Coral Sea Resort & Casino

Rooms and decor

Picture a brand-new resort standing on the Honiara waterfront — a white-and-beige main building set against turquoise sea, with a row of standalone villas lined up along the sand. That's Coral Sea Resort & Casino, the freshest 5-star property in the Solomon Islands right now. Turn off Tandai Highway into the driveway and the first thing that lands is the wide lawn sloping toward the water, broken by leaning coconut palms. The lobby opens straight to the sea view, so you immediately get why this is the new landmark of the capital. Materials lean local — warm brown timber, volcanic stone, and tribal Solomon weavings hung as wall art along the corridors — so the place feels Pacific, not generic-chain. Main-building rooms are clean modern: dark wood floors, low-slung beds, and balconies that look at either the infinity pool or the open ocean. The standalone seafront villas are the real star — single-house layouts with a long balcony, a wooden walkway to a private patch of beach, and an open resort-style bathroom that most guests don't want to leave.

Food and amenities

The whole resort is built around the sea, and the centrepiece is the long infinity pool that meets the horizon. From the lounger you can see the Florida Islands floating in the distance — late afternoon, when the light softens, the water shifts colour with the sky and it becomes the photo of the trip. The pool deck has cabanas, sun loungers and a pool bar that runs cocktails and snacks straight to the bed. The standalone villas double down on the same idea: open the back door and you're on a private path to the resort beach, where the sand is fine and white and the water glows in that hard-to-believe emerald. The other thing that sets Coral Sea apart from anywhere else in the country is the 24-hour casino — full blackjack, roulette, poker and slot floor, hosted bar, the works. Outside the casino, the main restaurant runs breakfast buffets and a Pacific-meets-Asian-and-Western menu using local seafood with imported wines.

Location and getting there

The resort sits on Tandai Highway right next to the Town Ground waterfront — close enough to central Honiara that you can walk into the Central Market (about 10-15 minutes) and continue into Chinatown, which is one of the city's best low-key food scenes. From Honiara International Airport (HIR) the drive is just 15-20 minutes, which is genuinely useful for business travellers and for the typical Pacific-island traveller who flies in and wants a luxury overnight before catching the onward boat or domestic flight to Gizo, Munda or the Marovo Lagoon. The hotel can arrange airport transfers with advance notice.

Things to know before booking

Straight talk to help you decide. The most consistent complaint in real reviews is service that hasn't fully settled — the Solomon Islands tourism industry is still rebuilding, and on busy nights you'll see slow check-ins and room-service requests that take longer than expected. If you're coming off chain resorts in Bali or the Maldives, expect a different level of polish. The second consistent flag is price. Main-wing rooms start around $240/night, and the seafront villas push past $510/night in high season — high for a small Pacific capital, even if it is the only proper 5-star option. Food at the resort restaurants relies mostly on imported ingredients, and multiple reviews mention the pricing-to-quality gap; locals will tell you to walk into Chinatown for lunch and save the resort dining for evenings. Families with young kids should check the casino rules in advance, since some areas are adults-only.

Our take

After reading hundreds of real reviews, Coral Sea Resort & Casino is clearly the top luxury pick in Honiara right now. The sales pitch is sharp — brand-new building, seafront villas with direct private-beach access, an infinity pool aimed at the Florida Islands, and the only 24-hour casino in the country. If your trip vision is a quiet South Pacific honeymoon with a private villa, or a business stop where you want a high-end base near both the airport and the centre, this is the cleanest answer in town. Just adjust expectations on service finesse and restaurant variety — this is a new jewel still polishing itself. Overall we give it 8.2/10, best suited to couples, luxury travellers and business visitors who want a complete Honiara base without needing to sail out to the outer islands.