Unfortunately, our stay at Wadra Bay Hotel was a very mixed experience, and I would like to start with the negative points. The biggest disappointment was the attitude of the hotel director. We found him extremely snobbish and, more importantly, very unpleasant in the way he interacted with both guests and his own staff. When we went to reception to ask for our room bill, one of the receptionists kindly printed it for us. When it was time to pay, the director happened to be at reception. We showed him the document, which he took directly out of our hands and crumpled it up, saying: “This is not an invoice, this is worth nothing.” He then proceeded to print the entire bill for our room and all of the shared group consumptions, including dinners, as we were part of a group of 11 staying at the hotel for my brother’s wedding. He then told us that we had to go through the entire bill ourselves, find every single item that we wanted to pay for, and cross out everything else. Whatever the procedure may have been, the way it was handled and communicated was incredibly rude and completely unnecessary. It was also very uncomfortable to witness the way he spoke to and treated his staff. The other major issue was the maintenance of the hotel. The hotel was extremely quiet during our stay, yet some areas clearly seemed to be lacking proper maintenance. We went to enjoy the jacuzzi, which is located just outside the gym. While we were there, we were suddenly attacked by bees, and unfortunately, my one-year-old son was stung twice. The following morning, we discovered that a huge bee colony had built itself between the walls and windows of the gym, directly next to the jacuzzi area. We immediately reported it to maintenance. The staff member told us that the colony was so large and full of bees that they had to have someone come all the way from Nouméa to take care of it. Having such a large bee colony right next to an area where guests — including young children — are expected to relax is obviously concerning. We were lucky that the situation did not result in anything more serious than two stings to our son. That being said, I really want to finish on a positive note, because there were also some wonderful aspects to our stay. The location is beautiful. The landscape around Wadra Bay is absolutely stunning, peaceful and very special. And most importantly, the staff were fantastic. Every single staff member we interacted with was kind, welcoming and incredibly helpful. A special mention to the current chef, who went above and beyond to help us during our stay. He was genuinely lovely and made a real difference to our experience. So, despite the disappointing aspects regarding the management and maintenance, the beautiful setting and, above all, the kindness and professionalism of the staff deserve to be highlighted.
