Sintesa Peninsula Hotel

I have enjoyed the last 3 weekends at the Sintesa Peninsula in Manado. I have spent the weekdays developing permaculture projects in a couple of villages with degraded land. While it’s rewarding work restoring the land, it’s rather exhausting. It’s been a joy to return to the Sintesa Peninsula for the weekend and get a hot shower, enjoy the full air con and the well-appointed rooms. The hotel grounds with a plethora of plants, including frangipani and bougainvillea, provides a pleasant change from the chaos of Manado’s streets. The staff are exceptional starting from the moment of arrival. The front counter staff were helpful, including ordering taxis for me. The restaurant staff, especially Iriani and Fatmawati were very attentive. I was especially blessed by the evening manager, Heindrik, who organised pancakes a couple of nights and the local favourite, klapertart, for my final weekend. The hotel became a home away from home during my stay in North Sulawesi and I look forward to my next visit.

OK hotel. Nice garden. I did not feel like in the middle of city. Many option for breakfast, the bubur Menado is excellent. Poor administration and communication skill of staffs. I checked in, there were 5 people behind the reception desk no one approached me or even greeted me (I think some of them are trainees). So I just waited until the supervisor came out of the office behind the reception area and my present got noticed and I was served. The reception did not forget to ask for a deposit for key, but forget to return the deposit when I was checked out. If some one said to me that "You should remember to take out the deposit". I disagree. I believe the hotel should responsible for their staff to do the check-in and the check out SOP properly. They carried out the tasks several time a day. Guests themselves do not have SOP for staying in any hotel and they don't do check-in and check-out several time a day. The hotel should also try to reach the guest to return the deposit money. It is not about the sum of it, but about building trust meaning overpassing the expectation meaning building loyalty. When our group left for field trip the lunch boxes were not ready yet. When I asked for the excellent bubur Menado for my take away breakfast for the next morning, the resto staff agreed and accepted my food container. However, what I got the next morning was bubur ayam (with the same taste with the soto ayam I had for dinner). I was just probably not lucky during my staying there.