Samloem Laguna Resort

Great foreign service staff. Good and cordial atmosphere. I liked it . Rooms could be improved. Heat and no aircon

The hotel is far from main areas of Saracen Bay, and the hotel charges per boat ride even tho other hotels that are closer to piers provide the service for free. The hotel itself is decent enough, the only thing that really bothered me was the stained sheets found on arrival, luckily i just stayed for one night. Staff is kind.

AVOID. Wow. This is my first bad review. I’ve been traveling all over the world since 1996, and I have never had such a bad experience. I was supposed to be picked up from the ferry dock, but because of a storm the previous evening, I should have been sent information on how to arrive at a different dock. Unfortunately, I was never sent that information. With heavy luggage I was told to walk 1.5 hours to the resort. The attitude of the receptionist at Laguna was like, “not my problem”. It was a very tough walk (and I’ve done a lot of backpacking, including a month on the Appalachian Trail) through brambles and climbing resort partitions was required. At one point I needed to cross a small estuary where a bridge was out. Luckily right then, I met two other Laguna guests who showed me a path through the forest to avoid crossing the water. The young man help with one of my bags. I asked them if Laguna was nice at least. They laughed heartily and said a resounding “No”. When I arrived, I showed Laguna all messages, including spam and deleted messages, to show that I had not received any communication from them. I asked what they could do for me. They said that they could only give me 10% off food and activities (though I was told that there were no activities due to the storm) or they could upgrade me to a villa my second night. They said that their only other option was to cancel my prepaid two nights (but I would still need to pay), and I could find somewhere else. I couldn’t believe how damn rude they were. But I had prepaid, the walk back was difficult, and the sun was now setting. I was recovering from food poisoning, and the only thing I could stomach was bread, pasta, and bananas. They made me a plate of pasta with olive oil and attempted charge me 4.50 USD, no 10% discount. I argued, so they charged me 4 USD and the discount. Are you kidding me? The rest of my stay there the receptionist, Alex, and the owner, Indrek, were nothing but rude. The shower water was ice cold. There was no beach at the resort. The kitchen staff made fun of me for having food poisoning. I could go on. I asked about a boat to get back to the ferry after staying my prepaid two nights. I was told to be prepared to walk and that no one would give me assistance. (I’m 5’1” and weigh about 105 pounds.) All this for 49USD/night. Luckily a German man who stays there long term got a boat for me that morning. He told me that if a boat wasn’t available, he would walk me back and help with my bags. Avoid this place at all costs.