Guest Reviews

David’s Kitchen: "Perfect dinner in Chiangmai"

The food was amazing! I️ had the duck and it was cooked perfectly. David was so friendly and he even recommended some restaurants to us in Phuket. This is a first class restaurant!

Dewakan: "Innovative yet true to its Malaysian heritage"

Dewakan can easily beat some of the Michelin starred restaurants hands down. Chef Darren's creativity with local ingredients, whilst staying true to his Asian roots and elevation in the composition of both in every single dish is remarkable to say the least. Don't skimp or worry bout your diet or whatever - just go for the 10 course dinner. You won't regret it!

Locavore: "Best mark evet"

I tool a friend who lives in Bali here as a thank you for being a guide whiktin Bali. We are both foodies and have eaten meals at some good restaurants, i.e. Ramsay, rhodes, river cafe, boulud, tragebuches, blaue ente, vong, warning, mpw and I can state this was the best meal I have had in years. Save you pennies and go for the full tasting menu with accompanied drinks. Also I recommend lunch as then you can slowly see and recover in the early evening!!!

Villa Song Saigon: "A Peaceful Retreat"

"Villa Song is a small boutique hotel with only about 12 rooms. The grounds and building itself are luxurious and full of style. Each room is quite different in terms of size and configuration, so it pays to be sure you know what you're booking. We asked if it was possible to move to another room shortly after check- in because there was only one small window in the room and the reception staff were very helpful in offering another room. The breakfast is menu style rather than buffet and is very good with plenty of options on offer. The food at bistro song where we had two evening meals was great. The shuttle boat service in to district 1 is very convenient and worth a return trip just for the river cruise. Thao Dien, District 2 is worth a look around with some obvious wealth on display in the neighbourhood homes. Not as many local eating options as district 1 but a lot of work going on in the area with plenty of new places opening all the time."

Glenburn Tea Estate: "Magical Shangri-La up in the clouds"

"The views from all around both properties were breath-taking and we enjoyed some of the recommended walks you can do around the grounds, especially being treated to a delicious lunch down at the river. The food was great throughout the 4 days, sitting outside for breakfast and lunches is a treat (as long as the flies are not out in force) and dinners were similarly a great experience where you get to chat with other guests in a relaxed, communial manner, though private dining is always available, which we did take advantage of one night, when we were too fatigued to make small talk. Great variation of food also - with a different food 'theme' given for different nights - i.e. Indian, Tibetan, etc. The room we had (Singuella Suite - spelt incorrectly I'm sure) was huge, had some lovely period furniture and was decorated to a high, if a little mumsy, standard. Great bathroom and loads of hot water too. Sadly our visit to Darjeeling town was not the best due to it being really overcast, so I would suggest anyone stays here at least 3 nights to make the most of their time here. The road is what everyone else has written about it - bumpy and nerve jangling, but it is what it is - certainly we felt it seemed worse on the way down than up....also it seemed to get slightly more tolerable the more you did that journey, but it's no deciding factor over whether you should go to this place - it is really special, the views are simply stunning and the bonus of getting all your laundry done here for free was a great boon for us as we had 4 weeks worth of laundry to give them from our previous travels in India. The manager Jemima was lovely too - friendly, welcoming, easy to talk to with a great convivial manner. The shop was a nice, unexpected visit, but needed a bit more diversity in merchandise....again it got all a bit mumsy and twee after a while. The only other small criticism would be some of the employees English is very, very limited, which resulted in some wrong orders and misunderstandings - nothing major, but this is a pricey place to stay at and some guests might expect the service to be highly sharpened to reflect the fee. Still, if you can do go, I felt 4 nights was just the right amount of time to spend here....had a beautiful time which I will not forget. Room Tip: The newer bunglaow - for sure"

Jing’s Residence: "Very unique experience"

This residence has much charm, rooms are scattered around courtyards. It is located in the centre of the city and his nevertheless quite calm. Restaurant is excellent. The residence has been realized from the basis of typical houses / buildings of former times, but all has been fully redesigned with great care and taste. Very well located, you can visit the city and go bac back for a nice tea in the afternoon.

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..."

Satri House: "Ms Sorana Reichman"

"We were in an organized tour from Asia travel . They recommend us the hotel . The hotel was what we expected and more with big rooms clean not noisy big nice pool. Good breakfast and very good service . It was Giovanni that receive us and gave us explanation and I like very much also to speak with him Italian (one of the beautiful language on my opinion ) You can take tuck tuck to city center or go by foot 10 minutes We highly recommend this hotel for the service the rooms and overall"

Amata Lanna: "Great cozy stay"

Had a wonderful stay at Amata Lanna. We were greeted with excellent service with many smiles. We felt very comfortable and cozy here. Only 12 rooms ensure a boutique experience. It seemed very authentic. Rather than staying directly in Old City, we opted to stay here for a less touristy feel. Short walks (2 blocks) put you at the edge of the old town- where you can find restaurants, massage, laundry, pharmacy, 7-11, etc. Also within 2 blocks is the Anantara hotel which is very upscale (pricey), but has a great “Secret Service” bar and restaurant that we indulged in. Also, the night market is a must see and only 2 blocks as well.

Mrauk U Princess Resort: "Beautiful Hotel in a Beautiful Land"

This hotel is an absolute haven. Mrauk U is an incredible destination but can leave the traveller feeling a little worn, dusty and disorientated. The Mrauk U Princess Resort provides a calm, orderly and natural space to gather your thoughts and feel gently pampered. The food is very good and given the difficulties in sourcing ingredients such as wheat and coffee, provides an almost miraculous feat of delivering crispy, fresh croissants for breakfast every morning (make sure your come after 7.20am when they come out of the oven) with excellent coffee. Local food is also good, with delicious soup noodles for breakfast, and good salads and curries at night. The rooms are large and comfortable. I had a very small accident, entirely my own fault, but the hotel staff were responsive and professional, providing very good, simple but thorough medical care. One of the more remarkable experiences was hearing the wealth of sounds through the night as the environment is very natural and not subjected to the chemical exposure that many tropical resorts use. The result is a nighttime symphony of frogs, crickets, and cicadas.