Guest Reviews

GLENBURN TEA ESTATE: "Attentive service and superlative luxury"

"We stayed at the end of a 3-week trip around India. What a stunning location high in the hills and quite unlike everywhere else we visited - so quiet, peaceful and unspoilt. We enjoyed the tea and the variety of foods we were served up. We loved relaxing and being pampered. Our room was larger than many London apartments and the bath was literally the biggest in the world. How they got it and all the other furniture down that bumpy road we will never know. We were served 'bed tea' in the morning and breakfast on the verandah with views over the hills and colourful birds swooping in and out of the trees nearby. One morning we took an early walk down the hill to the river, with two bird guides. A stunning walk through the tea bushes. We saw about 30 different species on that walk and were met at the bottom by a table at the water's edge, with our own personal breakfast service. Incredible! Exceptional!! The best part of the stay was the staff. One local young man Ranjan did the tea tour with us and invited us to a wedding at his friend's house. So we all trooped up the hill to a real Indian wedding with great local food and drinks, and a group of smiling people welcoming us strangers into their house. Remarkable. He and many of the other local staff spoke fluent English and were so humble and friendly, I wish I could employ them back in the UK. The resort is managed by a British couple Will and Faye, and currently another Will (I understand that this third team member changes regularly), who were attentive and took care of our every need without imposing on our holiday. They ate with the guests at dinner time and made the trip really special. The two Wills invited me to try fishing with them (unsuccessful but fun!). It's a rare treat to get to stay somewhere so beautiful, and so luxurious, and with such friendly hosts. Thanks to you all!! "

Mathis Retreat: "Love this place!"

Visited for the 2nd time. And still love this place! Really small boutique feeling with all you want in holiday. Nice rooms, nice breakfast, nice staff, nice pool and perfect rice paddy view! Definitely would recommend to my friends.

Satri House: "Ooh, this Indochine feeling"

"Wanna feel like a character in an Indochine film-noir? Stay at the Satri House in Luang Prabang and you will likely grow into it! Or just stay there because the place is more than perfect. Very atmospheric rooms: nothing beats this early morning light coming into the room through these shutter doors. Dwell around those steps and shady arcades and gaze at all these decorating items - where did they get all those beautiful things from? Two swimming pools, very friendly, professional and helpful staff, beautiful garden, great restaurant - what else do you need? LP is on walking distance, but you can take a hotel bike too."

Cheong Fatt Tze – Blue Mansion: "An architectural, heritage & historical delight… a ‘must-do’ in Penang"

"In my subjective view, the Blue Mansion – Cheong Fatt Tze – stands alongside the Penarakan Museum as the two premier ‘must-do’ heritage attractions in George Town. Both are situated in historical buildings and are tangible testaments to the rich history and culture of the Straits Chinese in Penang. However note that there are differences between the two establishments. The Peranakan Museum is, as the name suggests, a museum; ie a depository of Peranakan artefacts. On the other hand, the Blue Mansion is predominantly a building of heritage and architectural significance, with a tremendously rich history relating to one of Penang’s most historical and influential identities – Cheong Fatt Tze. While there are artefacts on display, the focus of the attraction is the heritage building and its history. Additionally, the mansion operates as a boutique hotel and fusion restaurant. One of our aims is to return one day to experience staying as a guest. We met some in-house guests and their comments, on accommodation experience, were extremely positive. The Blue Mansion’s website lauds that the building is ‘a quintessential legacy of Penang’ and, having experienced it, it is well-deserving of that claim. It is an architectural delight that has won numerous international and local awards, and has been featured in movies, travel documentaries and publications. The heritage project was the vision and passion of local architect Laurence Loh along with his family and friends. To say I am exceedingly impressed with their herculean effort is to make an understatement. The Lohs should be congratulated for preserving a key component of Penang’s – and to a wider extent, Straits Chinese’s - history. On our recent tour, we were privileged have as tour guide, the vivacious Lin Lee Loh-Lim, who is the author of the book “The Blue Mansion: The Story of Mandarin Splendour Reborn”. It was a tour that we would have enjoyed given the enthralling building and interesting history, but she elevated our enjoyment by her lively and animated nature. It was superb. Lin Lee was kind enough to autograph a copy of the book (available in their shop) and it now resides in a position of pride alongside my other architectural books. Tour times: 11am, 2pm & 3:30pm Duration: 45 minutes Cost: RM17 (adults). RM8.50 (child under 12) There is something I wish they would consider and that is, allowing tour visitors to experience the building’s inner (but public) spaces for a few minutes after the guided tour – just 10 to 15 minutes perhaps. This will allow visitors to absorb and appreciate the building properly, which is not always possible when visitors are concentrating on the historical narrative during a guided tour. A visit to Penang will be lacking somewhat without a tour of Cheong Fatt Tze - The Blue Mansion. Highly recommended. Thanks for reading this review and my gratitude should you rate it as helpful. Life is short... go travelling and enjoy life today!"

MesaStila: "Amazing Place !"

"I was hesitant as the location is rather far from our base of stay in Yogya but saw the review and decided to try it. I was so glad I did, it’s such as unique and amazing place. Nestled in the middle if coffee plantation and surrounded by 8 mountains. In the morning we walked around the surrounding villages and feel so peaceful, the people are extraordinarily friendly and we feel at home. It’s not cheap at all but the stay was well worth it, I wished I stayed more than 1 night. Will return and stay longer God willing. Uploaded pictures that will say more words than I could write."

riverie siam: "As good as the reviews suggest"

"We stayed two nights as part of our trip through Thailand. The food and beverage manager is doing a great job at this hotel. Breakfast a la cart is so much more enjoyable especially when it is prepared to such a high standard..the cocktails were outstanding, comparable with top 5 star hotels in HK. Not much around the hotel but the free shuttle was very reliable. Special thanks to the ladies who served us breakfast and evening drinks/dinner, they were genuinely so friendly and made our stay memorable. Thank you and we hope to return if we pass your way again! Pity the weather was too cold for us to use the two beautiful pools!"

Tugu Malang: "Very Unique Hotel in East Java, Indonesia"

The Hotel Tugu Malang in Malang, East Java, Indonesia, is a perfect way to see the "non-touristy" side of Indonesia, but still experience first class service and one of the most unique properties we have ever stayed at. The hotel is situated in a beautiful mountain town in eastern Java that is very close to the spectacular and often active volcano, Mount Bromo. The hotel offers much, much more however, and is a great way to get a taste of Javanese culture that is sometimes hard to find in big cities like Jakarta. We spent only two nights at this lovely hotel, but will definitely return to continue our exploration of this culturally rich area. The hotel itself is filled with truly exotic works of art and furniture, including Ming Dynasty pieces that would likely be in a carefully guarded museum in the United States. During our stay, we took the "candi" or "temple" tour on the first day, and found it as a great way to view the surrounding countryside, as well as to see some really amazing Buddhist and Hindu temples built in the 1200-1300 AD period. The next morning, we took the traditional market tour and traditional cooking class which was really the highlight of our stay. After getting a personalized tour of a nearby traditional food market with the amazing array of fruits and vegetables native to Java, we finished the tour by preparing three traditional Javanese dishes under the careful supervision of the hotel cooking staff. The dishes turned out perfectly, and opened our eyes to the possibilities of traditional Indonesian recipes. For the quality of the surroundings and service, our stay was significantly cheaper than you will pay in the much more traveled locations like Bali or Jakarta. In short, it was a very unique and enjoyable experience, and probably ranks as our "best ever" hotel experience.

Wow Borneo: "A wildlife and village immersion with hardworking crew!"

What a totally amazing experience for us all. We saw proboscis monkeys, trekked like intrepid adventurers into the jungle, and saw a beautiful adult male. We rescued a water monitor lizard from a fishing trap, saw river otters and caught our own fish. All of this was made completely wonderful by our guide, Made, who bought the adventurer out in us all. The boys absolutely loved him, and he was knowledgeable, entertaining, and very accommodating of all our needs, including getting out beds for us to watch shooting stars. The jungle is hot and sticky and boats are difficult to make luxurious, but the wonderful food, really attentive crew, and endless supply of coffee and freshly squeezed juice made it a wonderful experience. There are lots of really sweet touches like scrubbing our Maddie, checking shoes and bringing breakfast in bed to a teen who wasn’t feeling great. Highly recommend to any family adventurers.

Noel Rodrigo’s Leopard Safaris: "One of our favourite experiences in Sri Lanka"

"We were in Sri Lanka for a month and our overnight safari camp with Leopard Safaris was a real highlight of the whole trip. The accommodation was real luxury camping (glamping) with electricity in the tents including a phone, fan, lighting and torches. The toilet and shower tents were clean, the toilet was a western style one and we had hot water for our evening shower. What a treat! The food was delicious – some of the best we ate in Sri Lanka. The staff were excellent and really looked after us. The whole layout of the camp was great with a nice lounge area with drinks and comfortable seating as well as dining area where you could chat to other guests and the staff. We really enjoyed chatting to Saj who was clearly passionate and deeply knowledgable about his work with animals. The safari itself was great fun. We had bad weather while there but still managed to see an array of wildlife including a leopard. We had two game drives during our stay with a ranger and a driver in the car to help us spot wildlife. Excellent experience all round. Thoroughly recommended. Stayed January 2017, traveled as a couple"

The Island Lodge: "Beautiful hidden gem"

A wonderful hotel with a lovely garden and pool. After a drive from Saigon we were warmly welcomed by the owner and some of his staff with refreshing drinks and cakes. The rooms are spacious, clean and nicely decorated. The hotel has a great restaurant and serves lovely food. Because it was low season the restaurant was open just for us. That's how service should be! We loved it here.