Aggie Grey's Lagoon, Beach Resort & Spa

Description:

• Between the airport and Mulifanua Wharf on Upolu's northwestern corner, this sprawling beachside resort is the Grey family's latest contribution to Samoa. They copied many features from their historic in-town hotel and transposed them here, including fold-down ironing boards in each room and a duplicate of the huge Samoan fale restaurant and its weekly fiafia night (on Thurs here). The resort carries out an old South Seas theme, with Bloody Mary's Lagoon & Courtyard Bar honoring James A. Michener's famous character. Meanwhile, the Solent Flying Boat Bar pays homage to the amphibious planes which were Samoa's only air link to the world until the 1950s. The airy central building opens to a large beachside swimming pool complex with a swim-up bar. The hotel rooms are in two-story buildings facing westward, so each unit espies Savai'i and Apolima islands as well as often-glorious sunsets. Eight family suites have two bedrooms. A restored century-old church serves as the resort's wedding chapel. Treatment rooms at the full-service Manaia Polynesian Spa are in private fales in a stand of old-growth tropical forest. The spa also has a boutique and state-of-the-art exercise room. Aqua Samoa Watersports (tel. 45-662 or 777-4744; www.aquasamoa.com) offers a wide range of activities to all comers.

  Facilities: 5 restaurants; 5 bars; outdoor pool; 18-hole golf course; 2 tennis courts; exercise room; spa; Jacuzzi; sauna; watersports equipment rentals; children's program; concierge; activities desk; car-rental desk; 24-hr. room service; massage; babysitting; laundry service

• © Frommer's 2013

Awards:

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010