The Hostelz.com Review
Horizon Beach Backpackers Resort is a fairly commercial enterprise with many rooms and large compact dorms. They offer a free pick-up service from the airport (which is very nearby) and seem to be the hub for travelers just arriving or about to leave Fiji. Other guests mostly stay only for a couple of nights for the reasons highlighted below. However, there are six other hostels/budget hotels in the immediate area that compete for your dollars, so the prices are reasonable and the threat of losing your custom is present.
Horizon employs many workers who are friendly and able to speak English. However, its staff are not very well informed and are unable to deal with requests or matters that are not related to their specific roles. Linen and towels are provided, and if you're lucky you may get an extra pillow. Rates include a breakfast of toast and tea/coffee.
The dorm rooms are among the cheapest on the island, and for a reason. They have crammed in as many beds as is possible, which reflects on the quality of your night's sleep. Rooms contain a basic shower cubicle and sink at one end with limited privacy. The beach is very close, but the seawater is polluted from being in a bay trapped between the town of Nadi and the airport. Unfortunately Horizon's small pool does not offer a hugely tempting alternative.
There are no kitchen facilities (which tend to be the norm in Fiji due to cheap dining), but Horizon has one of the best restaurants, which offers very good food at affordable rates. They also have a very extensive tour desk that helps to orient you and plan your time in Fiji -- any bookings made through them win you half an hour internet time. There are no laundry facilities in Horizon itself, but alternatives are available in the other establishments nearby. Four very slow internet stations of mediocre reliability exist, but rates are reasonable.
Horizon employs many workers who are friendly and able to speak English. However, its staff are not very well informed and are unable to deal with requests or matters that are not related to their specific roles. Linen and towels are provided, and if you're lucky you may get an extra pillow. Rates include a breakfast of toast and tea/coffee.
The dorm rooms are among the cheapest on the island, and for a reason. They have crammed in as many beds as is possible, which reflects on the quality of your night's sleep. Rooms contain a basic shower cubicle and sink at one end with limited privacy. The beach is very close, but the seawater is polluted from being in a bay trapped between the town of Nadi and the airport. Unfortunately Horizon's small pool does not offer a hugely tempting alternative.
There are no kitchen facilities (which tend to be the norm in Fiji due to cheap dining), but Horizon has one of the best restaurants, which offers very good food at affordable rates. They also have a very extensive tour desk that helps to orient you and plan your time in Fiji -- any bookings made through them win you half an hour internet time. There are no laundry facilities in Horizon itself, but alternatives are available in the other establishments nearby. Four very slow internet stations of mediocre reliability exist, but rates are reasonable.
— Exclusive Hostelz.com Review
January 2007
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Horizon Beach Backpackers Resort Details
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Horizon Beach Backpackers Resort Reviews on Other WebsitesHostelz.com Guest Reviews
Free internet? They advertise that they have free internet in the Nadi airport. What this actually means is that if you purchase a tour from them, you will receive 1/2 an hour of free internet. Not exactly the same thing. — Anonymous , Canada (2011-06-23) Basic but a good stopover option. For us it was the first stop on our trip after forty-eight hours of flights and we arrived at 9 p.m. exhausted and dirty. We were picked up on time from the airport by a friendly driver who introduced us to everyone as we got out of the car. Check in was quick and painless and we were soon shown to our room. For our first introduction to hostels it was a shock as we were shown into a crowded room with backpacks all over the floor and the beds so close to the person next to you that it you had to climb in through the end of the bunk and you felt like you were sharing a double with a stranger. Although initially it was a shock we soon got used to it and the next morning had a great breakfast and went to the beach. This is not a place for sun bathing and we were soon back at the pool where we spent the next couple of days. It might sound like I'm complaining but in the end we had a fantastic time and everyone was really friendly and we were soon relaxed with everyone else. For the price we paid you can't really complain and if you just go along with it you can have a really good time here, although I would only recommend this as a stopover on your way to the Island and not as your only experience of Fiji. Overall we had a great time here and I would recommend it to anyone as a stopover, but I would pay the extra for the air con if you want to get much sleep at night. — Emma , UK (2008-08-23) I found the hostel staff here really helpful. I booked online and emailed them with loads of questions which they responded to immediately. Ok, it's not the best hostel in the world but it's clean and cheap (the cheapest I found in the whole of Fiji) especially when you compare it with what you pay on the islands. The only slight downside is the distance from downtown Nadi but the bus stops right outside the hostel and it costs about 50p to get into town. We did walk it on a number of occasions and it's not bad. The breakfast is really good and they keep topping everything up so if you're late up you still get something and the coffee was excellent. They also do free airport collection. I'm planning on being back in Fiji in September and will definitely stop here again. — Emma - UK (2007-01-24) I stayed in room 204, which looked clean, but I have been bothered by bedbugs all night. When I reported this in the morning, the receptionist did not seem concerned at all. I arrived at a public holiday and was advised that I could walk to Nadi (more than an hour) at night. People in Nadi were horrified when they heard this since it is considered as unsafe to walk from Newtown to Nadi downtown. They thought I should have been advised by the staff not to walk around this area at night. When I got back (by taxi) and sat at the hostel pool I felt annoyed by local males crowding in on me. I would not recommend this place, especially not room 204. — karin menon (2007-01-10) I would not recommend Horizon to anyone. My travel partner and I booked a nights accomodation at Horizon before transferring out to our main destination in the islands and it was a bad start to our holiday. To begin with it took three phone calls before they finally picked us up from the airport after waiting for over an hour. When we finally got there it went from bad to worse. We had prepaid the nights accommodation through the travel agent but they denied receiving any money, making us fork out another fifty dollars. We had booked a four-bed air-con dorm, but were thrown into a crowded twelve-bed dorm with a broken fan. The whole experience was a disaster and it was handled very poorly by the staff who I found to be very unhelpful. Stay away! — Brett (2006-07-13) Ok so the rooms are a tad rustic, but its got to be expected when you are staying in Fiji. The incredibly friendly and helpful staff (expecially on the tour desk) make up for this a hundred times over. I had a great time here. Take a day trip out to the hot pools and mud baths which you can organise from Una. The food is great too, expecially the pizza. — Tara (2006-05-15) The hostel staff are friendly and helpful. However, they did mess up my booking -- not knowing the difference between twin and double, getting the wrong date and time, etc. The 'pool' is small and could do with a damn good degrease. There's no A/C in reception or the bookings room. Expect to get very hot. There's no kitchen and as you're out in the middle of nowhere -- ten mins from Nadi itself, you have to buy their food.
We had a 'superior' room, with A/C, a bunk bed and a double. I spent an hour killing bugs. Don't stay here longer than a day, there's nothing going on here -- book a trip straight out onto one of the islands. — Dave White (2006-03-30) This place is awesome, and the people are very friendly. They have many tours from this hostel. It's cheap and clean. I recommend it. Cool, cool place to stay. — Victor (2005-08-21) We had a lot of fun and met cool people here but the hostel itself is a bit basic. No cooking facilities mean you have to buy meals in their restaurant, which can be expensive. Rooms are an ok size but hot and not particularly clean. However, friendly staff and a pool made this place ok. — Si and Kate (2005-07-25) We booked Horizon a week before we got to Fiji because we wanted a good and organized first night. Airport transfer picked us up and hour and a half late and then told us they were fully booked out (despite our booking!). The guy then dropped us in the middle of nowhere to stay with his friend who charged us more than we were paying at Horizon and the accommodation was awful. Not a good start to the holiday — we were very annoyed. — Anonymous (2005-07-15) I got scabies here! The room I stayed in was dirty and musty. I think the bed sheets were still dirty. EUW!!!! — Anonymous (2005-07-11) Horizon Beach is awesome! The staff are the friendliest I've ever met, and they were so helpful, especially in the travel center. The dorms are pretty big (16-18 beds) and can get very hot and stuffy with only a couple of inefficient fans, so pay the extra for air conditioning if you're worried about that. The pool is small but clean and great for a dip. The bathrooms were en suite and reasonably clean. Recommended! — Stefanie (2004-12-08) Horizon Beach was great! The staff are exceptional, the people are friendly and relaxed, and the food is amazing. I spent four days here, but there were people who had already been here for a month or more, and weren't planning on leaving. The beach is an easy one-minute walk away, the pool is clean, and the rooms are cool and very quiet. I loved every minute I was here. Definitely go to Horizon Beach if you are headed to Fiji for any amount of time! — Anonymous (2004-11-13)