Palau Hotel Suggestions

[mjarens]

Just booked a 14 night charter on the Palau Aggressor for March 2013.

My Delta flight arrives Koror on Friday night at 11:20 PM. So I will need a hotel for Friday and Saturday night pre-charter, and then again for Sunday and Monday night post charter.

I would like to stay close to town, walking distance or short cab ride, and would like a pool and/or beach. Looking at the Palau Royal Resort and the Sea Passion Hotel.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with either of these, or any other suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[Deep Water Dan]

Sea Passion is a good, basic hotel. But you can't order dinner until after 6:00 PM. And personally I think their breakfasts suck, unless you like squid, fish heads, and fried eel. Pretty much nobody eats there or hangs out at their bar. There's a reason. Mediocre food, stale beer, etc.

Palau Royal is way more upscale and you can eat anytime you like. We popped over for drinks and dinner on our last trip and I was plenty impressed with the facilities and service. I believe we'll be staying there next time instead of the Sea Passion. Aggressor parks right next door, if I'm not mistaken.

 

[bbarada]

I disagree with Deep Water Dan. We stayed at the Sea Passion last March before and after boarding the Aggressor. The breakfast buffet had lots of variety and was medium tasty. We ordered lunch from the lobby area next to the pool, and it was delicious. The rooms were spacious and clean, and we loved the shower. And it is very close to where the Aggressor loads and nice walk to Sam's.
.

 

[guamrider]

Hi mjarens, The Sea Passion, West Plaza Malakal, and the Palau Royal resort are all very very close to where the Aggressor boards. The West Plaza Hotel is the most inexpensive, then the Sea Passion, and the PRR is much higher priced. All three of them have their own restaurants and include breakfast. The Sea Passion has a small beach and the PPR has a large one.

I just returned from Palau and spent 8 days at the Sea Passion. The breakfast was fine with an ample selection of both western and asian food. Nothing great, nothing bad.

Within easy walking distances of all of these hotels are four restaurants: Sam's Bottom Time bar and grill, Kramers, the Carp restaurant, and the Drop-Off bar and Grill at Neco Marine. All of them are reasonable and offer a varied menu.

The most unique is the Carp restaurant. It's owned by one of the 3 fellows that actually started all of the diving in Palau (Johnny Itaru} and the cuisine is mainly Japanese but it's great! And also VERY inexpensive.

There are many more hotels there but the Aggressor docks at Neco Marine so I recommend staying at one of the above hotels.

You can get more info on all of these hotels here:Palau Packages.
P. S. I'm the travel consultant to this business.

 

[Deep Water Dan]

I just returned from Palau and spent 8 days at the Sea Passion. The breakfast was fine with an ample selection of both western and asian food. Nothing great, nothing bad.

Well, except for that day that the only western food available was bread and eggs. Not exactly my definition of an ample selection. But there was that day when they had hot dogs for breakfast. Yum.

 

[jake11]

My vote would be the Palau Royal Resort. We stayed at the Sea Passions and it was fine but we did go over and look at rooms at the PRR and they were MUCH nicer! The boat was docked right next to the property. If you can swing it then I would indulge and stay at Palau Pacific Resort. We stayed there too and absolutely loved it! Have fun!

 

[xariatay]

Sorry, we didn't stay at that end of the island... However, we loved the food at Palm Bay Bistro at the West Plaza Malakal. Swore never to eat at Drop-off agin - we hated the 45mins wait for food & each of us was served at 15mins interval... ;-)

 

[jjardin]

How does the Palau Royal compare to the Palau Pacific? We stayed at the PPR the last time, and it was nice...but a little far away. And can you drink the tap water at the PRR (wife is obsessed with this for some reason).

 

[farsidefan1]

I disagree with Deep Water Dan. We stayed at the Sea Passion last March before and after boarding the Aggressor. The breakfast buffet had lots of variety and was medium tasty. We ordered lunch from the lobby area next to the pool, and it was delicious. The rooms were spacious and clean, and we loved the shower. And it is very close to where the Aggressor loads and nice walk to Sam's.
.

I fully agree. Sea Passion was a very nice hote. The breakfasts were very much to my taste and and I'm as American as can be. I was surprised to see some Chinese food that I consider to be dinner courses instead of breakfast fare but the scrabled eggs and bacon
were always there.

 

[cozcharlie]

Kind of a late response on my part, but figured I would offer my two cents.
I stayed at the Sea Passion a year ago and was quite happy with it (especially at that price range). The breakfast was fine, mix of American and Asian--not spectacular, but just fine. I have walked through the Palau Royal Resort a few times and while it is nicer than the Sea Passion, I thought it was even more focused on Asian clientele (most of land-based Palau is Japanese/Chinese and/or American/European targeted, it is only a question of the mix).

Both hotels are very convenient to where the Aggressor berths. If you want a really nice hotel, Palau Pacific Resort is probably the best on the island, but it is fairly far from the Aggressor. I stayed there many years ago. If you stay at the the Palau Royal or Sea Passion, I would recommend you try one of the various restauarants in the area as opposed to the hotel restaurant unless you like asian fare (I am an ugly american tourist who likes his beef). Have fun on the Aggressor, I have been it or its sister Tropic Dancer 4 times now. They share staff, you will have a great time on either.