Guest Reviews

Sanak Retreat Bali: "Marvellous !"

"One would never imagine to find such a beautiful and peaceful place in the ""middle of nowhere"". Surrounded by rice fields, this hotel composed of individual bungalows is like paradise on earth ! Staff members are so kind (they called us because we had let the car headlights on), professional and careful, the restaurant proposes high quality food (seared tuna tataki is awesome) and taking breakfast in front of the pool is a priviledge !"

Tugu Malang: "One of the World’s Great Hotels"

"It is rare to find a hotel where service is flawless in every detail: The Tugu Malang, one of the world's few truly great hotels, is such a place: The hotel is of such astonishing beauty and the staff are such nice hard-working people, anxious to please in every way, that the Tugu is in fact a destination in itself. If you have no other reason to stop in Malang, then do so to enjoy the extraordinary pleasures of the Tugu. The rooms are ravishing, each one with some element of art and designed thoughtfully for maximum comfort. Exotic fruits await you; the bed is turned down with a friendly note before you go to sleep. Want your shoes cleaned? They come back polished better than when they were new. Breakfast includes almost unlimited pleasures: the menu is vast and you can combine local and Western dishes. Everything is both artful and delicious and the restaurant setting is a work of art in itself. Afternoon tea is included, with an array of local delicacies, served with the ever-present Tugu charm. The hotel owner has built a world-class museum into the hotel. Seemingly endless antiques and art are fabulously displayed; and the best part is that the hotel supplies a brilliant and knowledgeable tour guide to take you round. My guide was Wahyu, who clearly loves the hotel and told me he takes considerable amounts of time to research the objects on display so as to give the best presentation. His tour was completely involving because of his intelligence and enthusiasm -- it felt like being a celebrity receiving a highly-privileged personal presentation from the head curator of a national museum! I do hope that management will recognize Wahyu's excellence and ensure his career development in both museum curating and management! Reception also has the best people: kind, knowledgeable, helpful. They can get you wherever you want in town and make any needed arrangements for you. If you'd like to visit Bromo I'd highly recommend taking the cross-desert route from Malang: it is highly scenic and also quite surreal in places. I did the trip the other way round by ojek (motorbike taxi), but you can also do it by jeep and the Tugu can make arrangements. The ability to take this mindbending route is reason enough to stay in Malang. But you don't even need that reason. The rare graciousness, fragrant beauty, opulence, detailed service and pure delight that exemplifies everything the Tugu stands for means that you should head for the Tugu if you are anywhere in the region for no other reason than to stay in one of the most fabulous five-star hotels in the world at a price for which you would get something only very ordinary in the USA or Europe. This is a best of the best, a treasure, a complete delight: don't miss the opportunity to stay there!"

The Island Lodge: "Chill out space extraordinaire"

You know that feeling of leaving a perfect place and grieving for that experience? Well, that is how we feel right now. The Island Lodge provided us with much needed healing and relaxation from the stresses of our work, health issues and our lives in the 'rat race'. The world is becoming a harder place but The Island Lodge provides a respite from all of that. Thank goodness for such a place. We spent most of our time outside or on our balcony watching the river life - a busy artery of interest and diversity. The breakfast was personalised - no buffet. Beautiful basket full of breads, a variety of juices, eggs to suit and more. Dinner and a nice wine list enhanced the open wall dining area so we could still see the river! Pool was the perfect temperature for me. A comment about the staff - they were gracious, polite and seemed to be able to predict your needs. Thank you to all.

Manda De Laos: "Impressive"

So impressed with the service, food, drinks and ambiance. It feels like you are walking into a little, romantic, paradise pond escape. Best meal in Laos by far. All food and unique drinks had beautiful presentation. Can’t wait to return!

David’s Kitchen: "A Highlight of Our Trip"

Food: Delicious! I ordered an Asian dish (seared tuna with lemon grass) and my friend ordered a European dish (braised meat on potato mash with heavenly gravy), and both were SCRUMMY! We also got the flight of soups -- YUM! The squash soup and the pea soup were especially bright and flavorful -- I say this as someone who usually won't order either on a normal night. The lobster bisque was full of lobster (which is oddly not a given in my experience). David is an expat Brit and a charmer. Lovely man! He stopped by our table throughout the night, extolling stories about the family recipes behind his signature dishes, as well as his own mind-blowing travel experiences. The reservation page is a breeze, and best of all it asks if you'd like transportation to take you to and from the restaurant, which in a click brought a car to our hotel lobby at reservation time and made travel to the restaurant effortless. (We all agree the travel option on the reservation page is brilliant.) We will be back!!

Sukoon Houseboat: "Best Houseboat Experience"

The place is extremely peaceful Lives upto the name sukoon = peace The food is exceptional and staff is very helpful. The service is better than five star hotels. The upper deck is great for experiencing the calm Dal lake. This is my second stay here... And totally recommend it.

Villa Song Saigon: "Great place with a great view"

"We love this place, especially for breakfast or lunch or just a cup of coffee. Look out over the river and relax. We went here with my son of 6 months, they are very baby friendly. They provide a high chair and baby bowl. The staff is very helpful. The food is very good, we had breakfast there and that is great. Choice of different types of breakfast. For lunch we had fish and chips and a duck salad! Very good. Try it out!"

Cheong Fatt Tze – Blue Mansion: "Steeped in History"

"We stayed at the mansion because we were very interested in its history. Built as home to a notable tycoon named Cheong Fatt Tze, the mansion fell into disrepair until it was restored beautifully by a local architect who also become the proprietor of the hotel. The atmosphere inside was very calming and peaceful. Our room, called the Shantung, was spacious, comfortable and well-appointed with all modern comforts. It was located in one of the side courtyard of the mansion, which they call the dry courtyard - there is a wet courtyard with ponds at the opposite side of the mansion. As hotel residents we were entitled to free guided tour, which was really informative and well-presented. It made us appreciate the history of the place and the massive efforts undertaken to preserve it even more. Local snacks was placed in our bedroom at the evening. A la carte breakfast was served in the dining room just off the central courtyard. The food was excellent. We wanted to dine at the Indigo Restaurant at the 2nd floor but unfortunately it was closed off for private function during our stay. There is a swimming pool at the side courtyard, which we didn't get to use but would be a welcome respite from Penang's heat. There's a shop too selling merchandise of the mansion."

muang la: "Most charming Xmas Eve ever"

We stayed in this absolutely beautiful small resort for two nights. We were fortunate that we had a short journey, having flown to the nearest town and been picked up by the resort's car and our guide. We thought the location absolutely stunning and the staff even more fabulous. Our trek into the hills on Christmas Eve could not have been better (even down to the picnic lunch we carried with us from the resort) and the Christmas Eve entertainment which ended with us lighting Chinese lanterns was just magic. Thanks to everyone at the resort who made our stay so very special.

Mie Cafe: "Best restaurant in siem reap"

We stayed at the city for 3 days and loved the restaurant so much that we travelled far to the restaurant for the second time only to find that it was an off day for them. I'll definitely come back if I had the chance to visit siem reap again.