Marshall Islands Resort

The Marshall Islands Resort—MIR to everyone on the atoll—is the republic's flagship in the functional sense: the largest hotel, the venue for the country's conferences and government functions, and the address where visiting officials, contractors and the occasional tourist converge. It stands on the lagoon side of Majuro's narrow ribbon of land in the Delap district, its rooms lined up so that most look across the water that defines Marshallese life.

Rooms are straightforward, air-conditioned and serviceable, refreshed in stages over the years; lagoon-facing upper floors are the ones to ask for, with sunsets that redeem any shortcomings in the decor. The Enra restaurant is one of Majuro's better tables—fresh yellowfin features heavily—and the bar terrace over the water is the capital's default meeting spot at dusk.

Facilities run to a small pool, conference floors and helpful front-desk staff who arrange the things worth doing: game-fishing charters on a lagoon famed for them, day boats to picnic islets like Eneko, and drives to the atoll's WWII-era Laura end with its beach and local museum. The MIR is not a holiday resort in the brochure sense, but as the Marshalls' most capable hotel it earns its place at the head of the list.