Review: Pondok Santi Gili Trawangan ~ Few vs Many Few vs Many

Review: Pondok Santi Gili Trawangan

Our next stop is Pondok Santi Gili Trawangan. Getting from Lombok to the Gili islands is a nightmare. We’re not kidding. We’ll specify later in our Bali tips and tricks article, but please, for god sake, take a busy tourist boat and not a private one…

When we finally do arrive at the tropical island – in one piece – things look beautiful. We’ll be staying at this resort called Pondok Santi. You got to understand that Gilli Gilli consists of one big road along the coastline. It’s around 2 km long and everything happens on this road. The moment you take a turn inwards the island, you’re in a completely different country. And because we only have 2 nights, we don’t.

Pondok Santi is located at the southern part of the island. We need to take a ‘cab’ (horse cart) to get there because the island has a simple yet interesting rule: no motor vehicles allowed. Riding a horse cart is interesting and bumpy, but it’s fun. Once we reach our destination (10 minute drive) we immediately know that our stay is going to be just perfect. Pondok Santi has this enormous space slash garden where 8 bungalows are build. And one of them is ours.

In the back of the resort there’s this small house which functions as a lobby/reception/restaurant. Well, not really a restaurant. Pondok Santi only has breakfast so there’s only 1 huge table where every guest can sit and enjoy their breakfast.

The owner welcomes us with open arms. The property is run by two elder Australian people which are probably the nicest in the world. The guy talks a bit about the property, about it’s history and it’s future. There’s room to expand but these things will come later. There’s this Caribbean vibe on the island, which can only mean one thing: let’s not rush into things and take our time to enjoy the moment. We can get used to that…

Once we’re done talking we’re of course curious to find out what our bungalow looks like. The girlie floor manager takes us there and after a quick inspection we draw the conclusion that it’s perfect. It’s not too luxurious, but luxurious enough to make you feel extremely comfortable. The bungalow has a small porch on which you can relax. On the inside you will only find a bed, tv, air-conditioning and a place to do some working. The bathroom is in the back, outside. This may sound weird but we’re used to these kind of bathrooms by now. This is normal for a country where the temperature never drops below 25 degrees celsius.

What sets Pondok Santi apart from it’s competitors on the island is the location. It’s right outside the busy street and that gives you the opportunity the enjoy the island in a different way than all the Australian hostel sleepers do. We highly, highly recommend you sleeping at Pondok Santi. Not just because everything looks great and the people that work here are awesome, but also because the place gives you the ultimate Gili Trawangan experience.