Read the new Essencia review here! (May 2022)

Overall - Recommended

(This review was written in October 2020. see my latest update at the end)

The best SL hotels should  make you reminisce about places you’ve stayed at in RL.  And the Essencia Hotel, where I lived for two weeks, does just that.

The memory triggers for you might be different, but I thought of city-beach hotels I used to visit in the Middle East, in particular in Oman and the UAE.  You have the grand entrance, the reception, a bar, a restaurant and then when you walk out back a pool area and spa, which looks onto a beach

Just like in the Essencia those beaches are often not particularly scenic - the Essencia’s beach looks out on high rises - but that aside, you still have everything you need.

With that out of the way, let’s look at everything in more detail:

The facilities

The hotel boasts the following:

• A well equipped spa with a pool and massage area.  Ring the bell and an actual person appears for massage (PG!) RP, and not a bot. 

• A restaurant where you could do dinner or lunch RP, I never tried it, but it’s a nice space.

• The bar in the lobby, with the bot barman. Pay him 1L and he makes you a drink.  The bar in particular is good both for meeting people and for casual photos / photo shoots.

• The pool area has another bar, and there are steps down to the beach where you find the usual array of sun loungers, and a jet ski.  A garden with a pagoda also backs onto the pool area, which I found quite pretty.

• There’s also a gym, which I did not use.

Note that to use some of the facilities - the pool, spa, beach and gym - you need to pay 80L for a day membership, or rent a room.

The rooms

Onto the rooms themselves, I stayed in a Deluxe Room (250L a night), which has a separate living room and a bathroom (shower no bath).  I then upgraded to the Premium Suite (500L).

There are also cheaper ones at 150L.  I already found the Deluxe Room quite cramped, especially the bedroom, so I imagine that is even more so with the Twin and Single rooms.

The Premium Suite however is huge, with a bedroom, a jacuzzi area, a shower, a walk in wardrobe and a living room / study.  Unfortunately there is only one of these, and it’s really a case of being lucky if you get it.

The ratings

Overall look and feel

Walking around the public areas actually gives you the feeling you are in a real hotel.  The team behind the Essencia has done a great job .

Rating - 4.5/5

The rooms

The Deluxe Room - 3/5.  The bedroom was just a bit too cramped for me.  The bathroom could have done with a couples bath, as well as a shower

The premium suite - 5/5.  It’s not cheap, but it’s worth your while if you can get it

Rating - 4/5

The anims

When you invite a “guest” over, or you book a room with your partner, the last thing you want is to be constantly adjusting the furniture animations because the poses look out of sync..

And here The Essencia has chosen its furniture well, the premium suite has a ReACT Hot Tub, and a R:a:W:A:g:e:: shower and bed.  There were a few anims that had to be adjusted in the spa, but overall everything worked.

Rating - 4/5

The facilities

The bar is a great meeting place, the spa is impressive (especially as it’s not run by bots), the beach however is pretty standard

Rating - 4/5

Other things to consider

• Is the hotel ‘adult’? No, the public areas are moderate. In the spa, I did notice that the sauna had some adult anims.  The rooms of course are kitted out for you to do (almost!) anything you want.

• Prices - 150L per night for a standard room to 500L per night for the premium suite.

• Room prims - You do get a low prim count (15 in the deluxe rooms), so you can rez a few things, say if you want to take photos.

• The lag - Mercifully low. I have a 2016 vintage macbook pro, and taking pictures on ultra, and moving around with graphics set to high worked just fine

• Privacy - The rooms are basically built as skyboxes.  There is some distance between them, but you could of course zoom into one if you really wanted to.

Summary

I loved it here, and could easily have stayed another two weeks.  You can see why they are often almost full. 

To go to the Essencia Hotel, click here

Models in this review - Lexi Lane, Lyndsey Siddeley

Update - November 2021

The Essencia was the very first hotel I reviewed over a year ago, so I thought it’s worth posting a short update. Some observations over the past year:

1 - The bar is still an excellent meeting point, in a piece for Attention. SL I listed it as a top SL Hotel bar for a date

2 - For what it’s worth, the cheaper rooms at the Luxe are better value. The rooms are almost identical, except they are even cheaper at the Luxe. However, the Essencia has better facilities, and the suite is highly sought after - not surprisingly as there is only one.

3 - Over the past year, I sent a number of queries or made requests which went unanswered.

4 - Overall I stand by the review of a year ago, and it’s a good option. But, it’s arguably stood still while other newer competitors have come on the scene.