By now you’ve probably looked at reviews and all the stunning online photos—as we did. And you’re probably imagining a lush, beautiful, active lifestyle boutique resort with healthy Ayurvedic food, surf beaches lapping the shore and a yoga studio. This image couldn’t be more wrong. Picture instead a bus stop from the 1960’s on the side of a disused road. This is the feel of the entry restaurant that sits atop a largely arid hillside with none of the lovely plants pictured on the site. There were a couple of palm trees over dying grass, concrete and sand. The photos are so far from the reality that we thought the place was abandoned long ago—and perhaps taken over by squatters who thought they could make a fast buck. We were honestly frightened by what might happen next. While it does indeed seem to be a hotel, the photos and descriptions are so far from reality that we walked around in a stupor trying to sort out the cognitive dissonance. Could it be that the resort that constantly touts itself as a yoga surf resort might have neither yoga nor surf? Not even a real beach? No….couldn’t be. Right? The owner kept asking us what we expected to find and the truth was that the photos were so far from reality that it was hard to even know where to begin. We said we expected a private beach-so he pointed to a fabricated sandy area roughly the side of two kids sandboxes with a metal fence around it. We expected five surf beaches—instead there isn’t any sandy beach at all and the surf spots are accessed by boat for a few. We expected yoga—he assured us there is yoga (though it’s hard to see where he could be hiding it) and other reviewers say the yoga consists of a mat and a spot to practice on your own. We expected plants and trees and a hang out area by the pool. Instead the large pool was empty and the little ones were so full of algae that I wondered whether the “EcoResort” was gathering carbon credits off the green pool growth. It’s a very good thing that we didn’t pay in advance, since we were able to pay only a day’s rate and leave quickly. But the place is so remote that we literally lost five hours of vacation getting there, touring it and getting back to where we started. Not to mention enough money that we could have stayed at a luxury hotel on the island for the amount we tossed away in a rush to leave. The owner was kind enough to offer us tea and let us use his wifi to find another hotel—a kindness we very much appreciated—but our anger grew when we finally settled at a lovely hotel and compared our photos with the ones online. What an utter misrepresentation. We’re uploading the photos here—the one with sand under the shadow of a palm tree and a metal fence—THAT is the beach. We both nearly died laughing when he pointed it out, but the owner was clearly upset and we were just trying to get out without a massive conflict. Zoom in on the pool with water in it (as opposed to the one they were filling with a garden hose) and you might get a sens
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