The hotel is located in the Palmarium beach, towards the end of the Pangalanes channel. Since the area is inaccessible through any other method than boat you get this immense feeling of isolation, something I haven't felt in a very long time.
The October weather is amazing, you'll feel nice and cool in shirts and shorts. It drizzled a little when I was asleep which is exactly when I want it to rain.
Rooms look a little dated and well worn by the forest humidity. Ventilation is good enough with the windows open and the mosquito nets down, though a fan would have been nice. Unfortunately the power cuts after 11pm which means you will be in the dark all the way until an hour to breakfast. Hot water is made with wood fire though so it should be always available, though there's a wait of 5-7 minutes for it to flow. The water is probably piped in from the lakes, it's clean enough to shower with but you're using the provided bottles for brushing teeth.
One other thing about the humidity soaked room is that some of the fabrics can have a musty smell, I'm from rainforest country and this is just a reality of living in a place that's varying degrees of wet and damp and moist all year long. I...just put up with it.
The restaurant is in an elevated part of the lodge, and you get a nice view of the forest/little lake on one side and the beach on the other. You usually order the food a couple of hours in advance and it's ready for you when you return from whatever activity you did in the day. Bearing in mind that, the quality is okay to decent. I enjoyed all my meals.
The restaurant is also the only place to charge your devices and get wifi. Internet speed is VERY good. Even compared to Ivato and parts of Tana. I just charge my power banks here and drain them in the room later.
They have activities to see lemurs in the hotel area and a boat ride to the older ankan'in nofy hotel and to the nearby fishing village, all nice experiences for me.
But what separates this hotel from the others and gets from me a personal five star rating is the sheer feeling of solitude you get just hanging around at various times of day. The lake, whether rippling from activities much further upstream or becoming totally still in the night, provides space for reflection and contemplation. I sit by it, swim in it(it's like half a meter deep so breaststroke only for me), walk in it. Observe my thoughts coming and going, the machinations of my mind the only noise in this vast space. Can't exactly remember the last time I felt this, not sure if I will find it...
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