Lembeh Hills resort- are they reliable?

[bsummers]

There is a new resort in Lembeh - Lembeh Hills resort. I am planning a trip to the Lembeh area and thought to book at Lembeh Hills resort. However, I was shocked when I was told that they are not currently taking credit cards and require a 50% cash deposit by bank transfer with subsequent full cash payment prior to arrival.

Has anyone stayed there or know of their operation who can share their experience with me? Is it reliable?

The demand for cash payment (instead of credit card) seems very suspicious to me. Unfortunately, I have personally been a victim of a scam where a travel business declared that they only took cash payments and then subsequently disappeared & ran off with my money. Given that their resort is still not quite finished, it seems like there would be no guarantees that their business would not go belly up prior to my trip there this summer!

 

[highdesert]

I can't comment on Lembeh Hills other than to say it looks nice from the water. However, I can say that our last two trips to Indonesia have involved doing wire transfers for large sums of money ... seems to be the thing to do over there. And we're looking at doing that again this year. Personally, I would rather pay the 3.2% bank fee, use my credit card, and get the airline miles. At any rate, for those two years (four transfers), we had no problems. YMMV.

 

[BigJeff]

Again, not stayed in Lembeh Hills myself - but asking for payment by bank transfer is normal for the resorts and liveaboards in that area.
I've done this around 15 times without incident, each time to a "known" operation.

If your worried about Lembeh Hills, why not book another resort? There is lots of choice.

 

[swisstrav]

i never pay in advance. since it is a new resort i would assume they are not booked out. just take cash along and show up in the resort. that resort not letting you reside because you didn't make a down payment is not yet founded.

 

[Mike Veitch]

Most businesses in Indonesia can't do offline credit card transactions, it seems the Credit Card companies don't trust us

You actually have to have the card in hand and run it through the machine. Only businesses with offshore banking can do so (I think)

We also ask for a bank transfer to book a trip, but not 50%.

 

[Wisnu]

i never pay in advance. since it is a new resort i would assume they are not booked out. just take cash along and show up in the resort. that resort not letting you reside because you didn't make a down payment is not yet founded.

May be true, but do not recommend on high season. Last October, all reputable resorts in Lembeh were fully booked. Even Mike could not help us to stay at his resort :depressed: so we switched our October trip to bali.

 

[Mike Veitch]

True, this last October was the busiest month ever..

 

[xariatay]

Our friends & their group of friends went in Nov 2009, with their M'sian based dive shop Redang Kalong - Welcome to Redangkalong Online. Although it was pre-opening & some inconveniences to be expected, they had a great time, said food was great, dive guides were wonderful. Pool & jaccuzzi completed in Dec 2009. Have gotten the friends to get more updates...
Have seen photos of the rooms & things - very nice! Wish I could afford... :blinking:

 

[bsummers]

Thanks everyone for all the helpful replies! Just to let you all know, Lembeh Hills resort has kindly agreed to a $100 wire transfer deposit instead of 50%, until such a time when their 'credit card machine is ready'.

Xariatay, I wondering if your friends who stayed there have any blogs of their trip online?

 

[xariatay]

latest update, they have 3 boats now. Fully operational in Apr... bsummers, will PM u my friend's fb link... not sure if u can access bcos his albums r not public...