Guest Reviews

Satri House: "Authentic Experience"

"Satri House delivers on its promise of being ""a historic destination, a unique design"". The original house was run as a hotel since 2002 and was extended in 2008 reflecting the original architecture. We stayed over Songkran for 4 nights and were warmly welcomed by Jacques Mury (General Manager) and Navinda Imbubpa (Guest Experience Manager). On arrival to the room, we were impressed by the handwritten welcome note from Jacques. Whilst it is true that the hotel is located close to a fairground (the source of techno music correctly referred to in the previous review), we understand that Luang Prabang is always tranquil and that the volume we experienced was limited to this New Year festival only. We reflected on the importance of a pre-visit study. Notwithstanding this, Satri House is an amazing hotel. The renovation mirrors the original house perfectly. The Satri House team is attentive and caring. Key takeaways: # the staff is incredibly warm and greet you with sincerity # the housekeeping and gardener teams are amazing # the breakfast is plentiful. We recommend the freshly made noodle soup # the restaurant is terrific. We ate in many restaurants during our visit and will review them separately. We found the quality of the food at the Satri House restaurant to be equal to our better dining experiences # we love the two pools. Whilst we agree that the main pool could do with more lounges, we note that there are additional lounges at the second pool # the hotel is not located in the centre of the (small) city of Luang Prabang. It is in fact a 15-20 min walk to the city centre. The hotel does provide complimentary lockable bicycles with baskets that will get you there in 5-8 minutes One suggestion is to resolve the positioning of the Google Maps location pin. I am confident that when return to Satri House outside of the New Year festival, we will rate our experience as excellent."

Inle Princess Resort: "WOW, WOW, WOW – just awesome"

"This place is the best!! I read some of the negative reviews and after staying at this property, I can only assume that the people were on drugs who did not like the place. This beautiful property sits waterfront on the lake. When you boat arrives, they turn off the engine and paddle in so the guests are not disturbed by engine noise. Our room was massive! All wood and just beautiful beyond belief. Same with the bathroom - massive. The big treat was the outdoor shower, we both loved it. No television in the room which is great. Perfect bed and netting around the bed. Dining room was just great with great food. The service was off the chart great - from check in, bar, dining room and even the friendly gardeners. I had a massage which was also just great. Our tour guide picked us up each day in the boat and off we went to see the sites. I regretted not having an extra day just to hang by the pool or sit on my deck, something you might want to think about because it is so peaceful. PROS: Massive room Great air conditioning Great Service Great food - especially breakfast Good drinks Great views of the lake - quiet Great bedding with turn down service They spray for mosquitos like crazy CONS: None I would highly recommend this place. If you are looking for a hot, jumping disco club disco place, this is not for you. If you want to relax and see the sights, this is it!!!"

Misool Eco Resort: "Beyond my expectations"

"We got used to spend our vacations in upscale botique resorts. That's why i had to dig internet quite intensively prior to making up our mind to choose this resort. Due to it's location i was sure that the nature would be at it's best. However i had doubts about the quality of accommodation and services we would get in comparison to our previous vacations. After the vacation i would say that everything was beyond my expectations. Misool Eco Resort is a boutique resort with a max. capacity of 40 guests. Luckily during our stay there were only three couples. The resort has 3 personnel to 1 guest ratio. Probably during our stay this ratio was 5 or 6 to 1. Furthermore Mark(GM), Sue(Dept. GM) and Calvin(Guest Operations Manager) were available 24/7 for any problems/questions we might have. We stayed in the Tabisasu villa just because we wanted some extra space and extra privacy and we were totally satisfied with our choice. We had problems to get used to sleep on new beds even at upscale resorts. Here we slept perfectly from day one till the end. I think this was not just because we got tired of daily diving/snorkeling activities but the beds and pillows were really very good quality. Considering resorts remote location we were really satisfied with the variety and quality of food. We like to ear local food when we travel to Indonesia. Here all local stuff with noodles, rice etc were very tasty. In addition frequently we had western cuisine like burgers, pizzas etc. And of course diving and snorkelling - which were our main aims of the trip to Raja Ampat were perfect. We had personnel dive and snorkel guides which we ordered in advance. However the other couples also had one guide per couple. The reefs were arguably the best, the most healthy coral reefs we have ever seen. Full of life! Both macro and pelagic. One just need to show the dive guide what he is interested to see and the guide finds it unless it is a polar beer or dugong(which unfortunately do not live here) We were very lucky with our dive guide Kiikii and snorkelling guide Nelson as well as captains Samsul and Fikram. If you have underwater photo/video equipment this resort has very convenient camera room and was very comfortable for us to prepare our cameras for the dives. The only negative side of this resort for me is the lack of mobile network. But this can be a positive fact for many who would like to have a break from daily routine. For whom the presence of communication is a must taking an Iridium satellite phone is the only solution. By the way there is awkwardly slow internet however its good enough for communication via whatsapp, viber, messenger or similar apps which really helped. We have been in Indonesia 7 times in previous vacations. Since we read that west Papua is a risky zone for Malaria we decided to take pills as a precaution. Especially after rain in the evenings we felt the presence of mosquitos. We were told that since the island is 5 hours boat ride from Sorong there are no infected mosquitos at the resort. This actually sounds logical because the staff working here would get infected for sure since they would not be allowed to use pills agains malaria daily for years. However since a stop over in Sorong is also required i would recommend to use pills for this trip.We had one tablet of Malarone per day and no side effects. Other than diving and snorkelling with did the excursion to the view point and cave. I recommend it. But be warned that the health and safety standards are different than the ones you are familiar with.(and this was told in the resort in advance) In my opinion the view is worth it anyway. :-) One final advise - on the way to resort i organised our flight schedule in order to avoid one night stay at Sorong.(which is unavoidable on the way back) However the guests who did this arrived the resort after the 4.5 hours boat trip a lot fresher than us. The Swiss Bell Hotel which is booked by Misool Eco Resort is quite satisfactory to spend the night in Sorong. Room Tip: Tabisasu has extra space and nice view to the ocean and islands around. More privacy while still ver..."

SEEDS Restaurant & Lounge: "Amazing place, Amazing food, Amazing service"

"Its all about the love. You feel it right when you walk in the door. This place is unique. There is a special vibe, witch makes you feel a mix between, right at home, and at a relaxing beautiful spa. The food is so good, every little bite is perfect. If you are ever in Yangon, this is a must visit. Thank you for your kindness, at our visit."

Cheong Fatt Tze – Blue Mansion: "Take the tour!"

"Beautiful building - thoughtfully and aesthetically restored. There are three tours a day, 11, 2 and 3:30. Make it your priority and if you are there on a Friday, it's your lucky day. You will see why. The tour gives you a good perspective of the history and the lifestyle of the elite of Penang."

Neeleshwar Hermitage: "Beautiful resort – well suited for relaxation"

"During our 1800km TukTuk challenge from Mumbai to Kanyakumari, we had a two night stay at the resort. On arrival at the hotel after a tiring rickshaw drive, we were greeted and offered fresh coconut water as welcome drink. We were fortunate to have a rest day at the tranquil resort - far from the madding crowd. The accommodation/bungalows were clean and well furnished. The food was good and staff very friendly, courtious and eager to help. It has a clem beach and swimming in the sea was very enjoyable. It's the place to go to for a quiet, restful and relaxing holiday. We also had a 'thank you' card from the manager before we departed - you don't see this often. We would love to go there again for a longer stay. Stayed November 2016, traveled with friends"

Inle Princess Resort: "Gem of the lake"

"We just returned from a four night stay at the Inle Princess Resort. What a treat! This resort, which sits on the northeast corner of Inle Lake, is locally designed, owned and run. And it shows, from the local crafts that are made on site to the quiet efficiency and welcome of the staff. We arrived via Heho airport by road (about 60-90 minutes and ~$50 US). The road entrance is modest, giving no clue of what lies behind the low key security gate. The grounds are spectacularly but sympathetically landscaped, with stands of bamboo framing lotus filled lagoons. The rooms are absolutely unique in design. You might want to avoid the Mountain rooms only because they are a bit smaller with less spectacular views. Any of the other rooms will exceed your expectations. The dining is lakeside, serving a mix of excellent local and Thai style fare and goreng. The views from the restaurant patio are tranquil, with boats approaching the jetty required to row (almost always Inle leg oar style) with engines off. The pool is otherworldly. We spent a good deal of our time exploring the lake. One of the lessons we learned was that the locally sourced goods in the crafts shop at the Inle Princess are not only superior quality but are priced very fairly. I am lucky to travel widely. The spa is the finest with the kindest and most skillful (Shan) therapists I have encountered. The setting alone will draw you out of your highly strung world. A couple of words of caution to high maintenance travelers. The hot water can run out quickly, so shower efficiently (many rooms have private outdoor showers). And service (e.g. by the pool) can be slower than you will find at Four Seasons. They just don't rush. The food and drinks are wonderful. So relax and enjoy. There is simply nowhere remotely like the Inle Princess. If you are looking for a slice of Myanmarese heaven on earth, this is it. If you are looking for chain resort style service, stay somewhere else."

Misool Eco Resort: "We love Misool"

"This was our second trip to Misool - our first with our children in tow. Misool is a wonderful place with stunning diving and very good service. We were lucky enough to be upgraded from two water cottages for our family of five to the Utara villa, which is amazing (thank you!). There is nothing as captivating as watching baitfish launch themselves above the reef to escape predators or the bioluminescence that sparkles in the new moon of Misool. Our kids had wonderful snorkeling excursions - even our youngest (5 years old) saw mantis shrimp, sharks, sea turtles and sea snakes (required a bit of a boat ride - sea snakes require fresh water). The dive guides are wonderful. We especially love Kiikii (from our first trip), Nofi (snorkel guide) and Jemy (our dive guide this time). Uni got us advanced open certified and cannot thank her enough. I would encourage travelers to coordinate with on the ground staff to ensure your desires/hopes/dreams are understood. We had a few hiccups. we love the mission and vision of everyone at Misool. Highly recommend."

Locavore: "Impressive servings"

Going to Locavore is like being at one of your favorite high-end restaurants. They offer food served in ways that you don't consider yourself. They played with ingredients and served it in their lovely place in Ubud. I was surprised by the match between the cocktails and food + the surprise snacks that were served. We recommend going all-in if you visit this place.

Maduzi Hotel: "Hidden retreats in the busy Bangkok"

"I am glad i found Maduzi Hotel in my Bangkok Hotels research before the trip, I wish that I found it sooner before we booked another hotel but me and my husband were lucky that we get to stay here for 3 nights out of our 6 days holiday in Bangkok. The location of this hotel is just a 3-5mins walk from Asok BTS which made it easier for us to travel to any corner of the city also 10-15 mins walk to Nana. The room itself was so fascinating. It was worth the price that we paid. Super big room with a very comfy king-sized bed and also a relaxing couch by the window. When we walked in to the bathroom, it was like we were in a celebrity's house. Big mirror with lovely lighting, walk-in closet, and the best part of it was the bathtub X jacuzzi! It was huge and quite deep, it could fit 2 people in it, and to fill the tub, the water will fall from the roof. Very unique and nice touch! On the other hand, they have a coffee machine in each of the room, also you can have free tea or coffee at their bar for 24/7. It was very relaxing after so much of walking around. They didn't have many breakfast options, but we tried almost every menu and they were delicious.. Every morning that's the thing we look after and if you wake up late you can have your breakfast as your brunch. I'm so looking forward to be back here and enjoy all of the fascinating facilities Maduzi has. Thank you for making our holiday memorable."