Guest Reviews

Glenburn Tea Estate: "Quintessential plantation experience through the ages"

"Nestled in a beautiful forested valley, surrounded by tea gardens and overlooking the river Rung Dung this is and idyllic location with views of Darjeeling, Sikkim and the Himalayas. Accommodation in large suites within tea plantation managers bungalow - all wonderfully decorated and furnished in mid 20th century style and with spectacular views. Meals (breakfast, lunch, afternoon tea and dinner) are all included. A rotating menu of different cuisines (including traditional Raj period meals, Bengali, Nepalese, Bhutanese and international, etc. are served. All offering multiple course, veg and non-veg options and all cooked to perfection offering exquisite tastes - some of the best food I've tasted anywhere. Plenty to do too - the tours of the tea gardens and factory (including tasting if the various teas the estate produces) taken by the manager or one of his assistants - teaches even the most experienced tea connoisseur everything they could ever wish to know about the propagation of tea, it's harvesting and transformation (different techniques) to produce white teas, first/second flush, monsoon, autumn, oolong and green teas; as well as the history of tea growing and the estate. There's also a wonderful lodge/camp on the river (about a 2 hour walk from the main bungalow); trips to Ghum, Darjeeling and Kalimpong. The entry/exit roads are rough as you drop into the valley from the main road - and it's about 2 1/2 - 3 hours transfer from the nearest airport or station - but well worth it Stayed January 2017, traveled as a couple"

Nam Bo Boutique Hotel: "Excellent"

Lovely little hotel, great dining options and excellent breakfast. One night stop en route to Cambodia. Very nice town, room very spacious and comfortable. Can't go wrong. Beautiful wooden floors, staff very attentive and helpful.

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!!

Misool Eco Resort: "Wow"

This place was amazing. It's truly hard to describe the beauty of this place, and what they went through to make it available to the (discerning) masses. Everything was perfect, from the check-in, to the food, to the rooms, to the scuba-diving / snorkeling. I couldn't dive due to a lung issue, but trust me, I saw and experienced just as much. Even got to see some manta rays at the top of an underwater mountain. Calvin, who headed up the diving / snorkeling trips / PADI courses, and has a marine biology degree... very helpful and great instructor, with the added benefit that he's an actual scientist. Even gave a preso on his work with the manta rays. And I'd like to give a shout-out to my snorkeling guide (Nelson i.e. "Son") as well. He's a local, and used to live on a pearl farm... he dove down seemingly without effort 20-30 feet deep to search out cool things to see. I'm not even sure the guy needs scuba equipment. And the reefs in their 1000 km square "no take" zone were in amazing health (which is surprising given all the press about the decline of reefs in other parts of the world right now) - we saw tons of stuff. My favorites were the nudibranches - I saw about 5 or 6 kinds. We also saw a herd of "bumpheads" that apparently National Geographic was trying to get pics / videos of a few weeks before but couldn't find. The amount of biodiversity is truly astounding... the fish stocks and schools were absolutely amazing. Corals too. I also liked the "eco" theme of the resort - they really take it to heart. Our room had air conditioning, but it was only within the mosquito netting above our bed - I thought this was a clever and very energy efficient way to do it, because you really only want it at night when you're sleeping anyway. Also, they're trying to figure out how to do solar, just working through the details right now. One piece of advice: Just bring adequate cash to tip with (preferably IDR, but they can exchange USD or Australian $$ pretty easily) - and not because they expect tips (they don't) but you'll want to tip everyone when you're done, just because of how well they treat you.

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge: "Relaxation, Views & Friendly Service"

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge was an amazing place to stay. Impeccable service and incredible views. Ask to go for a walk around the local village or enjoy a spot of bird watching. The fire pit is a great place to spend some time in the evening. I would highly recommend the experience.

Tiger Mountain Pokhara Lodge: "Amazing"

Tiger Mountain Lodge is amazing. Though access may be slightly problematic for the less agile such as myself, any efforts are certainly worthwhile. My room (7) had breathtaking views over the mountains and (very kindly ) the weather Gods lifted the clouds enabling the magnificent scene to unfold. Though this reality was obviously outside the control of the lodge management , the friendly and efficient care that was delivered throughout the stay at the lodge. My food requirements are unusual to say the least, but an understanding staff managed to accommodate those peculiarities very efficiently. All aspect of care lived up to or exceeded expectations and Grateful thanks are due to a very efficient team.

The Village House: "Fine Dining experience in a village life… Interesting"

"My 2nd visit to this resort since my last year stayed. This time was a bit different experience compared my previous because it's happened to be the yearly Rainforest World Music Festival 2016. It's full house and my 1st experience to stay in a dormitory style. Very clean and just nice with 6 beds in a room. I would categorize this as luxury dormitory style. For those who are planning to come for this yearly event, I would suggest you to stay around Santubong area where it easy for you to access to RWMF2016. The Village has taken over everything for their guests, hassle free during my stays here. To my surprised, our breakfast, dinner and supper are included during this period of time in one price. The most impressed was the 4 courses fine dining dinner set. Awesome!... The only downside of my stays here are the foods quality has dropped especially during breakfast time. Our ordered has taken wrongly and we were rushing to check out. Overall the foods are bit too salty. I can understand because of this festive has keeping the staffs so busy and tired but really need to maintain it quality. I will still come back again but not during any festive period."

Villa Song Saigon: "Villa Song January 17"

"We have stayed at Villa Song 4 times now and each visit has been excellent. The Management and staff are friendly and helpful. Breakfast is worth getting up for. I always enjoy my stay here due to the extremely comfortable beds and pillows. Stayed January 2017, traveled as a couple"

4 Rivers Floating Lodge: "Amazing hotel"

We spent 3 nights here at the beginning of August and the whole experience was fantastic. The tents are incredible and I love the fact there are no TVs or ACs. The staff were excellent, and really went above and beyond. The location is stunning and we really enjoyed the trip to the waterfall and kayaking around. I would definitely go back in a heartbeat

Cuisine Wat Damnak: "Fine dining in Siem Reap"

This restaurant was recommended in a Sunday newspaper article in the UK so we booked online well in advance. The restaurant kept in touch by email to confirm our booking. We were originally booked to eat upstairs where the ventilation is by fan rather than air conditioning but as the was a table in the courtyard we opted to eat there. We were met at the gate by the chef Joannes Riviere who made us welcome and was very attentive to his guests. There is a choice of two tasting menus which change on a regular basis and we had a wonderful selection of dishes. We drank the house white wine which was a French sauvignon blanc and good value. Altogether a memorable experience.