The resort itself is rated Gold Crown by RCI, but there is a very wide difference in the quality of what they call their "new inventory" and their "old inventory".

The "new inventory" units are wonderful. They are beautifully furnished and very well designed. The bathroom features a large whirlpool tub, the bedroom has a king bed, and the kitchen appliances are spotless. These are the units that are shown to prospective buyers on the sales tour.

The "old inventory" is definitely OLDER. The units were cleaned adequately, but there is only so much that housekeeping can do to make an "old unit" look new. The bathrooms were very small, with only single sinks in each bath, and curtained tub/shower combinations. Some of the furniture was in need of repair, and in one of our bathrooms, the shower did not work. Also, there were many, many steps in the unit (we counted 43 to get from the unit’s front door to our second bedroom on the top floor).

In short, this writer would rate the "new inventory" a bona fide "Gold Crown", but the "old inventory" a far cry from that. We were told that if you want to get a newer unit, you will have to include the "One Bedroom, Two Bath, Full Kitchen, 6/4" option in your choice. (For RCI Points members in 2004 "red" time, this is the 65,000 point, one-bedroom option, so be sure to check your point totals carefully.) If you opt for anything else, we were told that you will get an old unit.

The resort has both an indoor and outdoor pool. There are hiking trails, tennis courts, horseshoes, a basketball court, a fitness room, game room, and barbeque grills. The resort is across the street from the Attitash Bear Peak Ski area, which in the summer (during our stay) had scenic chair lifts, mountain biking, a rock climbing wall, water and alpine slides, a trampoline, two pools, and restaurants. The resort itself offered a wine and cheese party for guests one afternoon, a Wednesday barbecue, guided hikes, evening movies, and some craft programs. The restaurant on site makes an excellent pizza for a reasonable price.

If you rely on internet service or if you plan on making local calls, be aware that the resort charges per MINUTE for all calls made from your room

All in all, the resort is OK, but if you want facilities that are truly "Gold Crown" and you go to Attitash Mountain Village, be sure that you get a new unit!

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Fair
• Unit Satisfaction: Fair
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Good

We had a one bedroom, but it was considerably larger than that. When you entered the building, we went up a set of stairs to our door. Upon entering the room, if you walk straight ahead down the hall, you will run into a large bedroom with a full size bed, chair, closet, and TV along with a full bath. Rather than entering that bedroom, you could turn right and go up the stairs (yes, a multi-level room). At the top of the stairs if you turn left you are in the living room/second bedroom. There is a couch, chair, closet, washer/dryer, TV, and a pull down full size bed in this room, along with another full size bathroom. Turning right at the top of the stairs takes you to a large eat-in kitchen with wooden table and six chairs and large TV and another full size bathroom off the kitchen. This was a very large unit with plenty of room for us all to move around, and we never had to wait for the bathroom or shower!

The room upkeep was adequate. It was clean but could use some "newness". The one item I would change would be the sheets and pillowcases – they were rather thin and could stand to be replaced. There were skylights in the upstairs area which added fresh light, but this unit didn’t have a balcony, not that it was needed. They do not offer daily maid service, but with the washer and dryer in the unit, we could wash our own towels.

This resort is considered a four-season resort offering downhill skiing across the street at Attitash Bear Peak, alpine and water slides, indoor and outdoor pools, workout facility, tennis courts, and hiking trails. Check in is after 4pm and out before 10am. There are three floors in each of the buildings with no elevators.

To arrive from Boston, take 95 north to Rt 16 north to 302, and the resort is on the right. You could also take 93 north to 25 east to 16 and 302. Depending on the weather, the drive will be around three hours.

The location of this resort was nice being within reach of skiing and within a few minutes drive to stores and restaurants. We would gladly stay here again should we vacation in the White Mountains another time.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Excellent
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Good

The Sheraton Royal Denarau, oldest of the three, was a classic tropical island layout: Town house-like two-story blocks of rooms comfortably separated from each other but connected with sheltered walkways. All rooms have either a private balcony or ground-level patio. In premium rooms, the latter opened directly onto the beach, so one could sneak out for a midnight swim.

Rooms had two double beds, desk, two upholstered chairs and plenty of closet and dresser space. A safe and combination minibar/fridge were welcome accessories. As you’d expect, baths came of a plentiful supply of luxury toiletries. They offered an outer wash-up area with Hollywood style makeup lights and his-’n-hers washbasins, plus a private inner sanctum with toilet, tub and shower.

The Sheraton Fiji Resort was newer and a bit fancier, but I liked ours better. (Our pool had enough shade for mid-day swimming; theirs didn’t. We had more varieties of sailing craft and other free-to-guests waterfront equipment than theirs seemed to have.) The Villas, between the two, were more for guests planning to do their own housekeeping. A free bus shuttled throughout the complex and past the golf clubhouse every 5-10 minutes.

Four restaurants, reviewed separately, offered a more-than-adequate choice of dining options. Or, one could visit the golf club for a ‘do it yourself’ barbecue.

Breakfast, included with my $200 room, was a massive buffet that could have fed a small army. Sandwiches and other casual comfort food were available at poolside restaurants throughout the day until sunset.

The wide variety of watersports --- with eager and capable instructors --- was a major plus for the Royal Denarau. There were free sailing lessons or catamarran joyrides offered daily, as were sailboarding and sea kayaking. One could ride a free motor launch to a small offshore island for beachwalking or a private picnic. Guests preferring to remain ashore could take lawn bowling lessons, among other options.

The Royal Denarau is child-friendly to the extent of providing babysitting service by a capable Fijian nanny. Programs for older kids included sailboat rides, shore lunches, basic instruction in waterfront skills, and an evening movie.

Service people were incredibly friendly; except for one minor glitch, I got what I wanted, when and how I wanted it.

This is a premium property, priced accordingly. Rarely do I pay the per-night tariff that I paid here, but my travel agent convinced me that it would be best the pay up for name-brand predictability and reliability in a country neither of us knew much about. Sheraton delivered. After checking out some of the lower-priced properties we’d considered, I’m convinced it was a wise investment.

The staff were absolutely wonderful. We checked in rather late (after midnight) and the staff were smiling and cheerful. Even though it was so late they still took the time go over the site map to ensure we did not get lost checking into our rooms. The thing that won me over was when I dropped my diamond earring down the kitchen sink drain and maintained saved it within 30 minutes!

Attitash itself had so much to see and do you really need more than a week stay. The scenery was breathtaking, the activities were very family friendly and shopping was just a 15 minute drive!

• Unit Type: 2 Bedroom
• Activities: Good
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

On the second floor was a king-size bed, a two-person Jacuzzi, a bathroom with shower, a pullout single bed, and a small sink and fridge at the top of the stair landing. Again, there was great lighting, a large palladium window, and another large window.

Blueberry Village is a bit of a distance from the hospitality center, which has the check-in and front desk, the hot tub, the indoor pool, and the restaurant/bar. It is quite walkable, but you are walking along highway 302 and cars are zipping along. It is also up a steep hill. (Wow, did my butt cheeks feel that after a few days!). There were a fair number of stairs (there were ramps as well), which might pose problems for those with difficulty with those.

Amenities included two or three outdoor pools, several water slides, alpine slides, horseback riding, hiking trails, an exercise room with dated aerobic machines, dated Nautilus weight machines and free weights, a games room, a BMX track, a trampoline, a scenic chair lift…

There is a restaurant/bar on site, but it was closed at 9:30 in the evening, when I decided I might like a drink.

One afternoon there was a complimentary wine-and-cheese reception where one could mingle with other guests. There were organized activities, such as movies being shown, crafts for the kids, organized walks, etc. The staff was friendly and helpful.

In the winter, one could go cross-country skiing and downhill skiing on site.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Excellent
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Our unit had a huge master bedroom with a Jacuzzi, fireplace, big-screen TV, king-size bed, and bar fridge. It was wonderful to come back from a day on the slopes to soak in the tub with a drink.

There was a pullout couch in the living room and a Murphy bed. This was great for the kids, since they both got their own beds. There was also a Jacuzzi tub in the downstairs bathroom.

It was very easy to entertain in our unit, so every night our two families (eight in total) would eat dinner together. There was plenty of space for everyone, and on the last night, we discovered that the table expanded to seat eight.

This was a wonderful unit which compares very favorably to many others that we have visited. One complaint was that we did not get linen service in our unit, although our friends did in theirs.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Very Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Excellent
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Good

There are different buildings and some are newer and have better layouts. Our unit was SHM 2 and 4. The unit was well equipped with the necessary appliances and since it had two kitchens, there were two of everything.

While we were in the studio unit, we could hear the boys running and playing upstairs in the one-bedroom unit. This could be problematic for those people staying in just the studio unit. The people were friendly, but there were no planned activities, NONE whatsoever. The units are located far from everything except the ski slopes. Overall, it’s nice, but not a Gold Crown.

I felt that the location was good because you could go south to Conway for the shopping and restaurants and north to the White Mountains for more skiing, etc.

• Unit Type: Studio
• Activities: Not Available
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Very Good
• Service: Good

Cooking amenities were limited. No oven and just two small burners in the kitchen.

Housekeeping (towel exchange, etc.) was available for an additional charge.

• Unit Type: 1 Bedroom
• Activities: Very Good
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Very Good
• Family Friendliness: Excellent
• Service: Excellent

Aside from that, the unit was humongous. It had a queen murphy bed and a sleeper sofa. The kitchen had a large dining table, refrigerator, microwave, hot plate, toaster, and coffee maker. The bathroom had a big Jacuzzi tub. There was also a washer and dryer. If I could choose this new unit again, I'd go back. If I were relegated to the original unit, I don't think I'd choose to go back, since that unit was older and nothing spectacular.

• Unit Type: Studio
• Activities: Fair
• Amenities: Good
• Unit Satisfaction: Poor
• Family Friendliness: Good
• Service: Good