I stayed at the Palm Beach Hotel for my night in Dili, Timor-Leste, not to be confused with a city in Florida on the Atlantic Coast!
Palm Beach Hotel Review – Dili, Timor-Leste
When I decided at the very last minute to travel to Timor-Leste, I reached out to three hotels via email. Specifically, I wanted someone to meet me at the airport upon arrival in Dili so that I would not have to haggle with a cab driver (though in retrospect, haggling wasn’t so bad – I’ve had so many horrible taxi experiences over the years that I forget the many excellent experiences I have had).
Anyway, only one hotel wrote back: the Palm Beach Hotel (not to be confused with the Palm Springs Hotel, which seems to be the premier hotel in Dili and potentially owned by the same people). That made it simple.
After clearing customs and immigration, a very nice woman was waiting for me with a sign. We hopped into a van and were soon on our way to the hotel, which was located less than 10 minutes from the airport (though everything is pretty close in Dili).
Stepping into a small lobby, I checked in and was told I could pay for my room now or at check-out…an old-school approach to hotel payments!
I was assigned room N402 on the top floor of the “Nicole” building. Based on the Chinese characters on the buildings, I wondered if this place was Chinese-owned or marketed to Chinese travelers.
My hotel room was really a one-bedroom apartment and quite nice, with a living room, kitchen, bedroom, and bathroom with shower.
While the room was warm, each room had a split-type A/C mounted to the wall in each room. Once turned on, the room quickly cooled down.
There was also a dedicated router in the room for Wi-Fi, protected behind two passwords (it appears that data is not as cheap in Timor-Dili as in other parts of the world).
Outside the back door, there was even a washer and dryer. I was tempted to wash that striped blue shirt that had become so sweaty as I ran through Bali Airport earlier in the day, but I skipped it.
I went out to eat, but there was even a room service menu.
The mattress was not the best, but I slept just fine (waking up quite early).
Upon my return from the hike up to Cristo Rei, I had time for breakfast before my flight departed.
You ordered at the bar and then breakfast was brought to you. I had an omelet with salad, bacon, plus watermelon and a cappuccino. It was included in my rate and very good.
I asked for a refill on coffee; however, nad was denied: “That will be $3 extra.”
While waiting for breakfast, I checked out the pool and the fitness center.
Pool:
Fitness Center:
While not modern equipment, the selection was fairly impressive considering how remote we were and I was impressed by the effort.
I thought at $140/night, the hotel could have thrown in a second cup of coffee, but I ended up having a nice machiatto at the airport.
Shortly after breakfast, I went back upstairs, grabbed my stuff, and we headed back to the airport.
Kudos to this hotel for being responsive: the other places I contacted were half the price, but the more expensive place got the business because they communicated well!
I’m sharing about my whirlwind trip through Asia.
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