect location.
I was hesitant about our stay given the mixed reviews, but it has been really enjoyable, the adults and kids have been very happy!
We requested a porta cot and it was virtually brand new, and had a mattress too. Plenty of towels and beach towels available, drinking water at the laundry. It's been a great stay! Wendy the host was lovely and came by daily doing odd jobs around the property, it's obvious they're working on fixing things up.

Had a nice stay here. Right on Muri beach with easy beach access. Beautiful views on the balcony of the beach and garden nature. The pool is right next to the beach and is good for a swim any time of day. They provide chairs along the beach front as well as snorkel gear and kayaks. The rooms where decent sized with kitchen, lounge, nice bedroom and nice bathroom. They provide an air conditioner for the bedroom which was very handy as it was quite hot. The lady who owns the place is very nice and helpful with anything. She let us keep our belongings in her office until the check in time which was very helpful for us. I would probably bring ear plugs because the roosters that live around do make a bit of noise in the mornings but that issue isn’t to do with manea on muri as we stayed at many other locations with noisy roosters too. Roosters are all over the island and can’t be avoided. I would stay here again.

This is budget accommodation for Muri Beach but isn't really up to standard. Wendy the cleaner/Manager was very helpful and the room was clean but the lack of maintenance lets the place down. There are 2 x 1 person and 1 x 2 person kayaks but only one good paddle and one broken one. The mini safe in the room wasn't bolted in place so could easily be taken. Several lights not working and flat batteries in TV remote. The view from the rooms would be vastly improved by relocation the pool shed which blocks the view.

There are a couple of good points with this property, but they don’t outweigh the downsides. I’ve written many reviews over the years and try to always be objective to help others decide. By way of context we booked this accomodation last minute (2 days out) as our travel agent stuffed up our original booking so we didn’t really do enough research before confirming this place.
The Location.
The property has direct access to the upper end of Muri beach (just around the corner past the rugby ground) and they provide a couple of stand up paddle boards and kayaks to explore the lagoon with. It gets quite shallow at this end of the lagoon so you really need to check when high tide is if you want to snorkel or swim.
It was nice to be able to walk down the beach and back each day to get food, but you will need footwear for the first part as it is quite stony.
The Accomodation.
Because of the location being on the end of Muri beach, you are more in amongst residential homes, and it is quite noisy. There are many roosters which crow throughout the day and night, the chickens sleep under the villa and next door they are building a restaurant so there is a skill saw and hammering going from about 8 in the morning at the moment.
We stayed in the 3 bedroom unit (Unit 5) which definitely does not have the advertised specs of the other units and which the website and the travel agents confirmation mentions, e. G there is no rain shower, safe or TV (not that we usually want one on holiday).

Privacy and quietness, is something we could not find at a typical resort in Rarotonga. On the top of that Menea on Muri offers the comfort, pool, kayaks, snorkeling equipment and staff friendliness. There is no other place I would ever choose to stay while in Rarotonga. Also, thank you Fern for your kind help when we needed it.

We stayed here for 6 nights.
After reading many mixed reviews we decided the good out weighed the bad.
Reception is only run limited hours. We found this no problem and our transfer knew what room we were in and showed us in (prebooked transfer)
The bungalow was very clean. It’s Rarotonga — you need to go with the flow. The TV sucks because no one goes to Rarotonga to watch tv. It’s not the hotels fault. Raro has crappy tv. Don’t blame hotel for it. (However it worked and we got a mix of NZ and Aus news channels)
The bed was comfortable.
We were travelling with an infant and portacot was provided free of charge.
Shower had better pressure than we have at home in NZ.
Outside chairs and tables provided and a BBQ with gas bottle.
We were in villa 3. We were told it was lagoon view (not front) and yes we could see the lagoon. See pic. It literally was a 20 sec walk to beach. No complaints from us! Beautiful to sit on deck and hear water.
It’s not expensive. It’s middle road price. And it’s middle road standard. Great value for money. If you want flash go to the big resorts like pacific resort.
Yes some parts are tired and could do with a repaint. It’s Raro — you shouldn’t go there if you can’t handle island standards.
Pool was nice.
Photos are from my phone — fantastic setting And we just loved it.
Kayaks to borrow are good and fun.
Snorkeling gear and reef shoes are there.
Free laundry.
Great location! Less than 5 mins to a mini dairy.