Dya’s Little Jordan has now closed (April 2021)

In the before times, I spent a lot of time in the Middle East, both for work and on vacation.

Now, with the pandemic making travel largely impossible, I'd been actively looking for a Middle East themed holiday and resort experience in Second Life. Unfortunately the one I'd previously found didn't work for me.

I was really pleased then when the Second Life Destinations Facebook group alerted me to the existence of Dya's Little Jordan.

Dya Ohare has been to Jordan, and it really shows in the end result. For me it's the best Middle East themed build I've seen in SL.

Even better, Dya built a small motel and two holiday villas in Little Jordan, which means I can include it in this website.

Overall look and feel

In previous reviews I've made the parallel between Second Life and those Chinese theme parks where replicas of (e.g) the Eiffel Tower and Acropolis are metres away from each other.

Unless you are going to spend a lot of money on a multi-sim experience, that's how it generally is in SL, where a sense of scale is hard to recreate. And so in Little Jordan, you have Aqaba (a town on the Red Sea) and Petra quite close together.

With all that in mind though, the overall look and feel is spot on.

Dya told me the signs on the beachfront are actual signs from Aqaba town. And so she has really got across the retro feel you still get in some places in the Arab world, in that sense some of the buildings actually reminded me of parts of the Mutrah District in Muscat (Oman).

The rooms

There is a small hotel, only the top floor has furnished rooms. There are also two villas, one of which has a more traditional Arabic style, while the other is more modern with a pool.

The rooms and villas are free, which means of course that (if you want to stay) they work on a first come, first served basis.

Having said that, the sim wasn't crowded the times we came to visit, and most visitors come to see attractions such as Petra, so the chances are you'll have the villas to yourself. I can especially see them being used as photo backdrops and props.

Facilities and amenities

Little Jordan has a corniche, which as mentioned is loosely based on Aqaba. It contains a row of shops, a cafe, the motel and the villas. Just like in the real Aqaba there's also a beach area with deck chairs and loungers.

If you leave 'Aqaba' and you'll get to a desert where there's a Bedouin Village, Petra, and a balloon area.

The anims

Most of the anims are PG, there is one adult bed in the poolside villla. It's doubtful many visitors come here for 'adult' activity though.

Other factors

Is it adult? See above, there is an adult bed in one villa, but most visitors won't look for that

Privacy - The rooms and villas are open, but to get to Little Jordan you first have to join Dya's group at 300L, which effectively filters out trolls and idiots

Lag - None to speak of, I was able to run my viewer (Singularity) on ultra.

Prices - Pay a one off fee of 300L to join the group

Overall

This isn't a normal hotel or resort as the rooms are really just an afterthought. As a result, just as with my Hotel Eroyado (Japanese Love Hotel) review, I haven't graded Little Jordan like other places I visit.

However, visiting Little Jordan gave me memory triggers of when I was in the region in RL, and so for me it's definitely a success. Go and visit, the 300L group joining fee is a bargain considering what Dya has created.

Little Jordan SLURL - You must join the group first (300L)

To join click on Dya Ohare’s inworld profile (Dya Ohare) where you will find details of the inworld Group

Thank you to my partner Camille (Muti) Milos for coming with me on this mini adventure, check out her Flickr page and destination blog

And thank you as well to the Second Life Destinations Group on Facebook, which is an invaluable resource when it comes to suggestions on places to go