I am not actually a huge fan of the Pacific Islands but have been to Fiji about 8 times over the last 5 to 6 years, mainly for work (in both Suva and the Nadi/Danerau side of the main island) but have also paid to extend my stays for breaks. Here are some general thoughts:

1. It is becoming quite expensive. I'm heading over that way at the end of next month for some work-related stuff and was going to hang around for a few extra nights in Danerau with my wife. But we'll likely give up on this idea. Anything semi-decent/nice (one thing I will say about Fiji in my experience is that anything less than 4 stars can be pretty crummy) is close to 400 bucks (NZD) a night. For a short break, I can do much better in lots of other places, including places in NZ.

2. Fijians in service industries, in my experience, have really oddball ideas of what constitute good service which aren't always in comport with what western people expect. I was staying in the Sheraton at Danerau and the room I was originally assigned had a serious ant infestation. When I first raised this, the front desk said they would bring a can of spray. And they took half an hour to come. By the time the person came, I came to the view that the room was simply unacceptable and asked to be shifted. They took another 1 1/2 hours to get this done. Such experiences have been common place everywhere I have been -- restaurants that are half empty taking 50 minutes to come up with your meals etc. The people are always unfailingly polite but none of them truly give a damn.

3. A few years back during the Australian mining boom, being in so called five star hotels like the Sheraton, Sofitel, and Hilton etc in Danerau was nonetheless a still painful experience, as the booming economy opened up access to these places to people for whom, to put it charitably, aren't always the natural market for such places. All the other guests were fine but I lost count of the number of Australians (or people with very obvious Australian accents) that I saw behaving obnoxiously to other guests and the staff. I am talking about things like clinging and clanging of cutleries, clicking fingers at staff, talking loudly any and everywhere (including corridors etc), and public drunkenness. Things appear to have improved somewhat over the last year or so, as their economy has tanked and such people just aren't around in the numbers they used to be.

4. If you are one that gets really bothered by noise, beware that a lot of the Danerau hotels will throw disco parties and so forth quite regularly on Friday and Saturday nights. And the restaurants in which they serve breakfast tend to be huge places in cavernous surroundings which totally accentuated the screaming and shouting of guests etc. I always made a point of ordering room service breakfast if available. The common areas and the shared beach can also get quite crowded.

5. Fijian food, in my experience, is either absolutely fantastic or absolutely horrible. Very little in between. When it's fantastic, the food can easily put much of the Auckland restaurant scene to shame and at better prices. If you are eating away from the hotels, even in places like Danerau (tourist Mecca), the prices are pretty reasonable.

6. There isn't much to do -- really, that is just the truth -- beyond swimming, enjoying the sun, watersports, and maybe things like going to a good spa and getting a massage etc. It's quite fun for a few days, though.

7. If you are going to go to Fiji, consider some of the larger standalone resorts on the Pacific Coast on the main island or one of the outer islands. I was in one of the former (the name escapes me) and whilst you are a bit "trapped" there, due to it being in the middle of nowhere (this one was about an hour's drive from Suva), there was just much more room in the common areas and things like lawns to walk on. So much more relaxing.

8. Don't go to Suva. There's nothing to do there. The Grand Pacific Hotel is wonderful but everything there is insanely expensive.