Property grounds

Reviews of Turtle Bay Lodge

3 out of 5
Turtle Bay Lodge
Luganville, Espiritu Santo, Turtle Bay, Espiritu Santo

Reviews

8.4

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 34 out of 79 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 29 out of 79 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 12 out of 79 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 3 out of 79 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 79 reviews" "

8.0/10

Cleanliness

8.2/10

Staff & service

8.6/10

Amenities

7.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

10/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

leesa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The staff were amazing and the managers did a fabulous job directing you to the most incredible sights. We had a rental car but you could do anything with all the tours they offer. I highly recommend this place and the food was also the best!!!!
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023
Response from Vicky on Nov 19, 2023
Many thanks for your lovely feedback, It was lovely having you stay with us and pleased you enjoyed your time in Santo, we hope to welcome you back again soon

10/10 Excellent

Carmeila

Liked: Property conditions & facilities
Great property, loved our time here and would happily come back again :)
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023
Response from Turtle Bay Lodge Manager on Oct 26, 2023
Many thanks for your feedback it was lovely to have you staying with us at Turtle Bay Lodge

10/10 Excellent

Dirk

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
So many great things about our stay! The food, the staff, the location, the accomodation, the activities, the attention to details …all fantastic! Can’t wait to visit again.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2022
Response from Turtle Bay Lodge Manager on Jan 4, 2023
Many thanks for your lovely review, we pass all your comments onto our staff, it was a pleasure to have your staying with us.

8/10 Good

Kristina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 7 nights in Mar 2020
Response from owner on Mar 19, 2020
Many thanks for your kind review Kristina, We are glad you enjoyed your stay at Turtle Bay Lodge and look forward to welcoming you back again one day!

6/10 Okay

Stephen

Caught in a cyclone so miserable throughout!! I am sure it is beautiful without the rain
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2020
Response from GM on Feb 27, 2020
Sorry Stephen you were a bit unlucky with the weather as it is beautiful.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2020
Response from GM on Jan 29, 2020
Thank you for your review.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Paradise
We booked this location for 2 x nights in Oct as a group of 7. 2 x grand parents, 2 x adults, and 3 kids (Ages 8, 7 and 5). We opted for 3 seperate rooms next to each other and it could not have been a better scenario although I am aware that there is a family type room. The rooms are very adequate and although no aircons were in place, the temperature with the sea breeze was great (our kids used the blankets even). The lodge is low key and immediately relaxing. It is a small-ish resort, at the time filled mainly with couples however our kids were never bored. Between kayaks, swimming in the pool and exploring the rock pools. We did horse riding with Santo Horse Adventures one morning which is highly recommended. The highlight of the property was the incredible food.
Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2019
Response from GM on Oct 22, 2019
Thank you Paradise for the amazing review!

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice location, and nice facilities. However, as you're stranded there for the most part you often need to eat their food. The first meal we had was atrocious, completely stale bun on a burger (like a brick), and a pasta that tasted like they accidentally dropped the whole salt shaker in. However, the meals improved after that, so not sure if they just had someone extremely under-qualified that day.
Stayed 6 nights in Sep 2019
Response from GM on Oct 4, 2019
Thank you for your overall good review and I am surprised that a meal was not up to standard as we pride ourselves on our good and consistent food as the many reviews we have had on all sites such as Tripadvisor etc... I will check with the kitchen and reiterate that only the chefs on duty should be making the guests food as that is what gives our product good consistency.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Good facilities, you need to have a car to drive around, because is far. Breakfast should be better
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2019
Response from GM on Oct 3, 2019
Thank you for the good review. We are currently improving our breakfast choices and how it is presented so next time you come you will be wonderfully surprised.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Food not fresh, seemed leftovers warmed up again, husband sick with it. No fresh coffee for breakfast only tin coffee (but steep rates). Weetbix not fresh. Breakfast bar waitress tried to steal 3$ extra for toast when in fact included in price already. Overheard other customers complain about same issue with same woman. Grounds kept immaculate and clean. Surrounding scenery beaufiful. Noisy, unsupervised local children (looked like children of staff) cleaning runny noses in pool and heard one say to the other "stop peeing in the pool" in Bislama.
Stayed 4 nights in Aug 2019
Response from GM on Sep 11, 2019
Fresh fruit and cereals are served with fresh bread every morning and instant coffee with other items available with the continental breakfast. If wanting more there is a breakfast menu that can be purchased at a reduced price due to being a resident. I will reiterate to the staff to check the pool for unsupervised children. No staff or their family are allowed to use facilities without prior permission and no staff has had children on the property for over a year. I am glad that you liked the property.

10/10 Excellent

Walter

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Best stay
It was a very comfotable stay
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2019
Response from GM on Aug 15, 2019
Thank you for the great review Walter, see you next time!

10/10 Excellent

Rhonda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Quite remote but fabulous food and staff
Fantastic staff, Delvene, Iris, John and Adam in particular were wonderful, so helpful in every way. The other staff members behind the scenes were also very friendly. This is a remote location with not much else around. We took advantage of booked tours from the resort which introduced us to Santo. The Turtle and Dugong tour was a highlight. Unfortunately for us the weather was not kind.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2019
Response from GM on Aug 14, 2019
Thank you for the amazing review Rhonda! I will congratulate the staff on a job well done as I relate your kind words. We will see you next time.

8/10 Good

thomas

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Probably the best place to stay. Can improve.
Nice setting, good location for getting around in terms of being half way between luganville and champagne beach. Loads to do in good weather. We had bad weather which is no one’s fault but felt a bit marooned then during those times. The trips we did were all great and apparently heavily vetted by the hotel. Friendly service. The food was a little inconsistent but generally very good. The hotel do point out the limitations of their location in a developing country in terms of access to fresh produce and that’s fine. The owner was a bit crass, and we received an email asking for a 5* review and to email them criticisms which didn’t sit well with me. Generally though, a very pleasant stay.
Stayed 7 nights in Aug 2019
Response from GM on Aug 10, 2019
Thank you for the good review Thomas. We shall continue to improve.The email from the owner was an automated one done a while ago and I will help them change the wording a little to not sound crass but ask for informative and constructive feedback.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family and small children, Traveled with partner, Traveled with family
Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Location on the water was great, friendly staff at resort.
Stayed 6 nights in Jul 2019
Response from GM on Aug 5, 2019
Thank you for the good review. I shall pass on your kind words to the staff.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
We booked a bit last minute so probs paid too much for our room. it was the most expensive on our 2 1/2 week stay in Vanuatu and was pleasant but not top notch. We were disapointed that the kayaks were an additional fee as that was one of the reasons we chose this lodge and we had seen ad saying they were free..which we did show to our hosts. We did love the kayak trip to the blue hole. Rooms were clean and comfortable. Staff were friendly and helpful. Weather was rainy and snorkeling not the best.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2019
Response from GM on Jul 15, 2019
We are happy that you enjoyed your stay with us. I have contacted all our media outlets to make sure that the problem with the kayaks is not made again. Thank you for bringing it to our attention.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 10 nights in Jun 2019
Response from GM on Jun 24, 2019
Thank you for the good review

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2019
Response from GM on Jun 15, 2019
Thank you for the amazing review!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in May 2019
Response from GM on May 25, 2019
Thank you for your wonderful review! 5 out of 5! See you next time at Turtle Bay Lodge.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 4 nights in Apr 2019
Response from GM on May 2, 2019
Thank you for the awesome response! 5 out 5. We are glad you enjoyed your stay with us so much.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We spent 6 nights at Turtle Bay in Santo. The property has a nice pool and well maintained gardens and reasonably priced dinners, especially pizzas:) Breakfast was included, although very basic. Swimming is nearly impossible on the reef, one has to be careful when going snorkelling because you need to go a fair bit out onto the reef with some stronger currents. The internet is very slow (on the whole island) and only available in the reception area (3x3m coverage). We had a family room and there was no TV, which if you're wanting to get away from the city life is ok, Santo as a whole is extremely remote and under developed. We felt that after 3 days we'd seen it all. We had a debacle with the car that was rented to us by the hotel, luckily it was sorted by the manager, however, it was still disappointing that a car was rented to us at $100 per day with no paperwork, insurance and in such a poor state that we were worried for our safety when driving it. The staff were all very nice and friendly, the rooms clean and tidy, overall we had a great time.
Stayed 6 nights in Apr 2019
Response from GM on May 2, 2019
We are glad that you had a great time overall and I shall relate to the staff your kind words. Our cars for hire are in for repair and should be back to new in no time and all our vehicles are fully insured. In this instance it has hi-lighted for further training of staff in getting the vehicle rental agreement signed and explained to the guest before they take out the vehicle. Internet is slow in Vanuatu as a whole though we are working with our internet provider to better the service to Turtle Bay Lodge. Once again we are happy your overall stay was great.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed Relaxed
Stayed 5 nights in Apr 2019
Response from Daniel on Apr 28, 2019
Thank you :-) I am glad you had a wonderfully relaxing holiday. Please visit us again.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2019
Response from Owner on Apr 4, 2019
Many thanks for the 5 * review! Glad you enjoyed your stay at Turtle Bay Lodge.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Stayed 4 nights in Jan 2019
Response from Owner on Feb 6, 2019
Many thanks for your 5 star review!

10/10 Excellent

Florian

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect Location and Service
This was part of our honey moon trip and the manager made sure we had a great time, helping us arranging activities and also with bubbles! Beautiful breakfast, lunch and dinner each day right by the water. Very friendly staff!
Stayed 2 nights in Jan 2019
Response from owner on Feb 6, 2019
Many thanks for your great review, we are so glad that you enjoyed your time at Turtle Bay Lodge.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
An incredibly beautiful location with very friendly and helpful staff. We loved the peaceful atmosphere, and hiring the kayaks to visit the blue holes was a highlight! The rooms are basic but comfortable and clean, and most have a sea view which was lovely to wake up to in the morning! The manager was great and helped us with transport and organising tours etc. The food was good and reasonably priced compared to other resorts we saw. We loved our stay here, and would definitely love to return to spend longer and to explore the local area a bit more. Thank you!!
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2018
Response from Louise- owner on Feb 6, 2019
Many thanks for your kind words about Turtle Bay Lodge. we are so glad you enjoyed all the many amazing aspects of the Lodge and hope you will recommend us to all of your friends and family.

10/10 Excellent

Giulia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We loved Turtle Bay Resort! The manager, Linda is super friendly and very helpful in arranging tours, transports, etc. She has a very good knowledge of the island and her recommendations are good. The food is very good and varied. The property is clean, the staff very professional and the nature around it simply amazing. We would like to go back one day!
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018
Response from Linda on Nov 19, 2018
Hi Guilia Thank you so much for taking the time to write about us. We wish you could have stayed longer! You did a lot in your time with us. We are very proud of all our staff. We loved having you here and appreciate you understanding how amazing Santo is! Kindest regards Linda

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great staff, excellent location & restaurant. Well worth it.
Stayed 7 nights in Oct 2018
Response from the owner on Nov 2, 2018
Many thanks for your great review. We are so glad you loved it at Turtle Bay Lodge. Come and visit us again!

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Turtle Bay Lodge
All good except that it didn’t have a beach
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2018
Response from The owner on Oct 20, 2018
Many thanks for your review. We are glad you enjoyed it. We have 250 metres of water front which is great for swimming and snorkelling but not a beach.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent location. Take time to explore the grounds.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2018
Response from Di & Skye, Managers Turtle Bay Lodge on Aug 1, 2018
Thank you so much. We really appreciate the feedback & will share your comments with our staff.

8/10 Good

Kippy, Sydney

Liked: Staff & service
Location = 5 Star
When I booked this resort,I knew exactly what I was in for as in a 3 star experience and it was just that.Comfortable,clean,fresh.The swimming pool is small but that's ok,we loved the water temp,even swimming at night.Reef walk(reef booties)was good but please avoid walking on live coral.Temperatures during our stay(August)was absolutely perfect...Daytime,wearing a T-shirt & shorts and nighttime,sleeping in one's birthday suit under a sheet was sufficient.Meals were more than acceptable,especially when eating outdoors under the trees & stars.What a wonderful dining experience.Free breakfast was corn flakes or vita brits,fruit salad,toast with jam or peanut paste with coffee or tea.Yes,it's a small breakfast but quite adequate.Thankyou's to Skye & Dianne & their wonderful staff.
Stayed 7 nights in Jul 2017

10/10 Excellent

Daniel

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
More than meets the ad
This place deserves more stars. We spent 4 days here following a 2 day stay in a equally rated bungalow and Turtle bay was a treat. The setting is beautiful, the staff friendly and attentive, the room was large and clean. I felt I got more than I paid for. The wifi was a bit unreliable, but I did not go to Vanuatu to have internet connection..

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Paradise!
Amazing accommodation with perfect service of the friendly hosts!

8/10 Good

Tina, NZ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely location at Turtle Bay Lodge.
Great friendly staff, wonderful location. Expensive food and van rides. Activities in VAnuatu mostly all very expensive so too dear for families on a reasonable budget.

8/10 Good

Terry, Queensland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful location
Absolutely lovely location. Skye & Dianne were great and took really good care of us.

10/10 Excellent

Anthony, Australia - NSW - Sydney

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Hiring boats and kayaking to the blue hole was a stunning experience. .

10/10 Excellent

Jodie, Australia - VIC - Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Facilities: Home away from home; Value: Amazing; Service: Go the extra mile; Cleanliness: Beautiful; Such a beautiful setting, loved sitting outside having dinner in the moonlight over looking the water

8/10 Good

Karen, Australia - NSW - Newcastle

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

6/10 Okay

Paul, Australia - QLD - Brisbane

Disliked: Property conditions & facilities
Facilities: Tired, Definitely in need of TLC; New managers are trying hard but the bungalows lack ambience and the price of food and travel to town was expensive

10/10 Excellent

Catherine, New Zealand - Queenstown

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Value: Great deal; Service: Friendly, Courteous; Cleanliness: Faultless; Definitely take the opportunity to kayak to the blue hole, it was amazing.

8/10 Good

Daniel, Toowoomba

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice location 30 minutes or so from airport.
Group of three, stayed 3 nights. Managers very friendly and helpful. Take footwear to walk out on reef - can only fully swim out at high tide. Generally always a nice cooling breeze at dining area which has a beautiful outlook.

4/10 Poor

Ross, Australia - QLD - Cairns

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Unqualified kitchen staff with no safe food handling knowledge or basic cooking skills. For health and enjoyment do not buy a meal from there.Disgrace

4/10 Poor

Lyn, Australia - ACT - Canberra

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Facilities: deck great rooms poor; Value: Could be better; Service: friendly- way too slow; Cleanliness: Grubby, substandard housekeeping;

10/10 Excellent

Rachel, Australia - VIC - Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

4/10 Poor

Laurent, New caledonia

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Hotel abandonned by managers
Beautiful view on the reef and island but the staff isn't managed. Australian manager, Ellen, seems to be on holidays like you. She is with her husband here to take your money and wake after the staff to take her time. Ths staff does what he can. He isn't organised so you wait one hour and half your breakfast, your meal, your dinner, even if there is not many customers. It was awful. We had a water break during the morning and Helen gave us a little bottle of water to brush our teeth, we had 2 electricity breaks. The manager apologises it's a fact but you paid the hotel and its services an expensive price. If you want to waste your time on expensive holidays go to Turtle Island Hotel.

8/10 Good

Raelee, New Zealand - Wellington

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Facilities: Modest; Value: Acceptable price; Service: Respectful, Friendly, Courteous; Cleanliness: Pleasant; Food great but some cheaper options would be good

10/10 Excellent

Daniel, Australia - VIC - Melbourne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Facilities: simple with character; Value: Great deal; great location, low key, relaxed

6/10 Okay

Chris, New Zealand

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Facilities: Tired; Value: Reasonable; Service: Basic; Cleanliness: Lacking; The Blue holes near by are outstanding, do not kayak take a taxi, unless your are very fit.

2/10 Terrible

Verified traveler

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Cheap & nasty
Placed in a very old style dorm room, no kettle for a simple cuppa, so had to go through bar and pay $3 each time. No cooking facilities or fridge in room, which made it very expensive as we were so far from town to buy local food & expensive taxis. Also told that our room rate did not include breakfast, so again lots more money spent in their restaurant. Even as guests we had to hire kayaks @ $60 per four people. Bathroom was very poor with shower needing update and drain unblocked. Rooms needed extra fans or back door to let air through. Local staff very good.

8/10 Good

Eugene, New Zealand - Auckland

Facilities: Basic, Unpretentious, Simple and just what was ; Value: Affordable, Economical, good value for money; Service: Helpful; Cleanliness: Tidy, Clean;

8/10 Good

Lynette, Australia - QLD - Brisbane

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Facilities: Good; Value: Affordable; Service: Friendly; Cleanliness: Tidy;