Solomon Kitano Mendana Hotel

Not great but good

I asked the half day tour. That was amazing. Compared to other countries, the price is more expensive here.

The worst hotel ever… Dirty moldy bathrooms, bugs, floor of unit dirty, old beds, outdated bathroom with all types of stains, bad room with direct view of parking lot and busy, noisy street. Free internet is charged after 500MB(3 days). Basically we checked out 2 nights early and buyer new tickets not to be there…

The staff is wonderful and friendly and helpful. Some of the rooms are very dated. Food quality was not very good, although they really tried.

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.

Brief stays while transiting through Honiara. Comfortable and quiet rooms with views out to the bay. Two restaurants to choose from: both good with a full range of options. Check in was smooth and grateful for aiport pick up.

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 The bathroom was clean, but the furnishings were outdated and weathered, and looked somewhat dirty.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.

Friday’s night party in the hotel lasted until 2am. It was not possible to sleep with the music blasting so late.