Budi Sun Resort — Hotel in Flores

The resort offers good value for money considering the remote location. The check in was slow as the available room had the AC not working. Two other room also had remote controls not working. Because of the issue with AC we were offered the beach front bungalow for 500K instead of 600K. The ownership or management is European and can be noticed in various details. The beach front bungalow room is large and tastefully decorated with well-crafted hardwood furniture. The bathroom is also large and well furnished. The beach has black sand and lots of plastic litter washed up which unfortunately is all too common in Indonesia. The reef in front of the hotel is nice with most coral in good health and lots of small fish. However, except for a couple of 20-pound trevally that came to check me out, it is difficult to see fish above one pound. They have a dive locker and rent snorkeling and diving gear. The pool is fairly big and in partial shade but unfortunately is divided by a submerged wall so is not suitable for swimming laps. The food quality is good although a bit inconsistent. The amazingly good yellowfin tuna steaks I ate twice per day sometime were forgotten and overcooked despite my careful instructions. Veggies are very tasty like most on Flores. Breakfast is good and the best we had in Indonesia. Omelets are not at European level but it is understandable in a cheese-less country. People that deal with customers are very kind and try to help. The people in the background not so much. Maintenance people imprimis. In the end the source of most problems is the lack of maintenance. AC problems (no way to control it), WiFi hardly working, safety box not working, bidet shower head completely blocked by calcium, two ceiling lights not working, toilet flush leaking often, way too many ants, a lonely tokay gecko that lives in the bungalow and keeps on calling for mates at regular...

We arrived at Budi sun to find out the room we booked was no longer available. The booking agent traveloka (Indonesian booking.com) had not updated the website correctly.||The manager (Jozef) explained to us in good English what the problem was. The hotel was fully booked for the first night but the other nights we could still stay at Budi sun. |So we did not have a room for the night. We contact traveloka via Livechat and explained the situation they involved a special team and where going to call us as soon as they had a solution. ||In the mean time the manager called the near by hotels to find out if the had a room for the night. After several calls he found a room in a nearby resort only the price was 3 times higher than what we paid now. ||Traveloka called the manager at Budi sun and the came up with the solution that traveloka would pay the room in the other resort so we could sleep there the first night.||So both traveloka and the management at Budi sun helped us really well and solved the problem correctly. ||After the first night we spent 2 nights at Budi Sun which is really good. They have a pool unlike most of the other more expensive resorts. And also the food is really good. The are located at the beach so you can choose if you want to swim in the ocean or swimming pool. The staff is really helpful and there English is really good. ||We would definitely recommend it to any one staying in or around Maumere.||It is also easy accesible by public bus from Maumere or Moni...

Despite the kindness and sympathy of the staff I strongly advise against Budi Sun Resort. It is in the middle of nowhere at 20 km of Maurere. They attract guests with a very cheap accomodation price and when you are there you are literally trapped in a dead and desert place (with no diving possibilities) where there is absolutely nothing to do and they abuse of the situation by overcharging everything : ,

1. They picked me up at the bus terminal without saying it was not for free
2. the beach is ugly and the water so muddy that snorkeling is no option
3. no wifi outside of the restaurant and payment with cards impossible
4. no place in the neighborhood for food or meals
5. infested with mosquitoes starting to harass you early in the morning
6. loud AC and bad mosquito net
7. they charge all side orders in the meal ie the rice or potatoes going normally with meat and fish
8. they ask 150 000 for a motorbike rental when price is usually 80 000. This place will sooner or later disappear anyway as the sea erosion is strong on this flat coast and some resorts have already...