Review - Badu Egypt ⭐️
Edit - Badu Egypt has now shut, keep a look out on AshaRhia’s website for more resort projects in future
Badu Egypt is the latest creation from AshaRhia, who has a track record of running pop-up resorts and destinations that stay up for a few weeks, before being taken down again.
Badu Egypt however is different in that Asha intends to keep it up for longer, turning it into a self service vacation rental place from April.
Aria and myself have just come back from there, and we loved it. Asha has done an incredible job.
It's really well designed, everything fits together with a consistent look and feel. the villas are luxurious, and there's a good mix of modern resort style facilities and ancient-Egypt themed sites.
Highly recommended - click here for the SLURL.
The beautiful pictures in this review come from my amazing SO, Aria Christen. There will be more of Aria’s photos in future reviews, more on that at the end of this piece..
Look and feel
Badu Egypt is spread across a sim, with the upper part being more modern and the lower being more ancient Egypt focused.
When we stayed the format was still Hotel RP (e.,g we were checked in and took part in activities such as a tomb tour), but the idea is that the resort will in April switch to a self-service vacation set up, where you rent one of four large or four smaller villas via rental boxes.
The upper part has two pools, of which we much preferred the second higher level one which you reach via a set of stairs. There's a spa at the end of that pool, which is gorgeous.
Though the upper section is more modern and resort themed, there are still Egyptian murals throughout, so you never feel that you are in just another resort. This really matters, as I’ve been to a lot of pool / beach resorts in SL which after a while really blend into one. Instead Asha has given this place a very distinct feel and identity.
Aria is a designer and landscaper herself and noted that (creator) AshaRhia made extensive use of gold as a colour theme. Aria tells me this is one of the harder colours to work with in SL.
The lower part has a dock,, the 'Nile' restaurant, an Egyptian museum, a desert area with camels and ancient Egyptian monuments..
I've been to five of AshaRhia's destinations, and for me this is her best one yet.
The attention to detail and overall design is excellent. I did wonder if she maybe even packed too much in (something you often see in SL resorts), but on the flip side you certainly won't run out of things to do.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
The rooms
Asha has used villas from Bonaire Architects, the first time I've seen this done outside the Bonaire-owned YanuYanu resort.
They've however been customised, with the colour scheme designed to match the desert.
Our villa, by the lower pool, included a hallway with gold hieroglyphs, a modern dining room with a bar, a gold themed bedroom that had a kind of Arabesque style that we both liked very much. a living room, bathroom and a balcony overlooking the docks.
Aria commented that all the furniture and design fits together and has a consistent brand, look and feel, which is what you'd expect in an RL resort, but you don't always see here in SL, where sometimes things seem a little thrown together.
Asha also showed us the larger villa, which can easily accommodate a group.
Note that Asha's intention at time of writing was to charge 1000 a night for the larger villas and 500 a night for the smaller villa,. Having seen them, it's amazing value. If anything we both thought she could charge more, given what you get.
Overall - 5 / 5
The facilities
The modern part has two swimming pools. The one by reception has a water slide, which for us didn't quite fit with the rest of the surroundings.
The upper pool is amazing though, with loungers on either side, and the spa at the end. This is somewhere you could easily while away hours of your day.
The Mandala Spa is small, but also one of the best I've seen with lights inside water lilies and Egyptian murals on the walls.
The lower area has a Pyramids of Giza style complex, along with camels and some Greco-Roman ruins.
There's also a hippodrome where you can let out your inner Ben Hur in a chariot race, and an Egyptian Museum.
The museum I understand is Asha's pride and joy, and it is almost worth visiting Badu Africa for it alone.
There are displays on everything from the pharaohs of Ancient Egypt to Egyptian scents and perfumes. Clicking on each display gives you a notecard.
The Museum itself is on two levels and you reach it either via reed boat from the docks, or via the pyramids. It's a grand, imposing structure and it really feels like an RL museum.
Finally there's the Nile Restaurant, which has RP dinner on a pre-arranged and ad-hoc basis.
There is a lot to see here, it is packed full of things to do and facilities. This is a real labour of love for Asha and it does show.
Overall - 4.5 / 5
Animations
Our villa had an Kraftwork Taylor Modular Sofa (adult), a Sayo Mondrian adult bed, and a Harper adult sofa. The terrace featured a Mudhoney hot tub, and a Merak Sensual daybed - Aria liked this so much, she’s buying one.
Meanwhile the pool featured Nutmeg sun loungers - again adult.
It’s a good choice of furniture, with some nice anims, I guess one thing to say though is that we couldn’t see FF / MM options on them.
Note you can of course rez your own anims.
Overall - 4 / 5
Other considerations
Is it adult? Moderate but there are adult anims by the pool and in the rooms
Privacy? Villas have security. We do however expect this to become quite a popular destination, we already spotted more people after Asha opened it up.
Price? Asha intends to charge 1000L a night for the larger villas and 500 for the smaller. This is for a self service vacation rental type set up, where you pay at the door.
Aria was able to rez poses via the group tag we got on check-in
Lag was not too much of an issue for either of us, I was getting 25fps on high graphics on my 2019 Macbook Pro, while Aria was able to take pictures in Black Dragon.
Overall
Though most of Badu Egypt is now open to visit, we’d highly recommend staying here given how incredibly well designed the villas are, and how good value it is for what you get.
Take your significant other, make a mini vacation of it, spend time by the upper pool, visit the museum and the temples. You won't regret it.
Outstanding, and highly recommended.
A picture Aria did for her blog, using Badu Egypt as a backdrop. For credits and the original, click here
This is now the third major review Aria has done with me, where she has taken most or all of the photos. Look at what she did previously with the Ishtar Hotel and Cova Resort reviews.
Aria has done an incredible job in bringing these destinations to life, and it’s really improved the overall quality of the content. I also get a lot of insights I may have otherwise missed due to her experience as a landscaper and designer.
As a result. except when I have guest reviewers or I do smaller ‘filler’ reviews solo, Aria will now be doing the photos for our visits, and these will very much be a collab between me and her.
We also have larger content projects on the horizon, focusing on date experiences in SL..
Watch this space, but in the meantime, follow her on Filckr and check out her blog.
