OD-N-Aiwo Hotel

The OD-N-Aiwo is the other half of Nauru's tiny hotel duopoly: a privately run, unpretentious block in Aiwo district on the island's west side, opposite the civic centre and barely two minutes' drive from the airport runway that defines the neighbourhood. Where the state-owned Menen hosts the delegations, the OD-N-Aiwo takes the backpackers, transiting workers and independent travellers ticking off the world's least-visited states—and does so at the most approachable prices in the republic.

Rooms are basic but serviceable, with air-conditioning and private bathrooms in the better categories; the in-house restaurant, long known for its Chinese-influenced cooking and generous portions, is a fixture of Aiwo life. Staff arrange car and scooter hire, the essential tool for circling the island's nineteen-kilometre ring road and reaching Anibare Bay's swimming harbour or the phosphate pinnacles of Topside.

The surroundings are industrial Nauru without cosmetics—the port's cantilever loaders and the power station are neighbours—which suits travellers who come precisely to see this extraordinary island as it is. As an honest, friendly, well-placed budget base, the OD-N-Aiwo completes Nauru's short list of real lodgings.