Review - Grand Hotel San Esteban

Note - this has now closed

The Grand Hotel San Esteban is one of those places in Second Life that more people should visit, but remains largely undiscovered. In the ten or so visits I made there as part of this review, I only once saw someone else.

San Esteban is not a hotel in the standard sense, it's more an RP destination, or somewhere to just go and see as an attraction. Yes there are rooms, but it's free, you can come and go as you please, and so it's probably not your weekend getaway kind of place.

However, much of it is better designed than some of the paid for hotels and resorts I have visited.

Overall look and feel

The San Esteban consists of a three floor hotel building, built in a Regency era type style, along with extensive gardens, an outdoor cafe, some classical ruins, a picnic area and a boat pier around the outside.

The first and second floors have a series of public rooms, and then there are half a dozen or so bedrooms on the top floor.

The whole place reminded me less of a hotel and more of a private members club, and I imagine that was actually the thinking behind it.

The public areas fuse old and modern in terms of decor (in one room you'll encounter classical style paintings, in another pictures of Jack Nicholson and other contemporary figures), but the furniture itself has a high end wood and leather combination.

The building is incredibly well designed and put together, same with the landscaping outside.

And yes, there is an adult theme to a lot of it, but that part is actually quite subtle and not in your face (it's really only overt in one of the bedrooms), so if that is not your thing, it is still worth going to visit.

The rooms and animations

There are a series of bedrooms and one bathroom up on the top floor. Like the rest of the hotel, the rooms are stylish with great interior design. Practically all furniture in the hotel is adult, but as mentioned, one bedroom is more obviously 'adult' than the rest, in terms of what you'll find inside.

The bedrooms are free, you use them as you please.

The facilities

Even though this isn't your standard weekend retreat, there is still a terrace with a cafe and bar, a boules area, and a path up to an adjoining hill.

Other things to consider

Is the hotel adult? Yes

Prices. Free

Privacy. None, anyone can walk in and out, but you are unlikely to encounter anyone (for now)

Lag. Very little

Overall

I haven't graded the San Esteban in a normal way for the reasons I've mentioned, but I still think it's well worth a visit. I also rate it highly as a photo backdrop. Indeed, I wonder if the owners shouldn't consider charging for group membership, but allowing people to rez photo props.

SLURL - Grand Hotel San Esteban

My partner Camille (Muti) Milos posed for me, for this review. Check out her Flickr page and destination blog!