The Funafuti Lagoon Hotel, formerly the Vaiaku Lagi Hotel, is the only proper hotel in the country. It sits on the lagoon side in Vaiaku, a couple of minutes' walk from the airport, with a row of comfortable rooms, a restaurant, and a small bar that doubles as the social hub for visiting officials and the occasional traveller. Expect Pacific-island standards: clean, friendly, slow, and reliant on whatever the supply boat brought in last.
The restaurant is one of the few places in the country where you can sit down to a cooked meal that you did not arrange yourself. The menu varies with the boat schedule but reliably includes fish, rice, and beer cold enough to remind you that you are not entirely off the grid. Book ahead — there are not many rooms and they fill when officials are in town.