VIOLENCE : Monday night brawl inside the Taumeasina Hotel Resort.
By Staff Writer
The Taumeasina Hotel Resort first full working week of 2025 started off with a brawl on Monday night.
Private video clips of the violence circulated widely on social media, showed plastic chairs being thrown around.
Small groups of men and women jostled around roughly were seen amongst the large crowd.
Screams and loud threatening voices added to the tense atmosphere within the posh surroundings of the hotel.
The frightening outbreak of crowd violence may have left the hotel manager Tuiataga Nathan Bucknall in a huff.
He dropped the phone as if in a juvenile tantrum, when asked on the line by Newsline Samoa Online for a comment on the brawl.
Hotel guests may have been involved in the commotion, as a statement made public by the hotel management, appeared to suggest
“Saddened by tonight, those responsible will be charged to the full extent, your passports won’t help you,” Tuiataga declared as if referring to hotel guests involved.
He tried to tone down any serious aftermath of the violence by noting that ‘everyone is safe and unharmed.’
Drunken ‘free-for-alls’ in exclusive environments similar to the Taumeasina Hotel Resort are uncommon.
How the rippling negative publicity may impact on the good image of a rated resort inside and outside Samoa remains unknown.
So too is the cause of the violence and future solutions the hotel management may have in store.
The risks to the safety of the guests, whether directly involved or not, are likely issues of concern as well.