Staying in a Samoan Beach Fale

When I say paradise you probably won’t be thinking a wee hut with no walls with just a mattress on the floor. But I do. In fact, I believe the only way to get the ultimate Samoan experience is by staying in a beach fale.

A beach fale (pronounced fah-leh) is an oval or round shaped hut with a thatched roof and no walls. Instead of walls, it has wall-like curtains made of woven coconut leaves. When you want privacy you can completely close off. When you don’t you can open up to enjoy the view.

My friend and I stayed at a wee fale resort on the North side of Savai’i during the first half of our Samoan adventure (before moving on to Upolu).  It was just by the beach, so we could enjoy the view and the water, but it was also just the road, so it was easy to go out exploring the island. It was just perfect.

The place was family owned. And when I say family, I don’t just mean parents and kids, I mean aunts, uncles, cousins, the whole extended family. But that just gave it such a homely and relaxed atmosphere.

When we first arrived we were handed a coconut each, which we could enjoy while relaxing for a bit. Then we saw several girls running back and forth, first one way with a double mattress, then the other with two singles. Turns out they got the booking mixed up. Having set up the fale for a couple, they hurriedly got it changed to two singles as soon as they saw two girls stepping out of the taxi. But we weren’t really bothered all that much for the extra waiting time. We had fresh coconuts and glorious sunshine!

Our fale

The view from our fale (or more precisely, my bed)

The meals in this place were one of the highlight for me at this place. I’ve never been much of a food person and often it’s just more than a hassle than an enjoyment. But for these 5 days I loved breakfast and dinner, which were included in the accommodation. At these meals all the visitors would sit around the big table, where we could all talk and get to know each other.

They would then bring out our plates of food with all sorts of exotic dishes. Being a vegetarian, I sometimes caused a bit of confusion, as they could never really remember which one had ordered the vegetarian meal. But it was an enjoyment to see some of the girls catching on, remembering my face to make sure I got my vegetarian meal.

But I think one of the best things about staying in a Samoan beach fale is, that you couldn’t be closer to the gorgeous sunsets which you find on Samoa. If anything else is not to your liking, at least this would be the selling point.

I have so fond memories of my too short time in Samoa and I would gladly return one day when I once again will be in that corner of the world.