Review - Rizzi on the Beach
‘El Pulpo’ Restaurant / bar
Edit - July 2022. Sadly, The Rizzi now appears to have closed.
Introduction
When you walk into a Second Life location, how immersive is it for you? How well do you forget your RL surroundings?
Rizzi on the Beach managed to do that for me.
Lana Milos has done an incredible job with this place. It’s a purpose built huge hotel structure (the rooms are in the building itself, not in skyboxes) with a large reception, shops in the lobby, two bars, a restaurant, spa, private honeymoon suite, beaches and of course a pool.
The good news is that after a very busy Summer, when there were waiting lists for some of the rooms, the Rizzi is now a little quieter, so if you visit now you’ll almost certainly get in. And Lana often runs weekend discounts as well (join the group for notifications).
The detail
Lobby area with shops
The hotel pretty much has it all. Everything you’d expect to see in a five star resort hotel in (say) the Carribean or on the Red Sea (the memory trigger for me), you will find here.
There’s a lobby bar and a main bar,, a restaurant, a large swimming pool and pool cafe, a beach and another nudist beach, a spa and a private villa away from the hotel with its own pool.
Unlike in the Essencia, where you need to have a day membership (cost 80L) to visit many of the facilities, most of the Rizzi is open.
The rooms
Living room in one of the Grand Suites
I stayed here a few times, first of all in a junior suite and then in a main suite. The prices are comparable to the Essencia - 250L for the junior suite and 500L for a main (Grand) suite.
The difference is that I found the Rizzi junior suite bigger than the Essencia Deluxe Rooms. Also, there are several suites at the Rizzi where at the Essencia there is only one.
The Rizzi Grand Suite has a bedroom with a Ruckus Bed, large living room / dining room, a kitchen with a working fridge ("Sumsang"!) a walk in wardrobe and a bathroom with a Nihil Sex bathtub,
The style itself is more of a classic 1920s-1940s feel about it, which matches the fact that Lana also has a 1920s era chateau.
I personally like a more modern style, but that is just a personal preference and overall you and your guest will have a great experience if you spend several days in one of her suites.
Update (2021) - The Rizzi now also offers private villas and a stunning penthouse
The Ratings
The overall look and feel
Amazing. What a mammoth undertaking this must have been, the RL experience has been recreated really well - 5/5
The rooms
Both are a really good size, the grand suites are huge and have an incredible amount of detail.
Junior suite - 4/5
Grand suite - 5/5
Messing around with anims,, Grand Suite
The anims
The anims were generally good,. We did have one issue with the ‘laptop’ pose on the dining room table, and a few times we had to adjust the anims on the PG furniture here and there. Overall though everything worked exactly as it should..
Finally, for photos, Odette BK (who accompanied me on this review) ended up rezzing her own pose balls, which as you get 30 prims with a Grand Suite, is easily done.
Rating - 4/5
The facilities
The Rizzi Day Spa
Both bars are great, the beach area is really well done, the pool is one of the best I have seen.
Rating - 4.5/5
Other things to consider
Rizzi Beach
Is the hotel adult? Yes
Room prims - 20 for a junior suite, 30 for a grand suite
Privacy - The rooms are all in the main building and next to / above each other, you reach an elevator to get to them. Arguably, this does make for a more authentic experience
Prices - 250L for a junior suite, 500L for a grand suite. There’s also a separate honeymoon pavillion with private pool for 1000L.
Summary - Highly recommended
I’d recommend the Rizzi on the Beach without hesitation. Go with friends or with your partner for a 2-3 night visit, it will actually feel like a vacation
Odette - Follow her on Flickr
With thanks to the lovely Odette, who came with me and helped with / posed for pictures. If you are not already doing so, you need to follow her on Flickr now.
Update - November 2021
This is the second hotel I reviewed over a year ago (the first was the Essencia), so I thought it was worth making some follow-up comments based on what I’ve experienced over the past few months.
1 - Shortly after I published this review in late 2020, the owners added standalone villas with private pools and a spectacular penthouse
2 - I still rate both the bar and swimming pool area, and included the bar in a ‘date’ feature for Attention SL
3 - More recently I encountered a few small issues when staying there, including two griefers in the penthouse, who the automatic security system seemed unable to eject. I spoke to a blogger friend who also had a similar experience and also a problem with group invites, but in fairness she told me that the manager subsequently came to see her, and gave her a free day in exchange
4 - Overall I still recommend it, but with no new enhancements for 2021, it’s starting to be overtaken by a number of newer properties on the scene
