Staying in Savaii

I've been in Savaii for the past two days for work. BAT's preferred supplier for accommodation is Jet Over simply for its location, close to the wharf and close to our office which is across from Tui & Masi.

I've stayed at Jet Over more times than I wish to remember. This stay is one I definitely will remember.

We checked in around 4pm, and they put us in their west wing - the OLDEST part of the hotel which looks like it hasn't been renovated since 1998. The standard room - one queen sized bed and a single, both with a dark red silk cover/duvet thingy. Something out of an old one-night-stand motel in the middle of the Arizona desert. I flipped it over and there were stains all over the under-side. Running to the bathroom to throw up, I found a toilet seat with suspicious wet stains on it, and a shower area where I had to suck my stomach in, to squeeze into. I won't go into detail on the state of the shower curtain. There's a door leading outside to the verandah...and oh is there a VIEW! A view of the back of a lumber yard and the a perfect view to some family's toilet. We called reception to ask if we could be transferred to the other side, which was a darn sight more decent. The reception ditz said (after 2 seconds of contemplating whether she wanted to get off her ass and clear up a room for us) that nothing was available and that they were fully booked. Strike 1.

We went down for dinner at 7.30 that evening. It was quite full - a family of 15, plus many outside having drinks. We sat for about 15 minutes. No waiter appeared. There was a guy sitting at a table writing receipts. Never once lifted his head. Finally we got up and got the menus ourselves - lying on the table with the receipt guy. Still didn't lift his head. 20 minutes later, a waitress appeared. We ordered garlic bread ($15), crumbed prawns ($25) and chicken soup ($15). 45 minutes passed, before a waiter came rushing out of the kitchen with our food. Four measly bits of bread - COLD, prawns of a decent size, but still partially frozen and chicken soup - the chicken skin hadn't been removed and the I could barely see the chicken through the layer of oil. And the chinese cabbage plonked on the top. Sigh. I'm not one to make a fuss in a restaurant so we didn't bother returning it. Who knew when we'd get the food second time round. Maina - we ordered steak. Well done. The waitress asked us THREE times how we wanted it. Well fukn done. After the entree debacle, we weren't too surprised when the steak came and it was rare. Blood still streaming down the sides. Strike 2.

Needless to say we didn't eat there again.

Until this morning when we were in a rush to get to the wharf, and didn't have time to breakfast anywhere else. We ordered scrambled eggs and omelettes. We had coffee and fruit while we waited. Half an hour later, we heard the cook calling out "Sole ua uma fuamoa! Kamo'e ifo seisi e faakau mai gi fuamoa la'a kuai!" No eggs. What hotel restaurant runs out of EGGS for breakfast?! Keste ia. Strike 3.

And the moral of the story? Always bring your own carton of eggs when travelling to Savaii. And for God's sake don't stay at Jet Over.