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Reviewed October 22, 2018 via mobile

Even though the hotel is located in a beautiful Island, the experience I had was not very pleasant. Terrible Music is played at a very high volume so it is imposible to relax. The staff is friendly with the exception of a bad-tempered young woman at the front desk. Breakfast is scarce. There is no hot water in the room I stayed (307). What it is really a shame is that there are some wild animals encaged in very poor conditions. In short, spending some days here it is not value for money. Prices are very high.

Date of stay: October 2018
Trip type: Travelled on business
1  Thank FernandoA1346
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed October 1, 2018

This looks like the marriott in the jungle except that there was just a spattering of trees in the compound. Its a tiny island with a large brightly coloured hotel. Wondered how people spend their time there . Nowhere to explore. The pool seemed inviting though. We stopped briefly to pick up 5 persons from our day tour group who had opted to have their lunch there. From all indications, they enjoyed it and our guide said it is popular with Guyanese. . We were interested however in the nature, so we declined to take the offer of spending time there.. Everyone had a great day.

Date of stay: August 2018
Thank travellingman319
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed September 28, 2018 via mobile

I took my mother the this resort for her birthday(big mistake) I called and made reservations,they told me only superior rooms were available & the also give me a number for a boat that I have to take from Parika,the boat driver told me I have to reach at the parika Stelling for 9 because the boat was leaving at 9:30,he also told me the fare will be $2500(GYD),we got there in time and the boat did leave on time, arrived on the island at 10:20 only to find out we can't check in till 2pm,I forgot to mention front desk couldn't find my reservation,we try to order food but was told we wont get it till 12:30, I can clearly remember only 3 waitresses working the entire day on the entire resort,they were very nice but also very slow,we got our food a little bit after 12, I ordered the fish, the smell was so high flies were coming around the table,it was served with no lime or lemon,we also had to wait over 30minutes to get something to drink after the food was served,around 1:45 the lady from the front desk came and told us we can check in now the rooms are ready,

Date of stay: August 2018
Trip type: Travelled with family
3  Thank mmks822
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed March 15, 2018

This property is absolutely beautiful. They could use a little upgrades to the room as our room had a broken bathroom window and stains on the mattress. When i got to the front desk to check in I was not greeted friendly at all. I was asked did I have a reservation. I showed the front desk lady (which i have no idea what her name is because she did not introduce her self) my reservation . She said it was not coming up in her computer. I booked directly from their website. Our room was not ready so we had to wait. It was not a long wait but it should have been because they could have cleaned better. Once we were in our room we went out to the bar and sat for drinks. The staff on property seem to be pretty welcoming. The front desk lady approached me and asked me again for my reservation and asked if she could take a picture of it. At this point she had already interrogated us just to check in. Then to come back and ask me again for my reservation sent me to the edge. My friend suggested we check out early the next day and go stay in Bartica for the night. i went to the front told the front desk lady we will be checking out early and i need a refund on the extra night. she asked why and i told her she was not very welcoming and i was not accustomed to being interrogated about my booking. If your system messed up then it is your duty to fix it and not make the guest feel as though they need extra proof or as if they should not be there staying at the property. I also observed everyone who came to spend a few hours at the property got a tour of the property. My friend and I were not offered a tour.

Room tip: Make sure your room is clean and sweapt. My room was not. The only good thing I can say is the bathrooms are very nice.
Date of stay: February 2018
  • Trip type: Travelled with friends
    • Sleep Quality
    • Rooms
    • Service
4  Thank Shesneverhome
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Reviewed February 8, 2018 via mobile

Trip advisor is becoming a real problem as every man & his dog is now on it. The majority of users lack the ability to be objective and give uneccesarily high marks for mediocre service.

My rule of thumb these days is to discount all reviews from people with limited (<25) posts & in the case of Guyana, to discount the views of any local (sorry Georgetown & Toronto residents!) as their perspective is generally quite limited & they exhibit a marked tendency to think that crappy places (like Splashmins) are the best thing since sliced bread.

Having got that out of the way I have mixed feelings about Aruwai resort. The resort is marketed as ‘Guyana’s Finest Luxury Resort’.

However, the devil lies in the detail- whilst by Guyana standards it’s 5 star it’s facilites equate to a mere 3 star elsewhere in the world. That doesn’t stop the resort from charging 6 star prices that make the Georgetown Marriott green with envy.

The resort is extremely expensive and right from the start I was ripped off when I visited the company office in Sherriff Street to book: I was told that the standard rooms were all full and we could only take the more much expensive Superior room. 2 nights for a family of five in the one room equated to GYD$89,000. However we booked during the week and as it turned out the resort was empty.

Talking with the staff later, the resort is essentially empty during the week and only occupied on the weekend. Prices need to be lowered substantially, and Mid-week prices even more so.

Incredibly transport costs to the resort are not covered in the price and add massively to the cost - almost doubling the price.

Transport is either via boat or air to the resort. Transport via boat requires a taxi from Georgetown to Parika Stelling (Wharf) [approx GYD$6000 / USD$30] and thence via boat with the locals to Bartica. Boats will only leave when full. Current boat fares to Bartica are GYD$2500 and another $1500 from Bartica to the resort. Alternatively you can hire an entire boat for GYD$25,000-30,000 each way. Trip time is approx 1 1/2 hours depending on river conditions.

Alternative transport is via air from Ogle Airport to Bartica.

Massive costs aside, the boat ride was a fun and interesting trip up. Check in time is 2pm but it’s better to leave early in the morning because the river is much smoother making for a faster, more confortable trip.

Upon arrival at the resort First impressions were very good. But like many things in Guyana, they look good from afar and not quite as good up close with little details overlooked (just like the paint job on the resort).

I was most impressed that the resort island was the cleanest place I’ve seen in Guyana. The resort looks very nice being well laid out around the pool area and well maintained (a refreshing change after the filth and garbage of Georgetown).

Check in was disorganised and despite us being the only guests reception had no idea who we were or that we had a booking. The room was also not ready and we had to wait for staff to wake up (figuratively & literally) and get their act together.

The Superior room we had was quite nice but but definitely not superior in its amenities abd didn’t live up to expectations nor the promotional pics. The bed was a double rather than a queen and incredibly hard and had a hidden wooden box frame around the mattress base which resulted in many painful smashed toes and barked shins. No hot water was available in the showers.

Free wifi was available and, this being Guyana I was greatful to even get dial up, however it’s glacially slow with frequent drop outs which is utterly unacceptable for a luxury resort.

Service is moderately good for Guyana but there is still the usual indifference so common in Guyanese staff. Some staff were good and deserve a mention: Sylvester was the standout whilst Bethany & Trevor also did a good job.

Basic breakfast is included as is a 5 minute trip across the river to the a small ‘blackwater’ cascade over the outcropping Bartica granite. The waterfall is nothing spectacular but is a was a lovely little microcosm of the beauty of the Guyanese jungle.

Overall the Mazaruni River was too muddy to swim in and the resort pools were far more attractive. Despite being so far upriver, the river is tidal with a range of just over a metre. The sand bar beach on the upstream side of the resort looks lovely at high tide but the swimming area is a little muddy at low tide.

The swimming pool area is the best feature of the resort but needs a few little improvements. Beware the main pool has some very sharp and painful edges & corners on the underwater steps.

The pool has a swim up bar but seats are above water level. The bar has an overhanging waterfall which needs to be avoided otherwise you’ll get water in your drinks. An open air thatched benab type setting would have been better for the bar. The kids pool is good but there’s no line of sight from the bar to he kiddie pool due to a wall - a lifeguard is on duty though.

Resort equipment & facilities listed in picture but a lot of it is somewhat run down and in poor shape. Jet skis are available for USD$25 for a ridiculously short ten minutes.

Fir the kids and the tourists, there’s a nice little menagerie at the back which the kids enjoyed - the red & blue macaws should be in a better aviary though.

Meals were up to the usual Guyanese standard - unless it’s rice or fried it’s awful! How hard is it to not boil pasta to death?! My T-bone steak was tough as old boots and 1/3 fat but was more than 3x overpriced. Drinks around the pool are also very expensive. Items on the drinks/food menu are also frequently unavailable.

In summary:

Pros - lovely setting & location. Unusually clean!
Negatives - extremely expensive stay when factoring in 6 star prices and transport costs.

It’d be a cold day in a tropical Guyanese hell before I’d consider going again.

Day trip the best option - find somewhere better (affordable) to stay in Bartica. Bring a bottle of rum and just buy beers & soft drinks.

Date of stay: January 2018
Trip type: Travelled with family
7  Thank Shmemley
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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