Review - Lake Alem Resort — The SL Hotel Inspector

In my previous post I mentioned that Second Life holiday resorts can broadly be split in two.

You have places where you check yourself in via a kiosk at the front desk. And then there are the restricted sims, which RPs the whole check-in experience right down to sometimes giving you a half hour voice tour.

The problem is that most of these resorts set a check-in time of 3 or 4pm. 4pm SLT is Midnight in London and 1am in Paris, Rome or Berlin.

Full marks therefore for the Lake Alem resort for making check-in Noon SLT - so 8pm UK and Ireland and 9pm Continental Europe.

Lake Alem is a Pacific North-West themed lakeside resort. There are cabins and villas dotted around the lake, and in the centre and on sky-platforms you find things such as a spa / clubhouse, a cafe / restaurant, tennis courts and a skating rink.

It’s quite a pretty resort, and a good vacation option. Lake Alem also pitches itself for groups with the largest villa accommodating eight.

The detail and the ratings

The overall look and feel

Muti de Savoie, who went with me on this mini-break, told me it reminded her a little of Norway, while I had hints of Northern Scotland.

It’s a good sign when people make RL associations. It shows that what you have built works and has the desired effect.

The nicest part for us was the Shangri-La cafe up in the clouds, which combines a cafe, an outdoor restaurant with a dance area, and a small park with deer.

Also up in the clouds is the “Slow Burn” adult lounge. This seemed half built, the structure itself is a chateau, but the inside was largely empty except for statues placed around and outside, and some erotic pictures which were hanging on one wall.

Rating - 4.5/5

The facilities

The facilities include a cafe / restaurant and adult lounge (as mentioned), a spa, tennis courts, picnic areas, an ice skating rink, scuba diving, and a very pretty outdoor lake pool with a bar.

You get around the different places either via TP, or kayak.

Rating - 4/5

The villas

We stayed in Cypress Cove, which costs 2500L a night. It’s a two storey villa with a lounge downstairs and a bedroom / bathroom upstairs. There’s a private dock, and a nice garden around the back.

It was quite well designed, with nice touches such as champagnes and strawberries on arrival. One small point, there was a problem with the bath, the water didn’t touch the sides and there was a gap.

The lakeside setting was really pleasant though.

While not the most expensive resort, it’s also not the cheapest. To put this into perspective, the (top end) Maharaja Suite at the Lotus Palace, costs 750L a night.

The Lake Alem resort does however have a villa that can accommodate eight.

Rating - 3.5/5

The anims

*You can bring your own anims / pose balls*

For us, this was the weakest area. We had to adjust all the time, in every location. Nothing ever seemed 100% right.

The bed was two in one - Ruckus at the top, and a Maddox bed at the bottom. I am sure this was done for aesthetic reasons, but it also means there is scope for anim confusion.

Of course, you can rez here and bring your own anims.

Rating - 2.5/5

Other things to consider

Is the result adult? Yes

Privacy - It’s a restricted sim so only guests and staff are allowed in, They don’t use ban lines, which I found a positive

Lag - Was pretty low

Prices - 2000 to 8000L (for a large group)

Overall

It’s a really well built resort, and offers something a bit different to the dozen or so beach resorts in SL. The anims for us let it down a bit, but this can be overcome if you bring some with you.

With thanks to….

The wonderful Muti de Savoie who spent several days with me at Lake Alem. I am hoping she comes on many more trips with me.

Muti has just set up a Flickr account, give her a follow!

Review - Lake Alem Resort