Entire apartment

Tropical Sands

3.0 star property
your current months are December, 2024 and January, 2025.
December 2024
January 2025

Photo gallery for Tropical Sands

Villa with Sea View | Terrace/patio
Property grounds
Reception
Villa with Sea View
Villa with Garden View | Private kitchen

Reviews

9.2 out of 10

Wonderful

Popular amenities

  • Laundry
    Laundry
  • Kitchen
    Kitchen
  • Parking included
    Parking included
  • Outdoor space
    Outdoor space

Explore the area

Map
Muri Village (4 minutes away), Rarotonga
  • Avana Harbour
    14 min walk
  • Muri Lagoon
    15 min walk
  • Te Vara Nui Village
    3 min drive
  • Rarotonga (RAR-Rarotonga Intl.)
    13 min drive

Room options

Villa with Garden View

  • 48 sq m
  • 1 bedroom
  • Beach view
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 Queen Bed and 1 Twin Bed

Two-bedroom Villa

  • 96 sq m
  • 2 bedrooms
  • Beach view
  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Queen Beds

Villa with Sea View

  • 80 sq m
  • 1 bedroom
  • 1 bathroom
  • Ocean view
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 Queen Bed OR 2 Twin Beds

Similar properties

About the area

Ngatangiia

With a stay at Tropical Sands in Rarotonga (Takitumu District), you'll be within a 5-minute drive of Muri Beach and Avana Harbour. .This beach apartment is 0.8 mi (1.2 km) from Muri Lagoon and 1.5 mi (2.5 km) from Te Vara Nui Village.

What's nearby

  • Muri Lagoon - 15 min walk - 1.3 km
  • Te Vara Nui Village - 3 min drive - 2.5 km
  • Muri Night Markets - 4 min drive - 2.8 km
  • Muri Beach - 5 min drive - 3.4 km
  • Tikioki Marine Sanctuary - 6 min drive - 4.8 km

Getting around

  • Rarotonga (RAR-Rarotonga Intl.) - 13 min drive

Restaurants

  • ‪Charlie's - ‬7 min drive
  • ‪Trader Jacks Bar & Grill - ‬9 min drive
  • ‪Sails Restaurant - ‬4 min drive
  • ‪Shipwreck Hut - ‬18 min drive
  • ‪Palace Takeaway - ‬11 min drive

About this property

Entire place

You'll have the entire apartment to yourself and will only share it with other guests in your party.

Tropical Sands

Beachfront apartment for sun and fun
Tropical Sands offers 5 accommodations with safes and complimentary bottled water. Rooms open to furnished patios. Each accommodation is individually furnished and decorated. Beds feature premium bedding. Accommodations at this 3-star apartment have kitchens with full-sized refrigerators/freezers, stovetops, cookware/dishes/utensils, and coffee/tea makers. Bathrooms include bathtubs or showers, complimentary toiletries, and hair dryers.

This Rarotonga apartment provides wireless Internet access (speed: 250+ Mbps (good for 3–5 people or up to 10 devices)) for a surcharge. Flat-screen televisions are featured in guestrooms. Additionally, rooms include irons/ironing boards and ceiling fans. Irons/ironing boards and hair dryers can be requested. Housekeeping is provided once per stay.

The recreational activities listed below are available either on site or nearby; fees may apply.
Make yourself at home in one of the 5 individually decorated guestrooms, featuring kitchens with full-sized refrigerators/freezers and stovetops. Rooms have private furnished patios. Wireless internet access (surcharge) keeps you connected, and flat-screen televisions are provided for your entertainment. Conveniences include safes and coffee/tea makers, and housekeeping is provided once per stay.
Take in the views from a terrace and a garden and make use of amenities such as wireless internet access (surcharge). Additional features at this apartment include tour/ticket assistance and a picnic area.
Featured amenities include luggage storage and laundry facilities. A roundtrip airport shuttle is provided for a surcharge (available 24 hours), and free self parking is available onsite.

Languages

English

Property amenities

Beach

  • On the beach
  • Beach sunloungers

Internet

  • Wi-Fi available (NZD 50 per stay), with a speed of 250+ Mbps (good for 3–5 people or up to 10 devices)

Parking and transport

  • Free self-parking on site
  • 24-hour return airport shuttle (surcharge)
  • Airport shuttle on request

Kitchen

  • Fridge (full size)
  • Stovetop
  • Cookware/dishes/utensils
  • Coffee/tea maker
  • Paper towels
  • Toaster
  • Electric kettle
  • Cleaning supplies

Bedrooms

  • Premium bedding
  • Bed sheets provided

Bathrooms

  • Bath or shower
  • Towels provided
  • Hairdryer (on request)
  • Free toiletries

Entertainment

  • Flat-screen TV

Outdoor areas

  • Furnished patio
  • Terrace
  • Garden
  • Garden
  • Picnic area
  • Outdoor furniture

Laundry

  • Laundry facilities

Comfort

  • Ceiling fan
  • Portable fan

Pets

  • No pets or service animals

Suitability/Accessibility

  • If you have any requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • Accessible airport shuttle
  • Handrails in stairwells
  • No lifts
  • Soundproofing
  • Designated smoking areas

Services and conveniences

  • Tour/ticket assistance
  • Limited housekeeping
  • Safe
  • Iron/ironing board
  • Luggage storage
  • Free bottled water

Location highlights

  • Near the ocean
  • Near the sea
  • On the waterfront
  • In the suburbs

Things to do

  • Boat tours nearby
  • Golf nearby
  • Ecotours nearby
  • Hiking/biking trails nearby
  • Scuba diving nearby
  • Scooter/moped rentals nearby
  • Windsurfing nearby
  • Snorkelling nearby
  • Whale watching nearby

Safety features

  • Carbon monoxide detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector)
  • Smoke detector not reported (host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property)
  • Fire extinguisher
  • First aid kit

General

  • 5 rooms
  • 1 floor
  • 5 buildings
  • Built in 1998
  • Traditional architecture

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 1:00 PM; Check-in end time: anytime
Early check-in subject to availability
Early check-in is available for a fee
Contactless check-in available
Minimum check-in age: 21

Check-out

Check-out before 10 AM
Contactless check-out available
Late check-out subject to availability
Late check-out fee: NZD 85

Special check-in instructions

This property offers transfers from the airport (surcharges may apply); to arrange pick-up, guests must contact the property 48 hours prior to arrival, using the contact information on the booking confirmation
There is no front desk at this property
Guests must contact the property in advance for check-in instructions and key retrieval information; access will be through a private entrance
To make arrangements for check-in please contact the property at least 72 hours before arrival using the information on the booking confirmation

Access methods

Key retrieval, private entrance

Pets

No pets or service animals allowed

Children and extra beds

Children are welcome
Cribs (infant beds) are not available

Payment types

Important information

Fees

You'll be asked to pay the following charges at the property. Fees may include applicable taxes:

  • Shuttle transfer per adult: NZD 25.00 (one-way)
  • Shuttle transfer per child: NZD 20.00 (one-way), from 12 to 18 years old
  • Cleaning fee: NZD 35.00 per accommodation, per stay

We have included all charges provided to us by the property.

Optional extras

  • Fee for in-room wireless internet: NZD 50 per stay (rates may vary)
  • Fee for wireless internet in public areas: NZD 50 per stay (rates may vary)
  • Airport shuttle fee: NZD 25 per person (one-way)
  • Airport shuttle fee per child: NZD 20.00 (one-way), (from 12 to 18 years old)
  • Early check-in is available for a fee (subject to availability)
  • Late check-out fee: NZD 85 (subject to availability)

The above list may not be comprehensive. Fees and deposits may not include tax and are subject to change.

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card, or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards and cash
Host has not indicated whether there is a carbon monoxide detector on the property; consider bringing a portable detector with you on the trip
Host has not indicated whether there is a smoke detector on the property
Safety features at this property include a fire extinguisher and a first aid kit
This property is professionally cleaned

We should mention

This property does not have elevators
No pets and no service animals are allowed at this property

Property is also known as

Tropical Sands Apartment Rarotonga
Tropical Sands Rarotonga
Tropical Sands Apartment
Tropical Sands Rarotonga
Tropical Sands Apartment Rarotonga

Tropical Sands Reviews

Reviews

9.2

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 73 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 34 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 3 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 1 out of 112 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 112 reviews" "

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.2/10

Staff & service

8.8/10

Amenities

9.2/10

Property conditions & facilities

10/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Ian

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely hosts, nice cabin very close to the beach and easily walkable to Muri.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2023

10/10 Excellent

Latesha

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
We had such a wonderful time here! Right on the beach with incredible sunrises & sunsets. Friendly, welcoming and helpful hosts. It's more rustic & authentic than staying in a big fancy resort, we really enjoyed it and can happily recommend.
Stayed 3 nights in May 2022

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Lovely friendly, privately own resort with ATM, good ship and Petrol few min walk away. We booked 5 nights and after checking plenty of another hotels extended for another week)) Great value for money and super hosts.
Stayed 5 nights in Nov 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with family, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
It was lovely,quiet and, safe. The bed was a little hard, lovely hosts, Rudy and Kanoe. Ngaa mihi
Stayed 8 nights in Sep 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
My unit was right on the beaachfront. It was not always easy to find the owners when I needed to to. There was no hot water after the first day.
Stayed 9 nights in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

DAWSON

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing place to Stay in Rarotonga
Amazing View...lovely host close with grocery shop...
Stayed 3 nights in Jul 2019

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The homely relaxing environment supported by the friendly and helpful releaving management plus access to scenic beach
Stayed 5 nights in May 2019

8/10 Good

Orrsrus, Lethbridge, Canada

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The nighttime hermit crab festival on the lawn was awesome. The grounds and folks that ran the place were nice. Beds and accommodations were not high end, but pleasant and acceptable. I’d stay there again.
Stayed 12 nights in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Irf

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Rudy and Kanoi are wonderful hosts. The property is very well maintained and has many artistic touches.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2018

10/10 Excellent

Murray, Tropical Sands

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great Value, Clean and comfortable stay!
Amazing experience in an amazing location! Great Value. Had the privilege of enjoying our morning coffee while watching whales play and breach just a short distance from the beach. Rooms are always spotless. Same as the property. Rudi and Kanoi are always helpful and friendly. Very close to a new grocery/gas station and walking distance to Muri. I am a happy return customer, and would recommend anyone visiting the Island to stay at Tropical Sands.
Stayed 8 nights in Oct 2018

8/10 Good

Stacey, Vancouver, BC

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
For us, great location, bicycles were available for free and we took advantage to go exploring!!! Coffee down the block was great for breakfast and the gas station nearby had great selection for cooking at the room. Bacon, eggs, salad and chicken to name a few things. Bus stops right there so that is perfect as well.
Stayed 3 nights in Sep 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Fantastic location for families or groups. Not 5 star, but friendly hosts and other guests make up for it!
Stayed 12 nights in Aug 2018

10/10 Excellent

Alan, California

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great property to relax at close to ocean with great view of mountains. Owners present when needed and very friendly and helpful. A place to stay many days for sure. Felt like being home versus at a hotel.
Stayed 12 nights in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Rose, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Pleasant unit close to beach
Very clean, well equipped units look out onto garden and have their own sheltered porch with seating area from which you can see the sea. Good access to shops and within walking distance to Muri village. Nice to have filtered water on tap when many other places in the same price range need you to boil water or buy it. Friendly hosts who were knowledgeable and responsive to requests. Very pleasant place to spend a week and excellent value for money as very reasonably priced. Would have liked better beds, but otherwise a very good place to stay
Stayed 9 nights in Aug 2018

6/10 Okay

Carron, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Lovely Villa but...
Arrived at night 10pm Raro time and was pleased with layout of the Villa. Nice open plan kitchen, lounge/bedroom and a seperate bathroom. Everything was really nice and clean and there was a really good breeze. Security was on all windows and we felt ourselves and our stuff was safe. Woke up the next morning to find that there was a building site next door and they started at 7.30am, everyday that we were there. The building site meant that more than half of our view of the beach was covered by framing from the new buildings and the rest was pretty much covered by palm trees. When booking we liked the idea that little children werent going to be around but the owners grandkids (4 & 2 I believe) were there. When we introduced ourselves there wasnt really an apology but a they are our grandkids so what can you do about it. The owners were friendly and were able to help us get to a scooter place so we could hire one. We found contact with them was at the minimum which suited us but was surprised too find other guests were continually contacted by them and not always in a friendly manner.
Stayed 5 nights in Apr 2018

10/10 Excellent

Neil, Ballina NSW Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Waterfront bungalow with amazing sunrise
Despite some atrocious weather we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Tropical Sands and when or if we get to return to Raratonga it will be our preferred accommodation destination. Our hosts were friendly and helpful, the accommodation was awesome right on the beachfront and between the use of the bycicles provided and the public bus stop at the resort entrance we had no trouble getting around Raratonga. A holiday that will long be remembered
Stayed 7 nights in Apr 2018

8/10 Good

The Greens, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Right on the beach
Clean and comfortable. Amazing views, beautiful well kept gardens. Meet all our expectations. Hosts friendly and approachable. Enjoyed our stay.
Stayed 9 nights in Mar 2018

10/10 Excellent

ian, halifax UK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great apartment, wonderful hosts
Basic but lovely, well maintained apartments in lovingly maintained gardens on the edge of a lagoon. What more can you ask for? Don’t expect air conditioning because few places on Rarotonga have it, and it is a huge premium... just open all the insect screened louvred windows and let the sea breezes blow through! Although small, the kitchens are well enough equipped that we ate in most evenings during our stay. I cannot praise the property, it’s location or the hosts, Heidi & Rudi highly enough.
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2018

10/10 Excellent

Fluffy, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Private and near the beach
Host are very friendly, bed not comfortable kept running into the corners of the bed which is solid wood. Inside the venue is very welcoming with beautiful natural wood furnishing.
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Right on beach
Friendly hosts. Weather wasn't great for our stay so we weren't able to enjoy the free use of the bicycles to explore. Nice quiet spot for relaxing.
Stayed 5 nights in Dec 2017

10/10 Excellent

Veronica, Wellington, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Serene setting
My daughter & I stayed for 9 days & enjoyed the simple & easy facilities. Easy access to local attractions. The various chill areas available. Hosts Rudy & Kanoe were excellent! Can’t wait to come back!
Stayed 8 nights in Nov 2017

8/10 Good

Dawn

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
quiete place, a bit far
a condo without suplementary service, on a nice couple's resort. the place looks great, beautiful ocean view, but the shore is not suitible for swim and you need to walk around 20 min-half an hour to get to shore. if you have car then you have no problem. however, the island have much better shore views
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2017

10/10 Excellent

Lisa

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Peace of Paradise
Good location. Peaceful and tranquil - away from the busy resorts it is a very nice retreat for couples and small families. Only 10min up the road from Muri Beach and the night markets. Bus stops right in front. Lovely villas situated right on the beach front we woke up to the most beautiful sunrises. Will definitely be staying here again.
Stayed 4 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Paul, Hamilton NZ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
Friendly staff
Having just 5 villas you have the beach to yourself, but what made it awesome was the owners who treated you like old friends
Stayed 8 nights in Oct 2017

10/10 Excellent

Rhona, Christchurch NZ

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
A quiet little place to stay away from the crowds
Tropical Sands is a really special little place. It was immaculate, well maintained and well away from the crowds. The hosts Rudy and Kanoe were very welcoming. You can't swim at the beach here, but sitting under a palm and hearing the waves crash was so relaxing. I walked into Muri to the beach it was a good half hour but the bus service is great if you don't have a car or moped and don't want to walk. Just up the road is the best coffee and fresh croissants Ive had in a long time! At night the garden becomes home to all these wee hermit crabs, so cool to watch. My unit didn't have air con, not sure if the others do, it wasn't a problem at this time of the year but I think in the hotter months if that is something that you need when it's really hot, you might want to consider. Bed was comfy and the roosters (everywhere on the island) were easy enough to ignore and go back to sleep! I would definitely recommend this place if the resorts are not your thing. Thanks for a great stay.
Stayed 3 nights in Oct 2017