What We Think
The Bakotu Hotel has been a firm favourite of our guests and BBC presenter Chris Packham for many years, mainly thanks to the warm welcome the staff provide and the fantastic birdwatching opportunities available within the hotel's lush gardens. It is also in a good location close to the beach and there are a couple of other hotels, small restaurants, beach bars and a craft market nearby.
The hotel provides a peaceful sanctuary for those looking for a quiet relaxing holiday, with no loud music or organised pool games to disturb the tranquillity, except for an occasional visit from local cultural entertainers.
The rooms are located throughout the lovingly tended, mature tropical gardens and, although they are all furnished to the same standard with new furniture from Winter 2010, the decor varies from room to room. Family rooms with additional bunk beds are available and a limited number of rooms have air-conditioning which is available at a supplement.
Captain's Table, the hotel's à la carte restaurant, is very popular and enjoys a good reputation for evening food. The continental breakfast should satisfy most appetites, however a cooked breakfast can be purchased at extra cost. The Bakotu Hotel has opened a bar and second restaurant on their hotel frontage adding to the increased choice of places to eat and drink in the area - credits are available for guests staying on a half board basis in all the hotel-run restaurants. With the Kombo Beach and Bungalow Beach hotels nearby, plus a couple of further beach bars, Kotu is becoming a busier area during the day and evening but remains quiet in comparison to the nearby resort of Kololi.
Although Bakotu is not directly on the beach, the welcoming sand is only 100 metres away and can be reached by strolling through the craft market. The time this takes will depend on the amount of bartering and shopping undertaken en route!
Bakotu has been chosen by BBC Springwatch/Autumnwatch presenter and ornithologist Chris Packham as the base for his birdwatching for several years, and the hotel is a real treat for nature lovers with its visiting monkeys and monitor lizards, plus the resident giant tortoise and her offspring wandering around the lush gardens. To quote Chris: 'I love Bakotu because it feels like a home from home - the friendly, family atmosphere, the wonderful lush gardens so good for birdwatching, the excellent restaurant... Essentially, its the perfect place for me and my family and I wouldn't think of going anywhere else'.
