Booking ahead

I'm thinking about a trip to Samoa in early July 2011. I've never been before so am not sure where I'd like to stay -- does anyone know how full the hotels and resorts are at this time of year? If possible, I'd like to find accommodation on the run rather than book before we leave.

Unless you definitely want to stay at specific places in the most popular tourist spots like Lalomanu, there should be no reason to book.
Cheap, basic fales are plentiful, with supply far bigger than demand.

When are you there - Moneypenny and I land around the 20 July

ps Laszlo - we want to stay in Faufua at Lalomanu then but thought perhaps we could wing it and call ahead

Hurricane, make it Taufua (spelling error?) and it's the only place I found full in the whole of Samoa.
That was in January, also a summer holiday season in that region, and winter holidays in Europe.

BTW, seeing RomanB still mentioned in a signo line makes me feel nostalgic - miss him! :-(

Thanks Laszlo, we'll probably stay away from the very popular resorts, but there will be three of us which might limit our options. Do you know if Virgin Cove is open again? A friend recommended it but he stayed there before the tsunami.

After the 2009 Tsunami many beach fale resorts did not come back, so the supply is not that much bigger than the demand anymore. However - right aside to Taufua Beach Fales in Lalomanu there is the Litia Sini Resort. Not far away, at Saleapaga, is Faofao Beach Fales. And if all those would be really booked out already, which will be most unlikely, you can move to Matatufu and go to the rather new Samoa Hideaway Beach Resort. Not that known yet, so not that frequented.

It is better anyway to have a look first what Beach Fales really are ... Its a very basic kind of accommodation and you should be sure to feel comfortable with it. And have a look as well how crowded it is and what kind of folks are there at that time.

Virgin Cove is open but it is under new management and has different rates now too. However - the beautiful beach is still the same.

Lalomanu is the single most popular beach in Samoa so if you want quieter spots, stay away from there!

I actually fled to Selaopaga myself after seeing Lalomanu and disliking the atmosphere there.

There used to be lots of unnamed little fales west of Taufua, too.
They looked very primitive so I would have thought at least a few have been rebuilt even with minimal resources - haven't they, Werner?
If they are there, they could be useful as backup options for those desperate to stay in Lamomanu, though both comforts and security at these would be minimal.

Those many unnamed little fales were swept away and hardly any of them got back. And if, they are not for overnight stay. Just for some time at the beach maybe. Not that it would have been so difficult to rebuild them - but there is nothing behind them anymore ... No houses and bathrooms, no trees, just debris. Many people did not rebuild their homes but moved inland / uphill.

Faofoa Beach in Saleapaga have a big 2 storey building now across the road. See it here

Yeah, I figured they were more for picnickers, but locals offered them to rent for staying anyway.
In a way sad if all the smaller things are gone and a few bigger operators now make all the money.

Saleopaga, which I found very nice, was also full of smaler fales - also all gone?
I first stayed at a no-name one there, but then moved to much nicer (and enclosed thus safer) Margarita - also gone or survived/back?
That place on that photo looks horribly "generic" to me - could be anywhere from Indonesia to China, and beyond.

Most of Saleapaga is still in ruins. Faofao Resort is back and the school is new. Only some new other buildings as well. Everything was gone there so this takes time.

Faofao is really nice, with the fales and the new restaurant. That building looks very generic, I agree, but it is well placed, a bit behind, with trees around. No eyesore at all, even though it might be the biggest building for miles around.

The small family fale places are gone, due to the devastation and due to the fact that there are different people now traveling to Samoa. A lot less Europeans, a lot less backpackers. More mass tourism folk, with booze and beach in mind. They have different demands in services which the small family places cannot cater for. Some of them rent their part of the beach to the bigger resorts now, i.e. in Lalomanu. So they still get some revenue from it and the resort can extend operation beyond that usually very small area initially belonging to them.

Do you think the actual number of backpackers/Europeans has dropped, or is it just their share in the total?

And why?

I can easily understand that the increase in cheap flights from AU on P/V Blue has lead to an increasing number of holidaymakers from that country, most of them not backapckers. But why would previous numbers drop? The termination of Samoan (and Tongan) stopovers by Air NZ is a fairly new thing.

I found this year that both Fiji and Tonga still get their share of backpackers and Europeans in addition to the Aussie families and couples heading for the resorts of Fiji.
The first seems to be favoured both by RTW travelers (it's the easiest stopover) and by those lacking the imagination to look beyond packages widely promoted and sold by Flightcenter and the like in AU.
The second mostly seemed to get backpackers hopping over from NZ, and the reason they gave when I asked why they chose Tonga was mostly that it was the cheapest Pacific island to fly to, with some adding that they thought Fiji, being more touristy, would be more expensive (wrong logic).

I still met a fair few backpackers and Europeans who visited Samoa, too.
In fact Air Pacific's new Bula Pass seems to bring over a number of "country collectors" (people who stay just a week or even shorter) to the 5 countries included in it from Fiji.

Thanks this is brilliant will print for Samoa file - Moneypenny and I want to be women of loose lodging morals and do a resort crawl - ie Go east Lalomanu and Namu'a (sp?), the southish to Virgin cove then over to Luisa's lagoons and then to the westernmost point to watch sunset - this is over a 2 week period and maybe we won't "do" it all but given the size of Samoa we hope to be able to visit a few outfits without being rushed

And Lazlo - Roman B sigh - Moneypenny and I were part of the Kangaroo Mafia that met him and the LP crew a few times in Melbourne

Island hopping while resort crawling ;-) Sounds good. Enjoy!

Yep WKSAMOA we will - planning on wreaking havoc - working on a lap lap to end all lap dances mahaahahahahah - but seriously sooo can''t wait - two months of working on a show that opens the week before we travel so will be up for a lovely adventure = if you are in the area would love to catch up for a libation - lou

Stayed in Fao Fao beach fales very near Lalomanu which is in the very south of the South Island last September - absolutely BEAUT. Very good price as well!

http://sentimentaltraveller.tumblr.com/post/2798099723/life-is-a-beach

Enjoy it!!

If you want a traditional experience, not the jolly, beery, beach scene, try Akoi Beach Fales in Lona, Fagaloa Bay. Isolated and peaceful with a nice little private beach, away from the village. It has big shade trees which survived the tsunami. The owners can arrange private accommodation at Uafato too, (the next and last village along the road) which is the traditional woodcarvers village. (There is no other accommodation there). Akoi's charges are 65WST a night including two great meals.
There is one bus a day to Lona village from Apia, which leaves from behind the RSA on Beach Rd at around 1230 (ish). No problem for single females as someone always sleeps on the property when there are guests. phone Savila 00685 7730514. Do it, you'll love it!!