Guest Reviews

tugu lombok: "One of best hotels in lombok"

"It's nice to see all top 3 hotels in lombok are actually within 10 m drive from each other . All situated on sire beach or beautiful Medana . The tugu is great ! Sharon the new GM is nice and always around . Staff is great here . Grounds amazing and large "

Neeleshwar Hermitage: "An exceptional Ayurvedic experience and Lotus Houseboat trip!"

My husband and I traveled from Canada to India recently and had the great pleasure of staying six nights at Neeleshwar Hermitage, two night of which were spent on the exceptional Lotus Houseboat cruising the backwaters of northern Kerala. We were transferred to Neeleshwar from the airport in Mangalore, a two or three hour drive. Our accommodation in Neeleshwar was exceptional, and the meals provided in our package were delicious and definitely very gourmet. We had booked an Ayurvedic all-inclusive package, and we enjoyed our helpful consultation with Dr. Suma on the premises. We thoroughly enjoyed our yoga and meditation sessions, and our massage masters (Indu and Arya and an excellent young man at the Priya Spa for my husband) were pleasant and competent. Mr. Sasi was the manager of food and beverage, and his team was excellent, including Dipin and Jayan. Dipin even recognized us when we visited Kanan Village nearby for the Thayyam Festival, and came over to speak with us! Shri Anil Kumar was an excellent Yoga / Meditation teacher, both skilled and wise. Mr. Jayan was an excellent manager, and we both thoroughly enjoyed the fabulous musical evening that he organized for the guests. Our two nights on the Lotus Houseboat were calm and relaxing, far superior to the very, very busy houseboats that operate out of Alleppey and cruise the southern backwaters. Captain Vinod, Chef Dinakaran, and Guide Sugesh were all exceptional, and we are very grateful to have met them. We visited a coir factory and a local village with Sugesh, and my husband enjoyed a village cycling excursion as well. Neeleshwar Hermitage was a great pleasure and we thoroughly enjoyed our six nights there, and can highly recommend this experience to other travelers!

Mathis Retreat: "Een prachtige plaats met fantastische service"

What enjoy, good rooms, nice view over the rice fields, excellent service, small, beautiful pool and excellent restaurant. The Belgian manageresse was very helpful, the shuttle service to the city center, 10-15 minutes, very convenient.

Sanak Retreat Bali: "Loved it!"

"We couldn't fault this place, the location, staff, food, rooms, pool, spa - all fantastic. If we could have extended our stay we would have. We had a 1 bedroom bungalow which overlooked the rice paddies. Doors opened on 3 sides to allow the breeze to flow through and the planting around the bungalow ensured privacy. We ate in their restaurant which overlooks the pools and rice paddies. The food was good, the beef tenderloin was very tender and my other half couldn't go past the chocolate mousse each night. We were highly impressed by the breakfast, the food just kept on coming and was served with espresso coffee if you so desired. My non-coffee drinking husband enjoying a pot of freshly brewed lemongrass tea each morning, which he hasn't been able to find anywhere else. The pool was beautiful, the tiling a work of art and the temperature perfect. Comfy sun beds and plenty of sun umbrellas. The location in the hills is very nice, cooler than in the coast and less crowded, with the smell of drying cloves permeating the air."

Babe: "Fun dining!"

Open by michelin starred chef,Jeff Ramsey-Babe is truly a fun somehow fine dining experience.Chef Jeff creativity and idea on food is truly amazing!Worth come to Babe for another type of dining experience.

Glenburn Tea Estate: "A little piece of heaven"

A return visit did not disappoint, although under different management, it was still a wonderful place to relax, where you are looked after most royally. The rooms are beautifully furnished with very comfortable beds, and pretty bedding. The staff are all very helpful and attentive, and several seem to have multi- functional roles. We had a really interesting tour of the tea-factory, even though the factory was not working at the time. Unfortunately owing to the complete strike in the Darjeeling area in the previous 3 months, resulted in the loss of this year's crop. The strike had also meant that the gardens surrounding the bungalows were not so immaculate, but I am sure this will be remedied soon. The.views of Kanchenjunga ( 3rd highest mountain in the world,) are stupendous if the weather conditions are right. We had a lovely guided walk down to the river, and then along river bank to bridge that crosses into Sikkim ( you are not allowed into Sikkim without a permit). We were then treated to a wonderful picnic by the river before getting a lift back up to Glenburn in one of the estate vehicles. Would definitely like to return for another little piece of heaven!

Cuisine Wat Damnak: "Wonderful 1st meal in SR"

Loved every course! Even though I'm not an adventurous eater, I was starting to feel full by the 3rd course cos I ate everything. The wait staff were attentive and prompt but not intrusive. After dessert, the chef brought a fruit plate personally and explained each fruit which was very nice.

THE SAMAR: "A gem in Bustling Siem Reap"

"OVERVIEW Coming here for the Angkor Empire Marathon was my main aim for this trip. Siem Reap has changed alot over the years since I came in 2006. From the only big establishment of Le Meridian Resort, they have many more to offer and also hospitality competition is getting tight. As this time I was travelling with older folks and all ladies, I had to make sure that the hotel is really comfy, especially my own mother is a very very stringent person when it comes to hotel selection. After consultation with her, we finally land on Samar. Just from the pictures, she said she felt that this little resort will be good. I must say I was a bit taken aback from the Poor reviews put forth here, but we nevertheless went ahead. BOOKING I originally booked on Agoda and Booking. com for two rooms as I needed 2 rooms, agoda.com could only provide me one. After the booking, I got in touch with manager Mr Bertrand, he was patient in replying and gave me clear directions on the amount to prepare for the trip. Throughout the e mails, he was patient and assured me that the rooms are well prepared for our trip. I like this French professional way of dealing things. So there we are prepared and packed ready to go. LOCATION To speak the truth, this hotel is not only the usual Pub st or Main National road, so it is of course not easy to find. But this is also its advantage, you can be sure you are out from the tourists infested area ( esp these days there are so many Korean and Chinese big tour buses and groups). If you are however going for those cliche big tours, then do not bother to come here because this place is all about style and niche. The establishment is smaller in real life than in the pictures, but it is definitely tastefully designed. It gives you the feel of a big home rather than a hotel. If I am not wrong there are not more than 10 rooms and one big villa in the whole ground. It is very well kept, very clean, tidy and a lot of plants around. Already we felt relaxed. STAFF and MANAGMENT We were greeted by the staff who was expecting us. The lady in the counter are more conversant in English, so they were the ones to serve us. But generally all the staff can actually speak English, but I guess the Cambodians are shy people, so they hardly speak. We were given a refreshing welcome drink, while I settle the bill with the staff. We had to pay upfront the stay. There is, however, no need to leave a deposit for safeguard. So do prepare cash in hand ready or a valid credit card or hotel voucher for your stay. ROOM We all stayed on the second floor, the first room nearer the lobby is the one with 2 beds ( single) while the last room is one big bed. Both rooms are big and spacious and tastefully furnished with a European Colonial style design, I loved the black and white tiled toilets with nice bath tub. Definitely enough space. We were also given robes and slippers. Umbrellas and Hats were also provided for us as the weather is really hot. All these were free of charge. I must say the bed is really comfy, I had not problem at all snoozing like a pig for the 4 nights, even the aunties in the other room, who are light sleepers mentioned to me the beds are nice. There were choices of hard and soft pillows on the bed. Really comfy comforter and strong working aircon with fan to cool you down after a day in Angkor Wat is good enough a tourist can ask for ! The TV also provided many channels of entertainment in various languages. At the balcony, you can see the swimming pool and afar the vicinity. This is also a place good for chilling out and talking to friends. Although the water pump was not working well at night, we mentioned it to the hotel staff and they quickly got the engineering plumber to get it fixed. So we could get hot soaks after visiting the Angkor Wat. There is no hot water making facilities but you can always get hot water from the kitchen from the staff who are more than willing to serve you. The fridge is cold and the hotel provides 2 bottles of drinking 500ml water. FOOD The food is really good. Although pricey, but hey in Siem Reap everything is in USD, comparatively to Singapore, it is worth it. To begin, first night we had a selection of Khmer Asian Western fusion gourmet with an Italian red. The meats are really tasty paired with the unique Khmer cooking style, the first night was already a plus for us. We could not finish everything but it was really good. For the breakfast, there are no buffet spreads, but we get our daily fruits and fruit juice with coffee and tea. Bread baskets were also given to us with Baguettes, crossaints, choco rolls and toast. Homemade jam was also served. There was even home made yoghurt for us. Daily the residents gets a choice of egg with either bacon or sausage. I really love the sausage, it is home made and good meat, no unhealthy transfat here! We only tried their lunch on the last day and of course, the quality is really not compromised! Very tasty kway teow chicken noodles, Asian yellow noodles with pork bits. Yummay! I think the sweet treats here in the hotel is really good. We absolutely adore the French pastries here, like the pana cotta. SWIMMING POOL One good mention is that the pool is not infested with chlorine like most big establishment does, it does not hurt and dry your skin. The area around the swimming pool is nice to chill and relax. I absolutely love to laze around whole afternoon. WIFI I really hate the WIFI here, cos it was too efficient !! haha and I keep getting messages from work which I had to shut the phone down so that I can really enjoy the rest by the pool. TRANSPORTATION As the hotel is way out from the main road, there is no way to get out unless you walk out pretty far just to get the tuk tuk. I suggest you either get your own transportation and make arrangements with them to ferry you to and fro, or you can get the tuk tuk to come into the hotel via main road. From the pub st to the hotel is about USD4-5 per tuk tuk trip. Although the hotel also provide transportation at a higher price, the quality of the tuk tuk is better too. The hotel staff will not force you to take their tuk tuk, but if you need the service just let them know. SPA Free facial for the ladies ( one time) was good and refreshing, for the guys , they have shaving service which none of us used. But the spa was rather relaxing, we did the massage, although we cancelled last minute for 2 people, the staff also never forced us to pay for any late cancellation. They just smiled. OVERALL I must say the Samar is a place I would go back and also recommend. I was still worried that the staff will be like slow and cannot be bothered. But they are all generically very kind and quiet. They might appear non chalent but actually they are just shy, if you step out and talk to them, they will be more than happy to smile and talk to you, there is no hard selling in this hotel. Staff just let you take your time relax do your things. I love that factor, the last thing for a holiday is to handle hustlers! Thank you Samar team for the wonderful five days four night!! Merci Beaucoup.."

Sanak Retreat Bali: "Splendide"

Nous avons logé un nuitée dans ce magnifique hôtel. Style écolodge mais de luxe. Les chambres familles sont très grandes, épurées, avec des matérieux locaux. Le piscine est très bien exposée comme le restaurant avec un magnifique couché de soleil. Le restaurant est très bon et le personnel très attentif. A conseiller!

Rachamankha: "Perfect honeymoon hotel"

"We stayed here during our honeymoon in June 2015 and it was amazing, we loved every minute The hotel is situated in its own grounds so was very quiet and relaxing, when we were at the pool we were the only people so it was like having our own private pool The room was lovely and the bed was comfy, the decor was modern but traditional at the same time, also flip flops, umbrellas are provided The shower was powerful and the Molton brown toiletries were a nice touch Whilst we were here we had a tasting meal and the food was delicious, the coriander salad was amazing, we also had a traditional Thai massage which was great and set the relaxing tone for our stay here The hotel is within walking distance to the town and the temples near by but you can just jump in a Tuk Tuk if you fancy, by the restaurant they have little business cards with a map on them incase your driver isn't sure where to go so I just kept this in my purse whilst out and about I would night recommend going to the elephant nature park of staying in Chiang mai, it was the highlight of our trip"