This is a physically beautiful property, surrounded by forest and a short walk from the sea. The grounds are full of flowers and I saw more butterflies here in a few days than I would see in a year in the UK.
The dramaticly styled pool - equal parts Guardians of the Galaxy and the Prisoner - is the focal point of the Hotel. The restaurant looks out over it, evening yoga takes place beside it and it is open 24 hours. It is surrounded by seating and lounging areas and although most of those are fixed we had no problem finding shade in a choice of locations every time we sat out. There is no pool service, but the lounge is close by.
The rooms are similar but not identical. They are all free standing villas, surrounded by walls which offer some degree of privacy (but only some, anyone over 5ft 9 walking past can look over many of them), but there are differences - some have dramatic free standing baths and others rather more pedestrian built in baths in separate bath rooms. If privacy is a concern, I’d look for rooms further away from the restaurant block as all foot traffic is largely going to/from that one location. All rooms have Japanese style day beds and seating area; the beds are not tatami, but they are mattresses on a raised platform, so don’t expect an international hotel level of comfort.
The restaurant serves a small menu, reflecting its remote location. Both the French influenced and Japanese set menus were good, and the small à la carte menu (Taco rice, pork belly soba, spaghetti bolognese) had just about enough to keep us interested for three days. The menus did not change whilst we were there, so I wouldn’t plan to have the French set menu every day, as you’d be eating exactly the same thing. Room service is very, very limited. For variety the village has some restaurants near by and the shuttle bus runs late to accomodate those going out. The breakfasts are similarly limited but good quality (cereal, a French inspired breakfast, and a Japanese one (which was the best breakfast I had in Japan in nearly 3 weeks)). The juices and fruit were particularly good, but we thought the food generally, albeit limited in choice for understandable reasons, was good.
There is a comfortable lounge area serving a small range of drinks (one alcoholic cocktail, three different beers, one white wine, one red wine etc), and one or two snacks. There is a wide range of teas for free and a coffee machine. It offers regular small events, a happy hour to try the local spirits. It is not anything like, and is not trying to be, a full international hotel bar.
There is a small spa, which gets booked up quickly. Whilst we were there, slots were fixed for 2pm, 4pm or 8pm. If your stay is short and you are set on a spa treatment, book in advance.
The hotel runs a free shuttle bus around the island beaches and to the village. These are well worth visiting (the beaches when the day trippers are gone are other worldly). Bike hire was not offered whilst we were there which seems like a missed opportunity - you have to take the bus or walk into the village, hire your bike, return it at the end of the day and then get back to the hotel. Seemed like a lot of faff, so we just used the shuttle buses.
The hotel can organise trips too. We took the snorkelling morning trip, in a boat with 3 other guests from the hotel. We thought the snorkelling excellent (“better than the Maldives” said our 15 year old, who maybe has seen too much of the world….). Had we more time, we’d have dived too given the quality of the snorkelling we had.
At the end of our few days here all of this though left me slightly scratching my head. Who is this hotel really for? It’s not on the beach, and the closest beach you can’t swim off, so it’s not a beach hotel. Although we saw lots of young families, there are no kids activities and some parts of the dramatic design of the hotel are definitely not kid friendly (watch those unfenced drops….). The spa isn’t big enough for this to be a wellness retreat (and there’s no gym). It’s not a luxury rural retreat - the rooms are nice but a bit tired in places, service is lovely but limited (no pool service, limited bar and restaurant). The food is good, but it’s not good enough to make this a dining location with rooms. So what is this place for?
In the end I decided it wasnt any of those things, but was it’s own rather unique, slightly odd, beautiful, quiet and lovely thing all its own. At the right price - I’d baulk at more than 350 USD a night - bring a good book, or three. Admire the gardens and wild life. Walk to the beaches after the day trippers have gone. Drink tea. Enjoy.
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