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Seven Secrets by Hanging Gardens
Malaka|À 0.76km de la Malimbu Hill
This is a quite new, well-maintained mini-resort hotel in the middle of nowhere, adjacent to a row of shanty food stalls (warungs), on a nice stretch of west-facing Lombok beach. It’s a solid hour and a half from Lombok airport and you’ll appreciate the airport transfer in a brand new vehicle, even if you’ll be struck by the juxtaposition (and perhaps engage in some self-reflection) as you look out the window at the island’s extensive poverty. The beach by the hotel is pleasant - though not “white sand”, as some have suggested. The sunsets are magnificent and a real highlight of the hotel. There was a particularly peaceful moment of total aesthetic perfection during one evening’s sunset that I absolutely treasured. The staff are all very friendly and highly attentive, with mixed levels of English. Generally enough for mutual understanding. The two minor gripes with the service are that: (a) a couple of things we’d asked about had to be followed up more than once before they materialised; and (b) food orders generally took forever to arrive. Neither issue was a big deal but, on the latter issue, I’m still mystified at how it can take 45 minutes for a meal to be brought out even on occasions when we were the only ones eating. The wifi was generally good throughout the hotel. The rooms - especially the ocean-facing rooms - are fantastic. I could happily have spent the week working away on the balcony, listening to the gentle waves and looking out over the water. The room is well-appointed, with a large, firm bed and a very pleasant private outdoor shower. It is usually serviced twice daily and the supplies of (essential) bottled water replenished. Be aware that, due to the proximity to a nearby mosque, you will likely be woken up each day (in our case at around 4.15am) by the amplified call to prayer from the local Muezzin. Not much you can do about that; you’re in Indonesia. The hotel pool is wonderful and the sun beds excellent and comfortable, though the muzak played through speakers by the beach and pool areas can be a bit much at times. The individual jacuzzis on the balcony of each room are a bit “extra” - probably a little unnecessary and over the top - but certainly not a negative. In short, the attractive marketing pictures are, indeed, a fair reflection of the hotel. In our case, we had a couple of massages included in our package and they were excellent. Kudos to the spa staff. We also booked two day trips through the hotel during our stay: - a snorkelling trip to the Gili Islands; and - a two-hour drive to a guided waterfall hike in the middle of the island, followed by a 90 minute drive to the large mosque in Mataram and another 45 minute drive to a coastal Hindu temple. The trips themselves were good but there were two issues with them. Firstly, they were bloody overpriced. 3.5 million rupiah for each trip was very expensive but we weren’t in the mood to shop around so we just went with it. Secondly, the hotel offered no
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