+: 1.) set-upWe stayed at Hidden Paradise for 6 days with our two kids (9 & 10), in one of the bigger family bungalows that sleep 4 people. This was a smart choice, as those seem to be closest to beach & pool and farthest from the road. The bungalow itself was stunning. Furniture is not the newest, but still very nice. Layout with huge, half-open bathroom (like… really huge, it felt like a second living room, which is great when cleaning, drying, lotioning and bug-spaying those moving targets that are our kids) and an ample front-terrace (view towards the lush tropical garden, pool and, beyond, the sea). A fantastic view to wake up to!2.) beachWe loved the beach with its house-reef, as it is „walk-in snorkeling“ (turtle, starfish, corals, plenty of fish in front of your nose, no need to take a boat). Our 9-year-old doesn’t feel comfortable yet in deep water where her feet can’t touch the ground. Even she could do a little „safe“ snorkeling alongside the shore. The beach itself has smooth black volcano sand. Nice for a walk. It is a „living“ fishing beach, with local fishermen taking out their boat at night, returning in the morning. They can take you out for a sunrise cruise snorkeling spots a bit further out or in Jemeluk for a relatively small price. Just ask around.3.) pool & gardenThe pool was also really nice, good temperature and perfectly set underneath huge frangipani trees that give you shade from the rough heat.As the resort is one of the first built at Lipah Beach, they let enough space between the bungalows. It never feels crowded and the lush garden made us wanna hang out there all day. They seem to have maneuvered through Covid rather well. You can see that they are investing again into maintenance. They have new daybeds at beach and pool. They are working on renovating a on-site gift shop. Smaller neglected spots are being handled one after the other. Good to see that they take care of things!4.
-: Room for improvement:1.) beach-ladiesDirectly at the beach entrance point, there are the snorkelmassage people that come up to you literally every time you set foot onto the beach, very pushy. I tried one massage with that lady (hotel doesn’t have an own spa, so they let the beach ladies use their convention parlor at the beach for massages). It was really bad. Completely untrained and unprofessional. No real massage. Of course, this is not the hotel’s fault, which is why I will not include this in my rating. But I would recommend the management to install a decent spa room and have a trained masseuse (on site or on-call) and tell the beach-lady to leave the guests alone, unless they come to her voluntarily. I think this would make a lot of guests very happy. 2.) kids‘ mosquito protection:Not a criticism, but a good-to-know when traveling with kids (or in a group of four in one room): if you are staying in one of the family bungalows, please be aware that it is usually used as a suite for two people. This means that your big 4-poster-double-bed will have a nice mosquito net. Your kids though are going to sleep on two single beds, which are situated as L-shaped day-beds. They are good beds with decent mattress and bedding, but they are fixed in their spots and cannot be moved. And they don’t have mosquito nets. We didn’t have a lot of bugs in our room (yes, ants in the bathroom, but I consider this normal in an outside bathroom), but there will be one or the other mosquito. This is why I would recommend that you bring separate nets for your kids, if this important for you. We did, and it worked perfectly. Staff made sure not to damage our „construction“ when making the beds.
