Second Life Vacations — The SL Hotel Inspector

Photo credit - Sparklebottom Lasertits — *Photo credit -* *Sparklebottom Lasertits*

Editor’s note - This review of the Fiji Resort was produced by two guest reviewers, Tory King and Sparklebottom Lasertits.

It’s also our first review done by same sex groups of vacation goers - a market that should be as important to SL hotels and resorts as it is with their RL equivalents. Tory and two male friends, and Sparkle and a female friend stayed at two separate villas over a 48 hour period.

Here is their review. The scores have been averaged out, and each commentary is listed as TK (for Tory) and SL (for Sparkle)

The Overall look and Feel

TK - The place looks great overall. Someone’s clearly spent time and money on the landscaping and design. Getting around the resort, whether walking or sailing, is fun and feels surprisingly authentic.

Management and staff, while generally out of sight (off-sim), were friendly and quick to respond whenever we needed assistance.

SL - Fiji Resort is meant to resemble the real-life Fiji, of course, with its bright green tropical rainforest, lush blue waters, and white sand. A quick Google image search will make it obvious that Fiji Resort does indeed resemble a lot of the images that come up.

The overall build of the resort feels a little generic, however. The decoration is most mostly just minimal beach style all throughout. Most things were very symmetrically placed, which ruined the immersion for me quite a bit.

Average - 3.5 / 5

The Facilities

Photo credit - Adriana Dinzeo — *Photo credit -* *Adriana Dinzeo*

SL - The resort offers some of the standard fare you would expect, such as a hotel bar, buffet, pool, and guest services center.

There's also bungee jumping, hang gliding, snorkeling, jet-skiing, private dining, and several other activities, many of which require an additional fee.

None of the activities particularly excited me, though the bungee jumping is a bit clever as it dunks you into a grotto, in which you can swim around afterward.

TK- There’s a good range of gratis activities included, from bungee-jumping to underwater explorations to a playground for the kids to self-service buffets. For an extra fee, you can experience RP opportunities like dining with wait-staff or a spa massage.

Average: 3.5 /5

The Rooms (Villas)

TK - Our group of three adult males was initially booked into Dua Island, and it looked great. From the décor to the villa itself, the elements seemed high-quality and well laid-out.

However, we quickly discovered an unexpected issue: the builder(s) had rezzed the villa so that it was straddling two separate land parcels, one of which was set to “private”, the other “not private”.

As luck would have it, the master bedroom was in the “not private” section and therefore visible to anyone in the area.

We accepted management’s offer to move us to Rua Island. This second villa also looked great. However, a quick cam-around revealed that it offered only single beds; not ideal for a 48-hour vacation.

Once again, management responded quickly by rezzing one double bed.

SL - Each of the eight standard villas are all copy/pasted versions of each other with no variance whatsoever. The deco in each is nice, though nothing about them (aside from being located along a pier in the water) gave me the feeling I was in Fiji.

The three bungalow rooms are also identical. There are also three separate private family-style premium villas, each of which is unique, designed for groups of 5-10. The deco in the premium villas is a step up from the others.

Average: 3/5

The Anims

SL - Most of the furniture on the island have PG only animations. The bungalows have PG only beds. The standard-tier villa beds have a few straight, adult animations. The animations are limited and basic.

I am used to improvising and adapting MF beds for FF use, but this bed’s animations were more focused on male pleasure.

TK - The first double bed, in Dua, was PG. I assume this was because it was rezzed in the parcel that was not set to Private. Nothing wrong with that in principle, but it seems odd that management would not inform guests of this key factor prior to booking. Many of us do enjoy intimate activities of a wide range in SL.

The second double bed, which management rezzed specifically for our group in Rua, was Adult, with an MF Couple menu. Again, this seemed an odd choice as we, the guests, were clearly three men.

It seems it didn’t occur to the manager to inquire as to our preference in sex menus (for the record, we noted there were MM engines rezzed elsewhere in the resort).

Average: 2/5

Other things to consider

TK - While the staff were indeed friendly and helpful throughout, it surprises me that more attention wasn’t paid at the front-end, prior to our arrival. Specifically, in terms of what type of sleeping arrangements the guests would prefer. This is a standard hosting consideration in RL.

Surely it is even easier to accommodate in SL, where we simply delete one bed and rez another. Because this simple question was not addressed during the booking process, we spent the first several hours of our holiday dealing with it. Not an ideal kick-off, sadly.

SL - It’s immediately clear this resort is attempting to offer a family-friendly experience. Each of the premium homes had beds for children. Along our tour, we passed a children's playground along the beach with animations designed specifically for child avatars - I know because I tried.

Ironically, the outdoor showers located less than ten feet away from the children's playground had a full suite of adult animations (much more explicit than the bed in my room!).

The close proximity to the children's playground made me wonder how conscious of a decision that was, but then the uncensored radio station playing all over the resort made me think it wasn't just a simple oversight.

So imagine your Second Life kids singing along to the uncensored versions of Cardi B’s “W.A.P.” and 2 Live Crew’s “We Want Some Pussy” (both of which I heard during my stay there) as they spin around the merry-go-round.

I don’t point this out because I’m personally offended, but because I think others might be and I feel a responsibility to point this out, considering how this resort seems designed for a family-friendly experience.

Overall

While there are some Adult elements available, this resort seems more suitable for families or PG players.

If you’re looking for a sexy, intimate, romantic spot, this is not your best choice.

Finally, both Tory and Sparkle also expressed some concerns with the lag.

Fiji SL is a restricted sim, you are given your group tag when you “check in.” To book, visit their website.

With thanks to our two guest reviewers, check out their Flickr pages!

Sparkle, follow her on Flickr here

Tory, follow him on Flickr. Also, take a look at his inworld exhibition, *TORY KING galleries*

Thank you as well to Sparkle’s guest, Adriana Dinzeo, for the use of her pictures.

Review - Fiji Resort