Grand Luley Manado — Hotel in Manado

Beyond spectacle - Don't bother. Book at the lovely; Lekker Gezellig a few minutes away - They're FAR more worth it!

Luley - We had to check-in early because of our flight (from Bali). We were very tired but 'Early Check-In' was the same as an extra night. 1st Red Flag.

2nd - No fresh water in our room nor any coffee. There was a strong smell of trash each time we walked to and from reception, rivaled only by workmen renovating the room next door, (we were woken by their shouting btw) and the overpowering smell of varnish and paint. If these 'geniuses' knew there was renovation work going on with ALL these free rooms in the complex, why on Earth would you put guests in this position?

3 - Alike another reviewer, no initiative from this staff bunch was displayed when we had to ask for our room to be changed and it was freezing cold, no soap, no towels and as ANOTHER reviewer said previously - BOTH level water tanks were empty, so had to go all the way back to reception AGAIN!

4 - We're from Europe - we're obviously in Sulawesi for a 1-off experience and all we asked was a refund of that cheeky 'early check-in' fee to balance the scales... A very timid "manager" with his tail between his legs sat with us the next day denying this possibility outright and scuttled off like a coward as he knew we were in a rush to make our next appointment and never got back to us.

Guys - The cleaning staff were polite, the swimming pool area is flawless, the food reviews for dinner, I'd say I disagree as my gf and I thought the food was pretty good but for the most part the staff in general didn't know what they were doing. For a "4 Star" resort - Don't bother!

Instead, book with Lekker Gezellig down the street - The diving expertise and attention to your comfort and safety is FAR SUPERIOR as is with the staff, food and accommodation with added social points for the lovely boat staff, our divemaster; Jimmy and our lovely hostess; Grace. Our 1st breskfast was thrown in for free, Luley is barely 5 mins away but they insisted on arranging a scooter for each of us to collect us. They asked us about our food requirements, what we're looking to do/go... The room was AWESOME too and we've got plenty of photos and videos with them for memories.

Grand Luley is a vanity stay. Incompetency that charges you at every opoortunity....

We stayed at Grand Luley Manado hoping for a relaxing experience — the view is absolutely stunning. But sadly, that’s where the compliments end.

Before arriving, I reached out via WhatsApp to ask about hotel activities, extra bed prices, and general information. No response. I ended up calling the hotel, only to be met with a cold and unhelpful tone from someone who clearly didn’t understand their job. After that, I tried DM’ing them on Instagram — still no proper reply. They just redirected me to another WhatsApp number, which was never listed on any platform. It was confusing and exhausting just trying to get basic info.

When we got to the room, we were told room service was available — but there was no menu, no instructions, and no restaurant number. Apparently, you have to order by WhatsApp too… but again, no one tells you that at check-in. We only found out after calling reception and asking. Why wasn’t this communicated from the start?

As for the restaurants — 2 out of 3 were closed, and the only one operating was for breakfast. We booked room only and paid IDR 100,000 per person for breakfast. I brought 8 kids + 2 extra guests, and the food was honestly very basic. Worse, most of it was already gone when my children came down to eat — one by one — and no one was refilling anything.

I got nervous that my kids wouldn’t get to eat, so I had to personally ask the receptionists to refill the food. They were just standing around doing nothing, despite knowing that more than 10 kids from Rooms 202–205 still hadn’t come down for breakfast. I literally had to ask FOUR different staff to take action — and even then, it was slow. It’s still 8:30 am. The breakfast room was dark and stuffy, with only fans running. It didn’t feel welcoming at all.

Honestly? If you can’t manage buffet service properly, just switch to à la carte. Made-to-order is better than watching empty trays and hoping there’s still food when your turn comes. At least it’s fair for guests who paid.

We stayed in Room 158, and again — while the view is gorgeous, it’s simply not enough to make up for the lack of service, lack of preparation, and lack of communication throughout the stay.

A hotel with this much potential should do better. I truly hope the management treats this as a wake-up call — Manado deserves better...

This Resort is from approx. 1995, so already some years old. We have been here during off-seson for sightseeing and diving/snorkeling at Bunaken.||The Dive-Center is very well eqipped, local diveguide Andi has very much experience and it was a pleasure to dive with him. Prices for Diving is a bit higher than in Manado, because you are very close to Bunaken, 670.000 RP per fund-dive, only some minutes by Boat to bunaken and own resort-harbour. Snorkeling is also very good. Make sure to have a underwater-camera with you. Its worth it. ||The Rooms are already a bit used, in the bathroom the wall-covering of the water supply at the faucet was quite rusty and old. At our first room the Panasonic-AC was working, but not able to keep the adjusted temperature. It was cooling down to lowest temperature. Also at the bathroom the water was not getting hot, even after 10 minutes running and waiting.. Therefore we got a different room with working AC and warm water.||At many places it was visible that this resor has a maintenance problem, at the breakfast room the big folding door with several segments was broken, the hinges have been broken out, the screws of the hinges also broken out. Not a big problem to fix, but nobody did it. I guess becaue there is no money planed to fix it..||Seems like the new owner has only a very limited budget for maintenace at the resort since it changed owner some time ago. ||The staff is very friendly and tried it's best to help with all the small problems, but if the owner is not willing to spend some money in maintenace, all of the staff's good will is not able to solve some problems...||The breakfast was average to good, many local dishes, fuits and bread also. Negative and disturbing was that several wild cats at the breakfast room have been begging for food.||Only local indonesian guests have been here during our stay, at the weekend its more crowded as monday-thuresday..||Grep Taxi from Manado to Resort is approx. 50.000 - 60.000 rp during our stay.|Airport transfer from Hotel was 200.000 rp ||There is no beach at the resort, as it is in the mangrove area. You have to drive by boat to bunaken to have a beach there, boat transfer is possible. ||Conclusion: Dear owner, please spend more money for maintenace to this...