I stayed at the Palau Paradise Hotel in Palau. The staff were very courteous and went out of their way to ensure the guest were taken care of.
The rooms were spacious and very clean. The hotel is close to shopping and restraunts so no need to catch a cab. If you want a massage they offer a service right there in your room.
The hotel is priced right and has great location for those on a budget or not. I highly recommend Palau Paradise Hotel if you are visiting Palau.
My dive buddy and I stayed on the 4th floor for 10 days. We were impressed with the views, eager services, and proximity to shopping, restaurant and even a museum that we would definitely book to stay here again when we return to the most beautiful diving in the world (see videos in YouTube).
The room was spacious and clean. The dorm size fridge held our local addictions (papayas and cucumbers), yogurt and apples we bought from the supermarket next door, and a jar of Costco peanut butter that was so good on apples and bananas (hanging in the stairwell!) We mainly ate those (and sometimes instant oatmeal) for breakfast before being picked up by our dive tour.
Trying to minimize waste using plastic bottled water, we filtered tap water into our own bottle, and even the hot water cooking pot, using a Britta filter pushed through a small corner opening of a gallon freezer bag. Then hung the bag on the drying rack with clothes pins that we brought.
Being divers with lots of hand laundered items, we appreciated the large drying rack and a "foyer" spacious enough for it in the room. (Bring a few plastic hangers.) We also hung larger pieces on the public drying bars in the hallway where there was cross breezes. So thoughtful.
Perhaps that was the most valuable memory from our stay in this hotel. The business was THOUGHTFULLY run with customer service at its fore front: cleanliness throughout, friendly, knowledgeable and efficient owner and staff. (They carried our luggage to and from our room without any notice. They monitored the premise and anticipated our needs. They also saved parking spaces and directed traffic at night so we could easily park our rental car for a couple of days.) And those gratis yummy bananas! Thank you, So Hee and your wonderful staff.
The Palau Paradise was one of the few left with rooms available when we got around to booking and as it looked the cleanest out of what was on offer at the time, we went ahead and booked it.
Not disappointed. The hotel is literally bang in the centre of Koror with all the shops, restaurants, gift shops and department stores only stones throw away.
ROOMS
We were on the top floor and located at the back of the hotel. On arrival I felt slightly disappointed we were not at the front but that turns out to be a blessing.
Rooms facing the road are going to be a little more noisy at night. There are restaurants below on the 2nd and 1st floors and in Palau, it almost always rains at night so the traffic on the road will make it even a little more noisier.
Rooms at the back have an ocean view - perfect for waking up in the morning to see what the weather is going to be like for your boat trip out to wherever you're heading.
There is a fridge and kettle in your room and that's about it. We bought coffee and bread from the grocery shops so we could have breakfast in our rooms - dive tour pick up time is typically 8am and there are few choices for breakfast.
Rooms are large, airy, immaculate, clean and the housekeeping faultless. We had some noisy neighbours that liked their TV really, really loud. One call to reception and we never heard the TV again!
There is no elevator so if you find it difficult climbing stairs make sure to look for a room on a lower level.
STAFF
Brilliant staff, always friendly and helpful.
LOCATION
As mentioned it's as central as you can get. There are quieter places on the island but as a dive base with options for eating out and doing some shopping while off-gasing, you can't beat it.
For breakfast, on the main road about a 3 minute walk is Coffee Berry that has great food and coffee but doesn't open until 7am and service can be a little slow so you need to be already packed and ready to go if you want to have breakfast there. Finish up and head back to the hotel for your pick up.
Alternatively there is a bakery behind the hotel and even closer that opens for breakfast at 6:30 which is perfect.
For lunch and evening meals, the 2nd floor has one restaurant, 'Mogu Mogu', a Japanese themed restaurant with some of the most expensive beer and seafood on the entire island. Yes, it's convenient if you're just too tired to walk even a few minutes (which can happen with 3 dives day) but, no it's not worth it!
A San Miguel will cost you $8. The most expensive I saw on the island. You can buy them for $1.60 at the WCTC food market literally next door so why not keep a few in your fridge?!
If you see a bunch of bananas hanging in the stairway ripening, they are there for the guests to take freely so grab one of your way out in the morning!
Cameras are everywhere, night staff always outside the hotel so you can feel very secure here. I'd book again in a heartbeat.
Spent 2.5 nights here (Manila flight was late, so checked in at 5 am...). Received a complimentary upgrade, which was very nice and earns the property an extra star. Bed was comfortable (firm) and the shower was very nice. The hotel itself is very basic--a place to sleep, mostly. But there are good restaurants nearby, so eating is not a problem.
The staff was very accommodating and got me an iron when I needed one and helped me rent a car. The knowledge of local details was sketchy, though, so when I wanted to find a locally made shirt or rent a bike, they could not help. (Moreys for the shirt & still looking for a bike...)
Located centrally in downtown, the hotel room rate was $110 per night single occupancy. Checkout time is noon and they were adamant of adhering to their check in time of 3 PM (though I got to check in at 2 PM after sitting next to the front desk for hours).
The cleanliness of the entire facility was very good and near excellent except for hard to get places that manifested a build up of dust and scum. No internet, no in room safe but couple of bottle water provided along with a kettle and cups. There is an in house Japanese restaurant called Mog Mog that I will not recommend as the food served is not acceptable ... not fresh and tasty. In my opinion the room is more in the price range of $50-60 per night but in Palau the hotels are very expensive.
The hotel personnel are very nice and helpful. They all appear to be contract workers from other countries.
