At the end of the driveway was the grand arrival area for Mandapa. It had an elegant jungle-like feeling if that is even a style. As soon as we stepped out of the car we were greeted by a host who had beautiful flower leis to put over our head. Yes, after 2-days of travel, it definitely felt like a the end of a race when they put the medal around your neck – we made it.
The host led us up onto this beautiful large deck with a vista – there was no check in area or concierge, it was just this beautiful open grand terrace. At the end of the terrace was a rail where the host led us and then pointed down below to all of the different areas of the resort and you could also see the river flowing along the edge of the resort. It was absolutely breathtaking.
Suddenly a beautiful Balinese woman appeared with a tray and two welcome drinks – healthy mixes with a wooden straw. It felt overwhelming to take this all in. I felt straight up like I was dreaming and had landed back in the 70’s right into a scene of Fantasy Island. I wouldn’t have been shocked at all if Tattoo had walked up to me and said, ‘What is your wish.’
Then this woman named, Selly, was introduced to us and she escorted us to what they call ‘a buggy’ (more of a deluxe golf cart to take us through the property before leaving us at the room. They said Selly was assigned as our personal butler and would be available 24 hours a day to attend to any needs that we had. Say what?
After she toured us around the property she led us to our room that overlooked the property. This ‘room’ was more of a studio apartment with a living area and a grand balcony. The tub and bathroom were outrageous. As was the actual toilet. One of those ‘heated’ numbers from Japan that does much more than the average toilet. I knew I wouldn’t press any buttons besides ‘flush’ the whole time I would be there and yet still, I would stare at those buttons everytime I sat down thinking about the different options.
They also had spelled out ‘Hepi Birthday’ in flowers at the foot of the beds. There was a welcome note, a tropical fruit basket, and a ‘Happy Birthday’ chocolate cake ready in the refrigerator. It felt like all too much to take in. Truly, I have NEVER stayed in a room like this and couldn’t believe we would be here for the next three nights. As all of the other hotels on the trip were paid for by Marriott points, we had decided to splurge on 3 nights here and we were already confident that the juice would be worth the squeeze on the wallet!
Selly took all of our information right there in the room and checked us in personally. She scanned our passports, showed us the safe, and asked if she could start to make any arrangements to make our visit more pleasant, starting with dinner in their casual restaurant as we were probably hungry and tired from the travel. We said yes to that and made reservations for 45 minutes from now. We actually, just wanted a moment to freak out in the room away from Selly. As in, WHAT!?!? We get to stay here? We hit the jackpot, this place is insane!
We calmed down during those 45 minutes and started to unpack a little before we headed down to dinner. The ‘casual’ restaurant felt like a tree top experience with beautiful lighting and you could see and hear the river below you. They also had well placed lights on the river. They placed us at a beautiful table right on the edge of the treetop – overlooking the river. Selly said, she wanted to make this possible for us to complete our arrival. Yay, for our butler. Thanks Selly!
The options on the menu were plentiful and surprisingly the prices were VERY reasonable. We could have a very nice dinner there for about a third of the prices of our Hong Kong hamburger dinner. We really enjoyed our first evening there and didn’t make it a long night, we were eager to get unpacked, showered, and get a good nights sleep in that outrageous room.
We felt so thankful for these moments and the thought of the next three days there. It was an easy unpack and lights out. I also took one ZQuil to assure I was knocked out for the night. It usually takes me a few days to get on the right sleeping schedule and even as tired as I was, I knew the chances were high that I’d wake up at 2am wide awake. Amy was headed into the bathroom to shower as I was already getting settled in my bed. I said, ‘I’ll wait up for you.’ I think about one minute after I said that, with the Zquil hit me, I didn’t remember another thing until I woke up the next morning.