Guest Reviews

Tugu Bali: "Amazing property"

Very unique experience staying in this hotel. Quick walk to the surf breaks at Batu Balong, Old Man's and Echo Beach/Pererenan from the lovely beach area on the property. Food in the restaurant is a bit more expensive than other options in the area but well worth the price.

Manda De Laos: "Amazing setting with the Pond and great dinners"

friendly welcome, great settings of tables with lots of privacy. The menu is has lots of choices to return few times on our stay. The service has charm and they explain well all the dishes. very reasonable prices, will be coming back sure.

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge: "Simply the BEST"

"Rarely does one find a jewel like this, where staff and owner are welcoming, friendly and nothing is too much. Marcus and his team really go out of their way to make your stay enjoyable, relaxing, rejuvenating. Then comes the view : simply breathtaking. And the cozy rooms in chalets built of local materials, all conscious of the environment and preserving it. And the delicious food : you can have just about anything you feel like, and much of it comes form their own organic garden, simply delicious! Thank you TMPL for a most relaxing holiday, without noise pollution! I will be back for sure."

Misool Eco Resort: "Magic Misool"

"In November/ December 2017 we had the pleasure of experiencing Misool for the first time. Located in the pristine Raja Ampat Coral Triangle, with its glorious corals and bountiful fish, it is the most beautiful marine environment we have ever experienced! Misool caters for professional divers with a well-equipped dive centre, but there are daily excursions for snorkelers such as ourselves and we did not feel deprived or second-class to the divers. Boat-rides to nearby small islands were short 10-minute hops, 20 minutes at most, and the guides were both friendly and professional, pointing out small nudibranches or other items of interest that might otherwise escape our attention.There are turtles, black-tip sharks, big bumphead parrotfish and Napoleon wrasse, large shoals of fusiliers and jacks alongside all the regulars, and we were especially blown away by the psychedelic colourful soft corals. We saw a lot of bigger fish than on snorkeling trips in other locations such as Maldives, Red Sea and Zanzibar, probably due to the fact that Misool has established a no-take zone and rigorously engages local communities about sustainable practices which have allowed marine life to flourish. In addition to these snorkelling boat-trips we spent many hours on the excellent, and extensive, house reef which is easily accessible from the various cottages. Accommodation is excellent, the bedroom in our Tabisasu Villa had a large comfortable bed, more than adequate shelf space, and a mosquito net which was set up every night while we were at dinner, although with air-con and two fans in the bedroom we hardly ever saw a mosquito. Tabisasu also has a spacious lounge room, with numerous plugpoints and a desk where you can check your Go-Pro footage and recharge for the next day. There are spare beds in the lounge if necessary, and even a day-bed on the deck, where you can spend your spare time gazing out onto the water and islands in the distance. Dolphins swim past, turtles pop up, and the water lapping away underneath soothes you to sleep at night. Tabisasu faces the sunrises and we would often be up early to snorkel the coral gardens in front of us before first breakfast. Misool offers a unique meal schedule with an early breakfast before first dive or snorkel then a 2nd breakfast from about 10.00 when you get back. Lunch at 13.00 is followed by a handy afternoon tea with cookies and snacks to keep you going until dinner at 19.00. Misool goes out of their way to accommodate individual diet requirements and as vegetarians we were very well catered for by the attentive and helpful staff. All the staff, from management to restaurant to boat teams to cleaners give personalised friendly attention to your needs, creating a fantastic relaxing ambience to go with the exquisite layout of cottages and facilities. The resort holds around forty visitors which means it does not feel crowded, there is enough space for interaction with others or privacy, as you prefer. The overall standards at Misool are first class, without touristy pretentiousness - even the word “resort” is perhaps an unfair categorization; it is essentially a place for snorkelers, divers and nature-lovers who care about the world, and marine life in particular. The Misool Foundation has a very credible programme of social engagement activities that reflect the highest integrity, and interested parties can obtain a good insight into Misool, its history and programmes through its informative website. Getting to Misool is rather arduous, there is a four-hour speedboat journey to follow the various long flights that get you to Sorong, but the admin team will assist with providing you options, based around 7, 9 or 12 day stays. For us, the overall costs were way above our normal travel budget but for such an enriching and inspiring experience, it was totally worth it."

Villa Song Saigon: "Fantastic boutique hotel, plus free speedboat and minibar"

"We absolutely loved this hotel. Beautiful, quaint, great staff, lovely food and wonderful rooms. It's no wonder that this is the top hotel in Saigon on Trip Advisor (at the time of writing). We stayed in a beautiful room overlooking the pool, with a deeply comfy double bed, separate shower room and washing facilities, TV, private balcony and all the usual mod cons included. Their service is second to none. There's a free minibar in all rooms (including beer, water, milk and juice). They serve breakfast at any time of the day (seriously - you could have it at 10pm if you REALLY sleep in), and it's included in the price of the room. And electricity can be left on in your suite when you leave, meaning those devices that keep dying might actually get charged. They have UK plug sockets too. Best of all, as the hotel is not right in the city centre, they put on a speedboat to ferry guests to the main bit of the city, on a first come first served basis. (Although it was never full when we stayed in May). The boat takes approximately 15-20 minutes, but you'd wish it would be longer, because it's brilliant. The last boat is at 6pm, and a taxi back to the hotel should set you back 150,000 VND. If it's more than that, they've got lost! The pool is excellent, as is their restaurant, which is overseen by Kevin the chef from Luxembourg - who will certainly seek you out to say hello, or offer some food and drink recommendations. Food and drink here, incidentally, is a few more pennies by Vietnamese standards, but very fair when compared to the rest of Saigon, and even better when compared to the likes of London. Breakfast, which I briefly mentioned, is very good. The best we had in Vietnam, in fact. And it offers up some really well done variations of Western classics like pancakes or a full English versus your traditional and excellent Pho noodle soup. (If you're really hungry, you can even have both - in fact, it was them who suggested it, which I greedily accepted). Their staff are great, too. When we wanted to visit the Cu Chi Tunnels, the front desk organised a speedboat to pick us up from the hotel's own private jetty - and one of the highlights of our trip. If I was to take points off this hotel, and it is being picky, then their airport to hotel transfer service is very expensive in comparison to most hotels we stayed at in Vietnam (all of which have a comparative distance from airport to destination). It was a nice air conditioned private car, but then it was no better than every other hotel provided us. And 1,386,000 VND is a bit steep. Full disclosure: they had quoted this price to me some time before we arrived in Vietnam, and I could have shopped around for cheaper prices, so I can't really blame them for quoting a price to me and then accepting it. But it might be something they could look at in the future! The taxi they booked us for our return to the airport after our stay was much, much cheaper at 300,000 VND. So maybe shop around for your original pick-up. I know there's loads of 'taxi scams' in Vietnam, but you should be able to find a decent service for cheaper transfers if you need. None of that dented out love of Villa Song Saigon, and I would have no hesitation in recommending it to anyone. I really miss their speedboat..."

Heritage Suites: "Relaxing weekend escape to Siem Reap"

Thanks to Jam and her team for this great relaxing weekend. Please to be back to this nice Heritage Suites and see the little changes and improvements implemented to make guests feel even more at home. Well done and recommended to all travelers who wanna enjoy comfort beside visiting the temples.

Cheong Fatt Tze – Blue Mansion: "Royal Treatment in Elegant Surroundings"

Highly personalized & friendly service in a completely restored Peranaken mansion - painted blue. Comp breakfast with both Western & Penang mains. Main dining room offers Penang fusion specialities.lunch set menu.

SANAK RETREAT BALI: "Peaceful & magical"

"Stayed as a family (kids 5, 9 & 11) for a long weekend (3 nights). Stayed in a two-story family villa that was spacious and cozy, with beautiful rice paddy views. Kids chased frogs at night with flashlights and splashed in the pool during the day. Playroom above the restaurant and the pétanque court in the back were great additions! Excellent food & service, superb massages - also for kids, which is rare and ours loved it! Did the walking tour in the rice paddies and nearby village, including a swim in the waterfalls - it was wonderful. Also did the trip to Danau Tambligan, which was interesting, and the Munduk waterfalls. The sunsets are amazing, and the peaceful surrounds make for a perfect R&R destination. We will be back! "

Locavore: "A must in Ubud"

Amazing detail to local dishes. We would recommend to anyone travelling to Ubud. Both meat and vege options were incredible. Also great value for money.

Maduzi Hotel: "Unexpected pleasure"

I wasn't expecting much from the street view. What a nice room. I was particularly impressed with the tub. The staff were very helpful and polite. I highly recommend the food. Try something unique to the restaurant. They clearly have a chef and not just a cook. The flavor combinations were unexpected and delightful.