Carolines is located near the main city of Koror, on Arakabesang Island. It consists of eight stand-alone bungalows, high on a hillside. The site has a superb view to the southwest that includes the island of Ulong and the sunset.
The bungalows are connected by a paved path, constructed to accommodate the golf cart that the hotel uses to carry bags, deliver room-service, and clean and maintain the bungalows. At the bottom of the paved path is the building that serves as the office, outside of which is a small, dirt parking area.
We stayed in two different bungalows on two separate, one-night stays. The bungalows were constructed of wood, with wooden floors and high ceilings. Other than wear on bathroom cabinets, both were clean and well-maintained. The main rooms had a king bed (other bed configurations are available), a small refrigerator serving as a mini-bar, a hot-water pot with coffee and tea service, a television with cable access, air conditioning, and a telephone. One bungalow had a small sofa. Both bathrooms had a Western-style toilet, a sink mounted in a cabinet, and a tiled shower. All of the establishment’s bungalows had attached balconies, with a table, chairs, and that great view previously mentioned.
Wireless internet service was not available in the bungalows. For that, we had to go to the open-air patio of the office building and purchase an access card.
We incurred no extra charges for several local phone calls made from our room.
The service was very good, and very responsive. The front desk handled food orders from the hotel’s kitchen, the order of delivery food from other restaurants, carriage of baggage to and from the bungalows, pick-up of our rental car from the hotel, storage of baggage during our kayak trip, and driving us to the boat dock for or trip to Peleliu. One morning, the office and the kitchen opened up early to provide us breakfast before our departure for kayaking. Other than the cost of the food we ordered, there were no extra charges for all this.
That does not mean that all hotel-provided transportation is free. During a guest’s stay, the hotel charges for shuttles to and from Koror; but this is offset by arrangements the hotel has made with some Koror establishments for free, establishment-provided shuttles.
An extra bonus of staying at Carolines is that is has a relationship with the Palua Pacific Resort (PPR), giving its customers access PPR’s beach; although transport here has a fee associated with it.
Carolines has a kitchen, but no restaurant. Food is prepared for room delivery. We ate one light dinner and two breakfasts during our stays. The food was reasonably priced, and of reasonable quality and quantity. Our one critique is that there was an excessive use of cooking oil.
Overall, we were very pleased with Carolines. It wasn’t cheap, but it was worth it to us when we escaped the weekend nightlife of Koror, and when we returned tired and dirty from six days of kayaking and camping in the Rock Islands. There are several accommodations we have not yet explored in the Koror area, some of which are less expensive, and some of which are more expensive; but Carolines is now a known quantity, and a very good one. We will stay here again, when we return to Palau.
