Well, the experience of having stayed here (5 nights) certainly was ‘excellent’. True, it’s not next to the beach, but there are bicycles for hire, and if they have driver... read more available, there’s a lift to a lovely sandy beach in less than 10 minutes and either of the two nearby hotels, where you’re welcome to use their facilities, and be collected afterwards. It’s about double the time to get into town and the hotel will ably assist with anything else a concierge reasonably might be asked to provide.
The offering is high quality: lovely well-appointed bamboo pavilions (modelled in the traditional style) each with an open-air bathroom, a comfortable large double bed, mosquito netting (unexpectedly needed during our stay towards the end of the dry season), air con and an outside seating area facing the hotel. The food is very good albeit from a limited menu and (with reference to some earlier reviews), the bar serves cocktails in addition to beer and non-alcoholic drinks. The spa is outstanding - my treatment, provided entirely by one of the students, was the equal of one I had seven days later at a very highly-regarded spa on Bali for a fraction of the price.
But the main reasons for staying are the sustainability credentials of the hotel, it’s wonderfully happy students, amazing staff and what it so successfully sets out to achieve by tacking disadvantage head-on. Against a background of student demonstrations (and deaths) in Jakarta (seemingly so far, far away in distance and time) and the uncontrolled fires and smog elsewhere across Indonesia, this project provided an incredibly more positive reality and the basis for a more hopeful future and as such commanded our deepest respect and an admiration for everyone involved.
Win, win; it’s rare to have had such an excellent stay and know that you’re also supporting something so outstandingly worthwhile.