This is a guest review by blogger and photographer Pickle Pop. As well as the words, all of the excellent photos in this review are hers. Check out Pickle’s blog, and follow her on Flickr

Overview

The Candinesa Resort is a tropical Balinese getaway destination, boasting white sands and blue waters along with a wide range of activities for your stay.

The resort is set across two half-sims with another being added soon if I've interpreted correctly. To get to each destination, you use a teleporter board experience.

There are so many things to do, there's very little chance for you to feel bored and I would recommend at least 2 nights to get full use of the amenities.

The initial resort sim is pretty, and has the option to wander through and explore.

There are a couple of activities located on the ground, like Volleyball and Dining. it seems to house the majority of the residential areas, plus the pool area and a 'party' area with dancing and the chance of a DJ.

It does however feel a little cluttered.

The resort was fairly quiet while we visited, which I put down to being the Easter weekend. I experienced no lag and was able to hop on black dragon for pictures easily.

We paid 2000 per night for our first night and were afforded an April deal of buy one night, get one night half price, so for a total of 3000L we had the whole place almost to ourselves.

Accommodation

There were a few options for our stay including Private Villas, Grand Suites and two Mansions - our choice for this visit was the Coral Reef Deluxe Suite, a one bedroom bungalow along the Ocean.

It had a small living room, a terrace, a bedroom and a bathroom. Animations featured in the furniture were a little stiff, but the furniture itself was good quality.

There was a radio in the room that although the station would change, we couldn't hear a difference in the music anywhere, and there was a television with some of the most recent movies available to watch.

Animations

We found a 'Baby' option in the bed too, so if you're taking your baby avatar children there's a good spot for roleplay within the resort, otherwise it left us feeling a little odd.

There are adult MF animations within the privacy of your residence, elsewhere across the sim the animations are all cuddles and singles as the two sims are moderate.

Facilities

I did some horse riding - which was SO cute and allowed stops at various points along the trail to cuddle up or just admire the views, visited the Kayaking area and had a cocktail on the beach before diving in for some underwater scuba

The hotel doesn't provide scuba gear and upon reflection just the recommendation of a good swim hud & scuba set would be an asset.

The beach was located on the second sim area, and there were additional residences overlooking the cliffs and beach area. There were MANY things to do on the beach, with Jet ski's, floaties and a giant water slide among a few.

All the activities we did were alone, although as we entered the hotel initially we were guided through to our room and 'checked in' by a staff member who was a real sweetheart, showering us with little personal touches throughout our stay and offering us gifts on our departure.

Our plan was to engage in a RP 'helicopter ride' but unfortunately that never came to fruition.

There are four (plus?) themed restaurants including a Yacht, a cafe and a sushi bar, many of which are also self serve if you're not into the RP aspect which needs at least 24 hours notice. You can also pamper yourself with a RP spa!

Ultimately, with the resort being split over two sims I did feel like there was a bit of cohesion missing, however with the effort put forward in the decor it all felt like the same environment, it would just have been lovely to have been able to reach all the activities fluidly.

Many of the activities were in themed environment skyboxes, and the Sports Bar particularly felt a little unfinished decor-wise although it was a fabulous idea to house games like Greedy and Poker in one spot.

Other considerations

It was NOT adult. It was a Moderate sim, with privacy being no issue inside the residences, and security being added so no one not on that specific 'guest list' was able to get inside our Suite.

There was only one moment of lag as we were initially walking to our Suite, but once settled in, everything was easy!

Scores (out of 5)

• Overall look & feel : 3.5 The staff is what pushes this up a lot, because of the separation of the sims and the lack of cohesion, but we were definitely welcomed and made to feel at home.

• The Rooms : 3.5. Everything we needed was there, but there was an initial "Oh, is this it?" feeling, and also some of the editing seemed a little off - like some items were full bright and others weren't, and the water/rose petals in the bath were bigger than the bath itself! The animations in the bed with the baby options were confusing too!

• Facilities : 4. There was so much to do, just the Sports Bar's unfinished feel and the fact we couldn't walk directly to the amenities on another sim made it 'less than' perfect, but the skybox themed areas were still in a Balinese theme and were beautifully decorated.

• Animations: I'd go as low as 2.5 for them.. They were stiff, and often in need of a huge adjustment even for a single person, but again I would give them the benefit of the doubt here because the staff's avatars were much larger than ours.

Overall

I think for a family vacation the resort would be perfect, and would definitely consider returning with mine to experience it from that perspective.

The staff are lovely, there was ALWAYS something to do and see, and i would recommend a stay at the Candesina, especially throughout April with the special pricing!

To book your stay visit the website

Thanks again to Pickle for this review!