Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel

不如珊瑚海，但價格更實惠

Was out here when my five star hotel booking wasn’t honoured. It’s definitely not an equivalent as I was promised. Have woken up having been bitten by something and my face is all swollen. Rooms are old and shabby. No water in the rooms. Took an hour to get a frozen pizza cooked (sorry ordered at the restaurant). Wouldn’t recommend.

This hotel is ok. Not uncomfortable, but has room for improvement. The room I had was furnished, but I wouldn't call it well furnished, as the wood finish looked a bit jaded. However, the room was comfortable and spacious. I had a lovely view of the bay/port and the pool. I had no need for the second, single, bed in the room, but I can see how this would be useful for a family. The bathroom was clean, but the furnishings were outdated and weathered, and looked somewhat dirty. The bed was also on wheels which meant it moved away from the wall and the pillows fell off in the middle of the night. The staff were lovely and always willing to help, particularly with forgotten keys. The wifi is a bit of a scam, it says it's unlimited, but is actually 2 cents an MB, which adds up very quickly. The pool was lovely, but could have done with a bit more TLC and some night lights would make it a better experience. Could do with a clean. Similarly, the beach opposite the pool was filthy. I have seen a photo of it from 10 years ago and it was lovely, and would be a great way for guests to go for a swim. This could also be a good USP for the Mendana. The breakfast options were ok, if pricey. 100SBD for cereal and tea is somewhat expensive, but I did enjoy my omelettes every day. Not sure why there are so many stairs to get to the rooms; it felt like an assault course.

Stayed for two weeks in May-June 2023. Positive: -- extremely central location, walking distance to almost everything (Honiara is not very big) -- super friendly and helpful staff -- the bento box in the Japanese restaurant is surprisingly good -- powerful air conditioning, which you will appreciate after a day in Honiara -- has a generator for when the power goes off (which happens) Neutral: -- has all the basics: refrigerator, aircon, TV all worked fine -- no issues with cleanliness, maid service every day -- no issues with water pressure or heat -- swimming pool is small but clean, I did laps there most nights with no problems -- laundry service is pricey but otoh is lightning fast: my laundry came back ironed in well under 24 hours -- make sure your door is firmly closed or you'll get mosquitos Negative: -- wi-fi is bad: slow, sometimes drops, and charges you extra for use beyond 100 MB /day. If you can, get a local SIM card and hotspot off that. It's cheaper and faster. -- breakfast is not free and is pretty miserable. It's 100 SBD (about US $13) for corn flakes, stale bread, coffee, and fruit. The fruit is fresh and local but that's about all I can say for it. After a few days I just started going next door to the Breakwater Cafe, which gives a much nicer array of breakfast offerings for about the same price. -- there's a club next door, which can be loud on weekends. It didn't bother me but if you're sensitive to that sort of thing, be aware. -- there's a small beach right behind the hotel... which is covered with trash. You probably wouldn't want to swim there anyway (the Mendana is in the middle of town and very near the port) but it's nasty to look out your window at a garbage-strewn beach. Surely this could be fixed? -- no exercise room Basically this is the medium-price hotel in Honiara. The Heritage and Coral Sea are nicer but more expensive (usually -- prices in Honiara can fluctuate a lot). I found the Mendana perfectly okay. The only major negative was the wifi. Fix that and I'd give back half a star.

Yes, it is old but some rooms have been renovated and are decent. I stayed in the Seaview East Wing room. The tv and air conditioning worked - which is saying a lot as some of my friends staying at other hotels didn't have good experiences. Also, housekeeping comes around to clean everyday. The Heritage Hotel is next door (you can go there for happy hour), Sugar Palm (a popular eating place) is about 2 minutes walk and Breakwater cafe (popular with a nice view) is about 2 min walk. The beach that you'll see out of your room is not good to swim in and there was rubbish at the shore. There isn't much to do. You can swim in the hotel pool if you like but the pool didn't look too great. Although, the next property is a club but I didn't hear much noise the days I was there. The room doesn't have an iron but housekeeping will happily get you one and an ironing board if you need. There's a bar fridge in the room. I didn't eat at the hotel so cannot comment on the food. The reception staff were always happy to call me a taxi but its much easier to just flag a taxi on the road. The hotel also provides luggage storage if needed. The hotel does airport transfers - I highly recommend you opt for this as taxi costs double! There's also an atm in the lobby that takes some international cards. That was very convenient. The only thing that bothered me was the limited free internet. You get 500mb free and anything more is charged. Having said that, internet in Solomon Is is expensive. Mendana isn't a resort with cabanas but it is a practical place with small comforts.