Table of content
I. Thailand
1. Lanta Pearl Beach Resort (KOH LANTA – Long Beach)
2. Apartment at Rawai Beach (PHUKET – Rawai Beach)
II. VIETNAM
1. Melica Resort (PHU QUOC)
2. La Belle An Bang Homestay (AN BANG/ HOI AN)
3. Hoi An Pho Library Hotel (HOI AN)
III. MALAYSIA
1. Afiniti Condo (JOHOR/LEGOLAND)
IV. SINGAPORE
1. Santa Grand Hotel East Coast (EAST COAST)
V. INDONESIA
1. Baliwid Vila (BALI – Kemenuh/Ubud)
2. Vila D’Nanda (BALI – Kemenuh/Ubud)
In our years of travel, we have stayed in more than 100 different accommodations around the world, from hotels to caves and tree houses, from apartments to cabins and tents. Most of them ranged from decent to very good, with a handful of complete disasters and a dozen of amazing ones.
In this post, I will list all of the accommodations that awed us in South East Asia and the reasons why we loved them.
They were all booked via Booking.com, Hotels.com or Airbnb.com
I am not an affiliate of any of those search engines and I do not receive any commission from them.
These are my honest reviews of the places we loved.
I. Thailand
1. KOH LANTA (Long Beach)
Why we loved it:
- family bungalows
- very clean and spacious
- 5 minutes walk from Long beach
- lush vegetation all around the resort
- good food
- nice, little pool
2. PHUKET (Rawai Beach)
Why we loved it:
- clean, tastefully decorated and fully stoked kitchen
- washer (unusual in Thailand, especially if you stay at a hotel)
- direct pool access from our balcony
- the condominium was in a gated community, well taken care of, with beautiful landscape all around
- gym and sauna
- good location, lots of restaurants around and about 15 min tuk-tuk ride from a really nice snorkeling beach
II. Vietname
1. PHU QUOC
Why we loved it:
- small hotel with clean, spacious rooms
- ”U” shaped around the pool, it gave it a sense of intimacy
- very conducive to community, with the pool being central
- each room had a large balcony with a table and two chairs, where we could hang out after the kids went to sleep
- beautiful, lush vegetation
- price to value ratio very good (we paid $600 for one month)
- within 20-30 min walk to the beach (or 5 min by super cheap taxi), in a residential area that allowed us to interact with the locals and eat at family-owned restaurants
2. AN BANG/ HOI AN
Why we loved it:
- the owner, Annie, was super sweet, kind and always making sure that we felt at home
- the homestay was small, elegant and intimate, decorated with vibrant colors and Vietnamese details
- pool toys and scooters for the kids
- rental bikes (Annie let me use for free)
- nice little pool
- good, free breakfast
3. HOI AN
Hoi An Pho Library Hotel (Hoi An)
Why we loved it:
- very cool concept for the family rooms, with a loft area for the kids
- rooftop pool
- a library
- good breakfast
- good location, 15 minute walk to Old Town
Malaysia
JOHOR (LEGOLAND)
1. Afiniti condo (Johor/Legoland)
Why we loved it:
- right across the street from Legoland
- very spacious, two bedrooms, two bathrooms
- I loved the master bathroom concept, where the bathtub and shower were separated by a glass wall from the rest of the bathroom. The kids could splash as much as they desired without soaking everything
- kitchen stoked with everything you need
- rooftop pool
- stylish, bright, comfortable and clean
singapore
EAST COAST
Why we loved it:
- one of the most affordable hotels we found in Singapore
- we stayed in the Katong Heritage Suite (there was a wall that separated the beds from the sitting area, giving it a little bit of privacy
- extremely clean
- stylish and well taken care of
- rooftop pool
- several bus stations near by
- lots of restaurants and a couple of indoor play areas around
- close to the airport
Bali
KEMENUH / UBUD
Why we loved it:
- pristine homestay, with lush vegetation and beautifully landscaped gardens
- spacious, clean rooms, decorated with Balinese art
- central pool with loungers right by the restaurant
- hanging chairs in the restaurant
- open-space concept restaurant
- outdoor, shared cooking area
- very good and affordable food
- nice view over a rice field from the restaurant
- very nice owner
- daily cleaning services
- affordable, quick laundry services
Why we loved it:
- Balinese style villa
- small, plunge pool
- open roof shower
- manicured lawn and flowers
- surrounded by lush, tropical flora
- monkeys live in the trees by the villa
- the owners built a path that takes you down to the river from the villa
- breakfast included that can be delivered to the villa or served at Baliwid, per your daily request(the owner of D’Nanda is also the owner of Baliwid, the above mentioned hotel)
- daily cleaning
- affordable, quick laundry
I hope these places have inspired you to travel and check them out for yourself. If you do, please drop a comment and let me know how your experience was. Also, if you have some amazing accommodations to recommend, please do so in the comments. Let’s keep this list going.
If you want to check out our list of our most favorite accommodations in North and Central America,click here.