A sudden price hike at the entrance to Upolu’s famous Matareva Beach Fales has guests frustrated the long access road still isn’t improving.

The access road is managed separately to the beach fale operation and village chiefs from Matautu, Lefaga take cash toll from cars at the gate, making the bumpy three kilometre drive less and less attractive for some. 

Taking a regular car down the road still costs $20, but a van or truck now costs $40 and a bus is $100. But what could take five minutes takes even the hardiest of trucks 15 or 20 minutes, in a car that rattles the entire journey.

Guests who spoke to the Samoa Observer at the beach said they didn’t mind the principle of paying, but wanted improvements in the road for their money.

Bec Hanify Seumanu and her husband Lucky are Matareva regulars. They got a shock when they were asked to pay for their van earlier this year, Ms. Hanify Seumanu said.

“I would have been okay with a minor increase of say, $5. But it would have been nice to have been told why there has been an increase. I think doubling the price is disgusting.

“If they are going to raise the toll so drastically then it would be nice to see the road improved, with all that extra cash they will be getting. Tavita and Fiauu work so hard to keep Matareva open for us locals, the least the village can do is improve the road.” 

And while they won’t be happy about paying the fee, it won’t stop them visiting the beach.

“We love Matareva and will always support them, it is our little sanctuary to go to on a weekend,” she said.

“But a lot of people will go elsewhere because they will not want to pay that toll. So the village and Matareva fales will miss out.”

Earlier this year, staff at Matareva Beach Fales contacted day fales and overnight fales guests to alert them to the price increase.

They also said the chiefs had agreed to hold the increase until June, though guests were charged the new price anyway.

Approached for a comment, the chiefs of the village declined to speak to this newspaper. Questions were submitted to the group responsible for the road toll through a spokesperson, who later said they would not answer questions.

Matareva Beach Fales is operated by a family from Matautu which leases the property to run their resort. The managers are Togialelei Tavita Faletoese and Fiauu Faletoese. They both declined to speak to this newspaper on the issue.

“I think the matai of the village are being short-sighted by raising the toll. They will lose out because less people will go, which also means Matareva will lose out, which is so unfair,” Ms. Hanify Seumanu said.

“If they put that extra money into fixing the road then that is a good thing. It would be good to see the money being used to better the conditions and environment. Tavita and Fiauu work so hard, I applaud them, so the least the village can do is support them too, because without Matareva the village would get nothing.”

Lucky Seumanu said it is Matareva who should consider putting their prices up after slashing them to attract local tourists.

“But there should not be an increase at the gate, where they have made no improvements on the road and now they want to double access fees,” he said.

“Matareva would be justified in increasing their prices again as they are working so hard. But the ‘gate controllers’ do nothing to earn that extra toll.”

Another guest at at Matareva earlier in January told Samoa Observer that they were shocked at just how much the price had gone up. 

The guest, who asked not to be named, was hosting her bible study group of 20 people for a farewell gathering. Their three double cabs, large van, small S.U.V. and sedan, arrived on Saturday only to find the price twice as high as before, costing them an extra $100 than budgeted for. 

“We’ve come before for a weekend retreat, but [some of us] are regulars at Matareva, a few of us come a fair bit,” they said.

“Management messaged us which was great, and we were [shocked], from $20 to $40, we thought that was just ridiculous. It just didn’t make sense.

“Management were really helpful and said this is what is happening, be mindful that they may charge you double, there has been a negotiation that it won’t start until June.

The guest said their study group planned to make more trips to Matareva this year but are now hesitant with the higher road toll. And for this particular day trip, this guest paid for the entire group, so the increase was steeply felt, they said, and it is making them think twice about coming back.

She hopes people don’t stop coming to the beach just because of the price hike though. 

“Borders are closed, we don’t have visitors coming in and it’s the locals who are sustaining the tourist [spots].

“It’s such a family-oriented place, it’s a safe place to come and in spite of the long drive down people are happy to come. It will be sad to see and we feel for the business owners at Matareva, we hope it doesn’t get to that.” 

The Samoa Tourism Authority has been approached for comment.