We didn't stay here but ate here and it was some of the worst food we had on our stay. Grilled seafood platter cost 150.000 IDR for a measly piece of fish and two prawns, with one tiny calamari. Really not worth your time.
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Loved it here!! My boyfriend and I booked to stay here for 4 nights. We loved it so much we booked to stay for 2 more.
The staff here really made our experience so much more enjoyable. Everyone was polite, smiling and would go the extra mile to help you. (They even helped me when I got stung by a spiky sea urchin!)
We stayed in a superior room and it was lovely, bed comfy, very spacious and a very good shower. They also included beach towels in our room, which they changed ever day. Rooms were cleaned twice a day. They also turned down our bed every evening. The only down side was the wifi signal was a little weak in our room.
The hotel is situated in a very good spot, close to restaurants, bars and of course the beach!
Breakfast was very good. It offered a range of different dishes, including fresh cooked eggs and pancakes. It was one of the best we have had on our travels.
The hotels restaurant is good and they also have sun beds for guests only. The only frustrating thing was that people would get up early and put towels on them - they would stay empty all day just with people's towels on. Very frustrating when you are staying at the beach all day.
We rented bikes from the hotel for 3 days which was quick and simple. It was great to explore the island and see the sun set on the other side.
If you want to hire snorkels (you really should! We saw 3 turtles just outside our hotel on the first day!) there is a great place just outside the hotel, to the left. We rented one everyday and each time they were clean and well looked after.
We would defiantly stay here again, and I'm sad that we couldn't stay longer, we had a fantastic time.
I stayed here for only 2 nights and was very regretful that I had not booked for longer! The villas are lovely and very clean and spacious. Our bathroom was bigger than my bedroom at home! The only downside was that the wifi didn't work very well in the rooms. The pool at the front of the resort was also very large with sunbeds available. The hotel puts on complimentary tea and cake every evening and the breakfast was very nice. I would happily stay again.
Just fantastic! Great location, i.e. close to the center with all the restaurants and bars, and far enough to have a good sleep. Guess I read in some reviews that people weren't too happy with the restaurant but in fact it's similar to most other restaurants in that they offer a whole range of local and Western dishes, so it's hard to come up with such bunch of very sophisticated dishes. Having said that, they make their own pastas and have pizzas from a wood oven, pretty cool and good.
Rooms are clean and very spacious with a comfortable bed. Staff very friendly and helpful, though because of language issues (and perhaps also a cultural one) communication is somewhat difficult and it takes time to make yourself understandable, but that is valid for most hotels and restaurants where we have been in Indonesia. All in all I can definitely recommend and would go back ourselves!
We stayed at Villa Almarik for over 10 days - longer than most visitors and got to know the hotel quite well.
We're familiar with other Lotus Hotel properties, having stayed at their sister resort in Gangga Island (Sulawesi) over the Christmas period some years ago. Not having been to Lombok before and not knowing all the much about the Gilis, we didn't know what to expect. The main problem with Gili Trawangan is that much of it is about Full Moon parties and sunburnt, drunk youth wandering in droves. Not really our cup of tea ... but we wanted a short break after a 4-day trek up Rinjani and a place to rest by the sea.
A sudden opening in our schedule meant that we could afford the time to extend our trip by a week, the extra time also meant that we were able to do a 4-day scuba course we'd been hoping to get for some years now. While we were in a bit of a quandary about whether we could extend for so long during high season - occupancy looked full online - a quick check with Hery (who is awesome) at reception and the hotel was able to accommodate us in another room for a whole week - lifesaver!
Gili Trawangan is a very good base for scuba training - there are many dive centres from large factory-like establishments like Trawangan Divers to Blue Marlin where you can discover scuba for the first time or train up to dive instructor level. Most are around "central" Gili Trawangan so we needed to be within easy walking distance to our dive centre, Big Bubble. At least Villa Almarik is on the northern edge of this strip away from the worst of the thumping, clubbing music that is on full blast for much of the night.
The hotel feels like a slightly outdated resort with an old-fashioned pool with ugly, faux
rock features and a breakfast dining area decorated in an odd assortment of Chinese antiques that look out of place in Indonesia. Their breakfast selection is not very inspired.
However, their beach front restaurant is a pleasant space with great staff and decent Italian-inspired food. Their pastas and pizzas are good ... their steaks, not so much (to be avoided). We thought the best thing they had on the menu was their seared tuna salad.
We stayed in 2 different types of rooms during the 10-day period - the deluxe double and the superior double. Deluxe doubles are better-located and larger, but the superior doubles were very good too. The superior doubles are newer, so fixtures are in better nick but there was a curious abundance of white/daylight bulbs which gave the rooms a slightly clinical feel. We would keep those off most of the time in favour of lights that had incandescent/tungsten bulbs.
Villa Almarik also has its own dive centre, Gangga Divers that managed by a young, very professional manager called Samuel. He's a good person to discover scuba with - patient and conscientious. Their dive boat is well-run and equipment in very good condition. Sam is ably assisted by another dive guide, Pak Ajab who is lovely and very experienced.
When we had time to spare, we chose to spend most of our time in the Northern and Western parts of Gili Trawangan, keeping away from the rowdier parts of the island, but Villa Almarik is great for its location.
Lombok was a very pleasant surprise in general - we found people friendly and helpful with little to none of the mercenary undercurrent that you sometimes sense in places that have been exposed to mass tourism for too long.
The hotel offers to help arrange for Bike rental (they don't have their own bikes to rent out) but you'll be able to go out on the street to hire them at numerous places. One reception person offered to help us rent one for 70k rupiah/day, but if you go out and look for one yourself, you should be able to get one for 50k rupiah/day.
Not sure if we'd return to any of the Gilis again, but Lombok, definitely, yes.
I stayed in Villa Almarik for 4 nights with my boyfriend. The hotel is in an excellent location. It's near the harbour and you could walk to the hotel in just over five minutes if your luggage wasn't too heavy. We opted for a horse and cart however! It's also near the main 'strip' where all the bars and hotels are but its far enough from the strip too so that it's quiet at night !
We loved the beach bar at this hotel. It allowed guests to lounge on this 'private' section of the beach and because only guests were allowed we felt that our belongings were safe on our sun loungers while we went out swimming and snorkelling.
We loved snorkelling on the beach outside the hotel. We were particularly excited by the fact you could swim out and see turtles right outside the hotel ! This made our experience on the beach really special!
There was only one negative about this hotel and it was a small thing. Neither my boyfriend or I could connect to the wifi . When I said it to the man at the desk he seemed to think it was something to do with my device and couldn't help but the fact that neither of us could connect would make me think it was something to do with the connection.
The staff at this hotel were excellent! They were always willing to help. The breakfast was very good too !
