Guest Reviews

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..."

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge: "rejuvinating natural splendour"

"At this point in your travels this is the perfect place to be. Whether you've just completed your travels over to begin a trek or are in the middle of your journey you're probably ready for some clean air, beautiful views and sophisticated but understated pampering. The lodge itself sits astride a mountain ridge outside Pokhara allowing views to the north (Himalyas) and south (Pokhara). If your expecting ""bling"" (flat screens etc) forget it. If your expexting a proper mountain lodge then this is it. Beautiful architecture, natural building materials, total comfort, privacy and unbelievable scenery. I stayed for 3 days and never tired of the food, on the contrary I was left wondering what's next. Every meal has a local or continental version impeccably prepared and served. The chef and many of the staff have been at the lodge since it opened and have the food, beverage and service dialled in. I know this might sound a little ridiculous but I spent 3.5 weeks travelling India and Nepal and this was my favorited place to spend a few days. I guess it was just the perfect place at the right time. Next year we are hoping to do a 2 week trek, this is where we plan to start and end, I can' wait. "

Satri House: "Heavenly"

I cannot say enough kind thinigs about this place. The rooms, the landscaping, the staff, the food, the spa, the smells. All perfect! Definitely worth the expense. The fact that there were bicycles we could ride throughout town made it even better. The map the hotel provided was hard to read, but mainly because i'm not sure how many street signs there actuallly are. They were so nice to help with all transportation and tours.

David’s Kitchen: "Wonderful restaurant!"

"My mom and I recently travelled to Chiangmai and had a wonderful meal at David's Kitchen! Everything was delicious but the pumpkin soup was amazing and a must try!! The owners and staff could not have been nicer. I highly recommend this restaurant to anyone traveling to Chiangmai. Also a wonderful addition to our experience which made getting to the restaurant so easy was a pickup service (at an additional cost) to and from our hotel. Made getting to the restaurant so easy!"

Satri House: "Charme fou, service d’exception"

Situé à qq minutes du centre ville, c'est un véritable coup de coeur pour cet endroit plein de charme (bâtiments, décoration, jardins, piscines) avec un personnel aux petits soins pour ses invités. En effet, on se sent plus invités que clients tant les attentions sont multiples et toute la journée. Le restaurant est très bon. De même que le petit déjeuner simple mais raffiné (excellentes confitures maison). Ce lieu mérite d'y rester deux trois jours, pour s'imprégner de la douceur du Laos et se reposer entre deux visites de Luang Pradang. Excellente aide pour l'organisation des visites et des transports entre deux étapes.

SEEDS Restaurant & Lounge: "Awesome !"

Lucia and Felix Eppiser have built a beautiful , tastefully done restaurant and are excellent hosts ! Service is personalized and efficient . Will go back again Sid from Shangri-la

Villa Mathis: "The Proposal Of A Lifetime"

"I was lucky enough to have known just how beautifully romantic and special Villa Mathis is in Bali already and decided it would be the perfect location for my proposal to my beautiful fiancé in AUG 2017. Bruno and his beautiful wife were ever so kind to create the most magically romantic setting in one of their private gardens for this special occasion. Seriously they went above and beyond anyone could hope for, from table setting to the fairy lights, to the love hearts hanging in the trees, to the white silk walkway and candles to the table, to the fire dancers that put on a show for us. Everything was absolutely perfect and i am forever in grateful for provided this for our special occasion. I cannot forget the manager of Villa Mathis either for all of his help and time he dedicated to arranging all of the extras things for us and also being the one to secretly put the ring in the glass of champagne for my toast and proposal. =) The rooms and villas and gardens and pool and restaurant and food and staff of this resort are truly amazing and something you would expect from a 5 star hotel. Once again i cannot speak highly enough of this resort, the owners, the manager, the staff. It is truly a romantic place to stay and overtime my fiancé and i celebrate our engagement we will also be thinking of how Burno and the team and Villa Mathis made this more special then i could of ever hoped for. Forever grateful. =)"

Muang La Lodge: "An outstanding experience"

"One of the best management we ever experienced, the food sublime, probably the best we had in Laos! From our arrival to our leave we have been taken extra care by these two young managers! They were also able to hand down their passion to the local staff, an impressive task considering the circumstances of the location. I would recommend this hotel to anyone travelling in Laos, especially if you love food and thermal waters! Thank you very much for the amazing time and for the color pencils for our little daughter we found on the mini bus when we left!"

SEEDS Restaurant & Lounge: "The most memorable dinner in Yangon"

We were privileged to be invited to an exclisive pre-opening private dinner by Swiss Chef couple Felix Eppisser & Lucia Eppisser to their new venture , Seeds Restaurant in the prime residential area with beautiful lakeside location in Yangon City. Food was heavenly with personally created degustation menu from amuse bouche of Scallops , pumpkin soup with Lobster & truffle , seabass on avocado puree, Australian tenderloin steak with mushroom cream followed by dessert of mixed berry parfait at Chef's table seeing dishes prepared & excuted right in front. All dishes were perfectly cooked & delicious ! The most memorable meal we ever had !!!

Mudanwan Villa: "A liberation of body and soul"

"Uncharted territory of southern minority spa, goose-screen road all the way south into County Road 199 Pingtung County Checheng, then passing to 199 A at 7.5k reach peony Bay villa, along the way through Sihjhongsi spa area, peony social events site Shihmen ancient battlefield, overlooking the surrounding mountainside peony reservoir from Shimen village, all the way beautiful panoramic view. It felt almost has to end, would like opposite! A quiet rustic journey was about to kick off an excellent spring water, mountain and sea delicious flavor ingredients presented, body and soul this liberation. "