Why Rarotonga is a sh*tty place for Americans to visit.

So I just spent a week in Rarotonga for my Kiwi cousin's wedding and I felt I should share my thoughts somewhere online. While seeing my family and the wedding itself were both awesome, I would have really regretted going to this island if it was only for a vacation. I found it to be expensive, somewhat unwelcoming, and often seemed contradictory (laid back but up tight). Upon departure, I met several Americans at the airport who were flying back home, and many were loudly criticizing their experience.

My take is that the island is essentially one big New Zealand tourist trap, kinda like Hawaii is to the USA. However, because it follows New Zealand customs, several things that really irk American travelers (at least myself, my family, and the other Americans I met at the airport) are common on the island. I'll try to break it down:

1. Americans are generally dis-liked in New Zealand and Raro is no exception - First off, lets be honest, SOME people in other countries dislike Americans from the get go. That's why some American travelers pretend to be Canadians. Rarotonga, like New Zealand, is one of the countries where their is about a 50/50 chance the average Joe dislikes you because of your accent. These people will assume you are arrogant, rude, and ignorant. I may be all of these things, but I prefer if people don't just assume I am before they know me.

2. Passive-aggressive customer service - The Kiwi way exemplifies politeness, so sometimes you will meet people who are super nice to your face but will then consistently screw you over. So when you ask for a side salad, then don't get it, then it's on the bill; don't be surprised when the manager politely tells you must have forgotten that you had eaten 10 minutes prior and requests that you pay your bill in full. This happened to us twice, and it was either pay for something we were never served or dine and dash. Both times we opted to pay because it wasn't worth the stress and my Mom can't run very fast anymore. Also, in New Zealand (I have spent about a month traveling there) I noticed a LOT of racial tension between white and the native Maori compared to where I'm from (California). This carries over to Raro where there isn't a whole lot of integration. Basically the brown people of the island have the shitty jobs and the whites get their food spit in while they talk about the superiority of the Anglo Saxon race and pay $30 for a piece of fish. Since the islanders generally have to deal with semi-racist kiwis, I think they tend to expect Americans to be the same way and simply aren't very friendly.

3. Tourist traps abound - Trying to get around and eat on this island is kinda like putting your wallet into the shoes of Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Arc. Everywhere you go, resorts, restaurants, tours, etc... their are expensive booby traps. The resort we stayed at (Edgewater) had towels available by the pool. To get one, you have to put down a room number to check it out, and then check it back in within 2 hours. If you went over 2 hours, there was a $50 (yes, $50 NZD, so around $35-40 USD) fee. This is for a really crappy towel that probably cost around $5. Internet access at the hotel (slow) was $20 for 70MB of data over a 24 hour time period. So if we wanted wifi for the entire trip, it would have cost around $120 NZD. When we arived we were ushered onto a "Resort shuttle" that was really jsut a taxi that cost $45 for a 3 KM ride. One of the couples at the airport reported a $4 charge for ketchup at a fish and chip place, along with an $8 charge for tarter sauce that was never delivered to their table. They had a similar passive-aggressive customer service experience as us when they asked the manager to remove the tarter sauce from the bill and just paid for it because they didn't want to deal with the manager anymore after 20 minutes of arguing. Rip offs are lurking around every corner on Rarotonga.

Anyway I should get back to work but I won't be returning to the island. I saw mostly positive things on lonely planet about Raro and was pretty disappointed by the end of our trip. Hopefully my post will help others make a more informed decision about where they want to spend their hard earned American dollars. At the fancier resorts the service was better but I prefer to visit countries where common courtesy doesn't have to be bought for $500+ per night.

-Ryan

Well, Rarotonga was never high on my Pacific wish list and it never will be, I guess.
Rip-offs are annoying anywhere, as is being discriminated against based on your nationality.

However when you "met several Americans at the airport who were flying back home, and many were loudly criticizing their experience"+, didn't you think that +loudly criticizing an English-speaking host country while still being there may actually be one of the things that don't exactly endear your people to the locals? ;-)

jesus this is some seriously negative press on raro. I was in rarotonga and aitutaki and have nothing but good things to say about both of them. The people were great and the islands were beautiful (especially aitutaki. The most beautiful place I have ever been). And yes I am American. I was also in new zealand for two months travelling around both the north and south islands and the people were also amazing. Some of the best people ive met travelling so far have been kiwis.

It looks like you expected a lot more than what the island actually is. Sounds like you need to take a chill pill and stop generalizing for all of us Americans

A nice report, good use of "paragrphs". Thee are many other places to visit in the South Pacific, we've placed the Cooks at the bottom.

Two visits and I found that people went out of their way to be nice to me. One example: I was at R.arotonga airport and inquired if the Saturday market was open, a woman offered to (and did) drive me there and back on the back of her motor scooter just so that I could buy donuts. I think the C.ook Islanders are the loveliest people that I have met.

Resorts in general (regardless of where they are) tend to overcharge for items and have various nickel and dime shenanigans. (Such as the resort fees found at many U..S. resorts.)

One thing I do want to note for my fellow A.mericans who are considering visiting: the resorts in the C.ooks are not (obviously in my opinion) the best accommodation option. You are far better off looking at boutique properties or renting a private house. (Speaking of resort price point.) The resorts found in the C.ooks are generally past their prime.

Periods added to avoid LP spam links.

As an American I'd like to apologize for the OP to all Kiwis and Cook Islanders. We try and contain people from California to the US but every once and a while one escapes and embarrasses us like this. ;-)

I think the OP came to Rarotonga and found just what he was looking for.

He knew ahead of time that 50% of Kiwis didn't like Americans and Kiwi hoteliers and restaurant mangers were out to take advantage him. He knew he would find racial tensions high with down-trodden locals working in inferior jobs spitting in the guests' food.

My experience has been exactly the opposite.... Kiwis I know, and I've been there four times, are among the friendliest anywhere. I didn't see any racial tension in the Cooks in five extended trips there. I've also never met nor heard of an American that pretended to be Canadian to avoid the wrath of US-hating New Zealanders.

Assuming you know a person's motives or prejudices, especially a person of a different culture or nationality, is a mistake. If you do it, you'll find exactly what you suspect. It's a human fallacy known as "positive affirmation." It's the source of a lot of grief for a lot of people.

Like H2ooh I had the exact opposite experience in Raro, even with a N. American accent (I'm Canadian). It was all Soluth Pacific hospitality everywhere I went, although I didn't stay at or patronize top-end anything (can't afford that).

But I have run into Americans, on a few occasions in Fiji and NZ, who told me they were pretending to be Canadian, one having gone so far as to keep his passport inside a Canadian passport holder (don't know if you can even find these things anymore). Another one was "holding court," so to speak, in a lounge in a resort in Fiji, blathering on about life in - my hometown of all places - and when I caught him out with a question (in private, didn't want to embarrass him in front of his rapt audience) about a phony scenic spot he eventually admitted he was an American who had never even been to Canada. He was from Texas, which gave the game away the moment he opened his mouth. But that was back in the late 80s/early 90s, and I'm surprised if that paranoia is still around. Pity, it's the individual that matters, not citizenship or country of origin.

I think a person pretending to be something they are not says a lot more about the pretender than the people they are attempting to deceive.

I just went back and reread the OP. I doubt if he spent time with any of the locals of any race. He probably just hung out with others just like himself.

I'll never understand why someone would spend thousands of dollars to go to a destination like the Cook Islands or New Zealand and then spend time sitting around talking to other tourists like themselves. How depressing! and how would you ever learn anything?

About 5 years ago in the Middle East I met 2 American ladies telling even me (so not just locals!) they were Norwegians.
Too bad the only language they could speak was English! :D

Ones pretending to be Canadians seem to be more common though - was definitely still so in the Bush era.
This seems to annoy real Canadians a bit.

Wow! And Americans wonder why they encounter hostility around the world....guys like this make it difficult for so many wonderful Americans I have met on my 12+ trips to The Cooks and elsewhere in my travels....lighten up guy...

Edited by: mapleleaf

Ditto to 7, 8, 9, and 10!!

Gimme a T
Gimme an R
...

crap.

I am an american living in the Cooks nine months of the year. Fortunately I do not run into too many americans, thank god. There's nothing worse than an american with a complaint. If you want perfect, go someplace else and leave our " paradise" alone.

It's been 6 days so I thought I'd return to the forum. 700 views and a dozen replies... I skimmed through the responses, mostly what I expected. I wanted to comment on a few posts that I saw pop up:

Were we really loud Americans in the airport?:
Not really. There were a few vocal complainers at the gate but only one guy who said anything before he got through security. Once at the gate, his voice attracted other Americans like moths to a candle though. Everyone was pretty cool about stuff, it was just more funny as different people started speaking up (30 min before flight left), we all started comparing notes on how we were screwed, and several of us vowed to voice our complaints online (specifically on lonely planet which gave Raro good reviews).

To the smug Ex-Pats and other internationals who hate on the "typical" American:
Yeah I get it. You are not like us pig headed American a-holes (especially Californians). I'm sure you have a deeper understanding of geopolitical balance and are kinder to the earth than us dirty V-8 driving scum. I bet you get lots of traction with the haters by bad mouthing the states and Americans. Whatever it take to make friends I guess. Just try not to suffocate on your own farts.

As I stated in my original post, I am well aware of the International perceptions about Americans. I get that we stand out and some people think we should tone it down or whatever when we travel abroad. That's fine and dandy. I work hard 48 weeks a year and would like to be able to kick back and enjoy myself on vacation rather than worry about returning my towel 15 minutes late, whether or not I ordered that extra $4 side of ketchup, or what the bartender thinks about Obama's latest approval rating. There are other red blooded Americans like me that want to enjoy our lives, particularly our down time, and spend our dollars where they are appreciated. For me and many on my flight home, Raro simply wasn't one of those places. From the tone of the posters claiming local status on here, it sounds like Raro folk don't want Americans around anyway. So in that respect, I'd say Yanks avoiding Raro is a win-win! :)

Edited by: sdguero

sdguero.....

You need to check your assumptions at the door.

Not everyone that disagrees with you is a Prius-driving tree-hugger. Nor do they assume you are a pig-headed American a-hole (although you are working hard at trying to change that perception.)

I disagree with you. I'm a working American, I've lived in CA (including working in East LA), drive a gas-guzzling V-8 SUV and really like 99% of my fellow Americans.

On my first trip to the Cooks I stayed at the same hotel you did. I share your opinion of it. But I didn't allow it or the other "tourist traps" on Raro to taint my opinion of the entire country. I wouldn't think of giving them that power, they don't deserve it.

What you did is comparable to spending a bad weekend in Tijuana and writing a report on how sh*tty a place M.exico is to visit.

Try spending more time with people unlike yourself and then listen when they talk. You'll be happier with yourself and with life in general.

When we travel overseas, we always tell the people we're from Canada and therefore they don't expect a tip. Pretty funny {:"}

Two words sdguero - STAY HOME. Jeez. I am just so glad that my Californian American family are nothing like you. We spent 3 weeks in the Cook Islands with them and they and we loved it.

It's decidedly a case of bad fit in your case Ryan - it happens, so get over it! Has it similarly occured to you that other nationalities may not exactly be USA fans either, for a diverse number of reasons. As for anyone pretending to be something they aint when globe-trotting, why would individuals consider doing so - unless they perceived that being a Canadian made them more acceptable in the eyes of another Commonwealth country? But the accent, cultural values and behaviour would be giveaways undoubtedly. I empathise with all Canadian people if this be the case.

As to mixing and mingling in Rarotonga (expats & locals together) it naturally follows that if you respect others in the manner in which you wish to be treated, perhaps you too would have found yourself among welcoming and supportive residents. Are you also planning to have a go at Kiwis and their lifestyle on the New Zealand forums - since you complain about their ill-intended treatment towards you on the Cook Islands forum? in fact it would be really helpful if you could express your opinions in a letter to the editors of both the Cook Islands News & the New Zealand Herald. Lets see what feedback you can expect to receive through this media channel; and how. Happy future travels.

Well i wanted to like alot of the comments on here, i havent been to the cooks yet, going in May, but online the people have been super sweet and helpful, i like Americans, my ex was American and the only thing i didnt like about America was the racism in the south, which i only personally saw white people being racist, but prob goes two ways alot.

This post however i have to wonder if its actually about your being American, or just you in general!
there is always one person who is never happy and i have to wonder if its you in this case as ive read glowing reviews for people from all over about The Cooks and most people cant post without talking about the places beauty, even if they have a problem with something