Reviews of MB Palambak Island Resort Pulau Banyak Aceh Singkil

Beautiful location. Bungalows very comfortable. Food great . Staff were a highlight and friendly and helpful

We had a very frightening experience on a snorkelling trip where we ended up being stranded on a remote island overnight during a tropical storm which was very frightening We were rescued . However on retrospect the decision to agree to the trip going ahead should never have happened as was too risky.

Staff was lovely. Very nice bungalow, beach was cleaned every morning. Owner super responsive and very informative.

Food was very repetative, also as my son wanted plainly prepared food and I cannot handle spicy. What bothered me was that my son was getting very small portions, i had to remind staff few times i pay same price as for an adult so his meal should be properly portioned. He complained few times he did not have enough meat.

A real paradise! The island is amazing, staff is always kind and smiling, food is good but the real added value is Claudine, rhe owner: if you have a question or a problem she will solve it for sure!

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Paradise, great staff, total disconnect, easy. I'll never forget the arrival. Beautiful cottages green roofs smiling staff blue blue water, fresh coconut and afternoon swim over the coral. Perfecto. Island hoping snorkeling, meeting people, relaxing day. Hammock and book. Great food. Caught some fish are it for dinner. Perfect.

This is perfect for anyone wishing to get off the beaten track and experience back to basics (with a level of comfort) experience on a deserted island. When we visited there was just the 2 of us and 3 members of helpful staff. Claudine the owner is great and organised all transfers. Totally recommend the speedboat option to get there. Expensive but worth it. Things to note for anyone wanting to experience this deserted paradise island. Food is served 3 times a day and is fairly basic but tasty. No choices and you are given what is cooked but we were fine with that. No electricity except for 5 hours in the evening which makes the nights very hot and sweaty. Again we were ok with that as we had read the reviews. Definitely recommend the island hopping day trip. Caught our own fish which was served for dinner. We stayed for 3 nights and loved every second.

No shower to speak of but just washed in the sea every day

What a great experience! We spent 4 nights and we were hesitating since my wife and I are always looking for something to do but we didn’t get bored. Lot of activities and exploring to do on the island, with a feeling of being alone on the island sometimes. Both MB Camp and MB Palambak island were great. I believe the price/experience ratio is very good. Don’t expect luxury but that’s not what it pretends to be. Things work as it should and is well organized, staff is super nice and actually spoke decent English (saw some reviews from the past which says they did not). Food is amazing and very rich. And finally big heads up to Claudine, who is ultra responsive, striving for guests wellbeing. We had a small issue at the end of the trip which was solved in 5mn. Also don’t worry about bringing enough cash because everything is cashless. Big thanks for this amazing experience

Started out good but unfortunately turned out bad. After a long journey through the north of Sumatra we arrived at the camp in Singkil in the evening. The same owner as camp Palambak. It's in the outskirts of Singkil but for one night and as a pit stop for continuing to the Banyak islands, it's fine. Toilets and showers outside but air-con inside. Before we arranged our holiday I had texted with the owner Claudine on What's App and she has a lot of clear info about ferries etc. I was initially thinking about booking one week at once but I’m glad I never did. I settled for booking 4 nights to begin with. We ended up going back after 3 nights. My husband got some terrible allergies related to all the sandflies in the area and we could not stay. He got very big swollen bites on his feet up to his ankles. We also saw that the staff working there had the same bites up until their knees. I asked Claudine to cut the booking short and if it was possible to get the money back for the last day that we had booked but would not be able to stay. She said it was not possible. Me and my husband also have a place on Booking.com and we know its FULLY possible with a refund or to cancel nights even if they have already been booked. We offered her to pay the percent that Booking.com charges but she would still not agree. So we basically payed for 4 nights though we could only stay for 3. Before we came she asked if we had any food allergies or diets. I said that I am a pescatarian and my husband eats everything besides pork. We were served vegetarian food the whole stay. We found it a bit strange that we didn’t have fish served one single time since we were in the middle of the ocean. One person full-board is 200.000 rupiah which technically you will have to agree to since there are no other food options on the island. For us two that would be 400.000 rupiah. It is quite a lot in Indonesian standards and considering it was only veggies I find it to be a lot of money.

(continued) Especially since the room was already 745.000 per night. It makes it almost 1.200.000 Indonesian rupiah per night. That is a lot of money considering the rooms don’t have any electricity certain hours and no aircon, no toilet or showers in the room. The food is not on time according to the schedule that they present, but that was fine for us. The meals were always followed by fresh fruit and that was nice. Regarding the rooms, like I said before, there is only electricity for a few hours per day because it is run by a generator. The nights are very hot and the small fan inside the room will stop working when the generator stops around 11 pm. I didn’t sleep through one whole night because of the heat. As soon as the sun sets the mosquitos come. The island is full of mangroves and that is also quite close to the camp. We had coils burning all the time but I would still recommend long sleeve shirts and pants after 6 pm. There are however mosquito nets in the room and also some rackets, just don’t forget to charge them when the electricity is on. There is one island called Tailana that is without mosquitos but it was unfortunately booked when we were there. Like usually in Indonesia the working conditions are not the best for the workers and without saying more I was surprised at some of the conditions for them here. I felt sorry for the workers to be honest, but they were all super friendly and did their best for all the guests regardless. Aside from all of this the island is very beautiful and how you would imagine a Robinson Crusoe island. White beach and turquoise sea. I think I would have greater memories of our stay if Claudine would have met our request of the refund but now I just feel disappointed and that I would have rather spent all that money somewhere else. I do not mean to be negative with this review but basically explaining how OUR stay went. Hopefully it can give room for improvement in ways found proper. Thank you.

Great and sweet staff. Beautiful island and great communication with the owner. They were very flexible and helpful. I can highly recommend!

A piece of gem. I am so grateful that I found it. It is the low season so we have the whole island for me and my boyfriend. Staff are super nice. The beach is so clear with several snorkeling spots. The only thing is there are mosquitoes so I had to quickly go to my room every evening to avoid mosquitoes bites.

An amazing place worth traveling thousands of miles for. A secluded island where you can feel like Robinson Crusoe. Beautiful turquoise sea, sandy beach, and coral reefs with colorful fish. The hotel food is delicious and varied, and even though the staff doesn’t speak English, they are always helpful, kind, and friendly, making you feel like you’re visiting friends. I highly recommend staying at MB Palambak Island Resort and enjoying the island!

Just as a suggestion, you could leave an umbrella in the bungalow so guests can comfortably go to the shower or toilet in the rain.

Paradise beach with clear calm warm water. Incredibly helpful manager Claudine helped with all travel.

It's basic accomodation, as can be expected on a remote island. Food takes a long time to arrive, but you get used to it. Mosquitos, so need to hide in a net at sundown.

Clean and well equipped rooms, great restaurant, friendly staff, good service. Well organized transfer and information on activities.

We had the best time at Palambak and extended our stay the longest possible to at least 2 weeks as we won’t find an paradise like this again. The bungalows are beautiful located with sea view, clean and well equipped with everything you need to relax on your big terace (chairs and hammock) and have a huge mosquito net, mosquito coil and a electronic mosquito raket. Make sure to bring your repellent and long clothes to stay at beach when it’s getting dark and you are fine :) The shared bathrooms come with a Western Toilet and a Basket shower- they are cleaned very well everyday. The staff will care for you the whole day with everything you need and will cook delicious food 3 times a day! It was amazing to stay with them! We had fresh fish, we cooked with them and there was a bonfire at the beach one day. The Beach is beautiful (staff clean it everyday right in the morning because there is of course some trash coming from the main island from time to time) and you can walk around the island in about 2,5-3 hours. And last but not least there is the Manager Claudine who is organising everything perfectly and fast via WhatsApp with you to make sure you really have the best stay! Make sure to not miss this beautiful paradise :) we hope to come back on day!

Cute huts at a lovely and clean beach! We extended our stay for 2 more days and almost everyone we stayed on the island did 😂 it is a real calm and relaxing holiday with homecooked food and an island almost to yourself! Just prepare yourself to wait for the food because there is only one (good) cook ;) The organization is very good and easy with the owner Claudine. Three cute chickens and a cat was there as well, very cute athmosphere!

Only be aware that the island is a long journey with ferry, wood boat or speedboat and that the small boat or speedboat to the island itself is quite expensive, 250k per person and even we shared the speedboat back we almost payed one million. But in my opinion it is worth it!!

Everything, I repeat, everything (resort, team, food, organisation, cleanliness) is fabulous. The island itself is a true paradise: peace, relax, exceptional sea. But a special ingredient is added to all this. The owner Claudine (even remotely) is always present: she helps, solves, simplifies. And she coordinates a team of exceptional workers: always smiling, available and ready at all times to make you feel good. Honestly, I have taken many holidays around the world (with my husband and two little girls) but I have never met such an efficient owner and such loving and attentive staff (never intrusive, but always present). The resort in general is a small pearl in a unique place in the world. But the entire MB staff manages to turn a beautiful holiday into a unique experience. Score 10 and praise, not being able to give more!

Hmmmm..... The island is beautiful but bigger than I expected so you don't get that real little island feel. The mosquitos are insane, we'd just come from other islands in the Banyaks and Palambak was out of control, I think because the middle of the island is a swamp. The water is nice and the sunset was lovely.

The young boys who work there seem totally uninterested in the guests, definitely not out to build relationshion or go the extra mile. They just tell you it's being run from Medan... Nice! Maybe the owners used to.be there hence good reviews? The food was so disappointing compared with Tailana and other islands, literally inedible. And you have to wait so long and you end up eating so late. It was some of.the worse we had on our trip. The kitchen had little care for hygiene and mosquitos were swarming in the dining area. The toilets were far from our hut but we knew that, but that might put people off. All in all, I would stay at Ira or Tailana instead. It's a long way to go for below average. The reason I've given it 5 is because the pre help getting there was good, and the island is pretty but just really disappointing on other levels.

tropical paradise - the island is beautiful, blue water and white sand (unless it’s just rained). Claudia goes above and beyond, more like a travel agent than a property owner. Able to organise all transfers making the holiday run smoothly.

However as we had just came from Tailana there were a lot of negatives in comparison: - food takes a very long time, not eating dinner until 9pm some nights and waiting 45minutes for a pancake - Food is average - very oily everything is fried. Rice is overcooked and no sauce with any of the meat or veg - Staff aren’t very attentive, normally playing on their phones or eating their own food rather than serving or clearing tables - dirty breakfast plates still on the tables at lunch time - Coffee is not filtered, so it is graney and tasteless - Accommodation is nice and big but built on a swamp so full of mosquitos - Mosquitos in the evening are unworkable when eating and sleeping. You can’t sit and enjoy the social areas everyone has to hide in their rooms - Dining area is filthy - tables aren’t cleaned and floor isn’t swept - Water pressure is non existent in the shower, impossible to wash hair - Unnecessary giant bucket of stagnant water in the toilets which attracts mosquitos - On Arrival we were just shown our room, no information to where anything is (activities, bathrooms, WiFi password, food timings etc) - Staff are dressed in underpants and dirty t-shirt for serving breakfast (chef wore the same dirty boxers for 4 days, no short!) For reference I have never written a negative review but we stayed at Palambak for 5 nights due to the amazing reviews, which aren’t a true representation of the resort.

I have never found any host as responsive and helpful as Claudine, anywhere that I have stayed - quite exceptional. MB Palambak is on a perfect beach with unbelievably clear turquoise waters. We found the staff really helpful and although communication was by Google translate, we somehow felt quite affectionate towards them by the end of our stay, especially having played games with them for Indonesian Independence Day. The mattresses were very comfortable too.

I couldn't say I didn't like anything about MB Palambak in particular, but wanted to use this space to say to other people visiting the Banyaks, who are prone to skin burn, bring lots of factor 50 as the sun is very strong and also bring lots of strong insect repellent.

We had such a great time here. The staff were brilliant and the Australian-Indonesian owner, Claudine, was so responsive and helpful and catered to our every need even sorting out our airfares from Singkil in advance for us! The chalets were great (we had one for us and one for our kids) and the place never seemed crowded. The sea outside is the clearest I have ever seen and the snorkeling trip we organised was amazing. Loved it here and could have easily spent an extra week! Ask Claudine for any additional needs - we ordered 4 lobsters for 35 euros per kilo!

Some days the breakfast was a little slow but it is an island after all! There is no hot water but that didn’t bother us!

Very well organized by Claudine. Beautiful peaceful location. Kind staff. Very enjoyable snorkeling trip. Good food.

Only suggestions would be a sink in the bathrooms and perhaps a volleyball net

Claudine's proactivity, fast response and action on raised issues was flawless. It is unparalleled in the 4 months we have been travelling. The crew was really nice, friendly and welcoming. The huts have comfortable stretchers and a hammock at the front and have a good size. The beach in front of the accommodation was clean, beautiful and very enjoyable. You can easily see fish in the corals nearby. Free kayak available only depending on availability. (They only have 4 paddles for 2 single person Kayaks and 2 double kayaks) They bring you by wooden boat to the other side of the island to see turtles for free. (You could also snorkel and Kayak there) The food was okay, it is nice that they serve vegetables and fruits with every meal. The portion sizes are good too. Internet is available both wi-fi and 4G BUT it is unstable and slow.

The hut has a giant mosquito net completely lining the walls. It is supposed to keep mosquitoes and other insects away but it is full of holes, small and big. We tried to cover the bigger ones but the mosquitos are so small they can also come inside through the small holes. So, the net does not work. We did burn the mosquito coil that keeps mosquitoes away at the times we were instructed to do so. But we couldn't sleep with it in the hut. The smoke is toxic and made my nostrils and eyes burn. So, yeah couldn't keep mosquitoes away that way. It is really hot in the island and the only way to have a somewhat more comfortable sleep, temperature and mosquito-wise, is with the fan provided. HOWEVER, the fan runs on a battery which is charged by solar panels during the day and can run out in the middle of the night. That leaves you struggling with heat and mosquitoes. Due to this, of the four nights I spent there I could only sleep two. So I was actually looking forward to leaving. The pillows are super tall, hard and they were moldy (the crew did exchange them right away when we complained though). Anyways, it gave me a stiff neck that took 7 days to heal. Even after the pillow exchange it was still too tall and I could only sleep with a makeshift pillow I made from a jacket and a hoodie. Cleanliness of the toilets: Cleaned once a day at best. It was clean-ish when we arrived and that's as clean as it got. The shower heads don't work, so you have to shower from the big bucket of still standing water. The mosquitoes like to use it too. Cleanliness of the huts: I guess they swivel the floor once around the bed in between guests. Under the bed there is a thick layer of dust and dead insects and around the bed the floor is slightly sticky. Probably because of the maritime breeze. Garden view hut: Is actually in the swamp already so it is a swamp and laundry view.

Really great price for all it provides! The location is heavenly, the food is great and the staff and the owner are very friendly, helpful and thoughtful!

Palambak island Resort is a little paradise ! The place is very nice, clean and confortable. The island is amazing. The food is really good, tasty, and in good quantity, the bungalow is Cosy (confortable chairs, hamac, Good bed, mosquito net and fan). The staff is really nice and helpful. They offer you free kayak and snorkling and are the only one doing it for free !

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We just loved everything about this place! The beach, the palm trees and the clear waters of the deep blue sea are picture perfect everywhere around the island. Our beautiful wooden bungalow was nice and basic - but with all most important necessities - and well maintained, with an attractive veranda with two lovely wicker armchairs, a table and a hammock. It was wonderfully relaxing to spend time here reading or just staring at the sea… The MB Palambak Island Resort has only eight bungalows, all identically designed and in good shape. The four shared bathrooms/toilets are spotlessly clean and well looked after too. The resort is currently one of only two places to stay on the island. There are no settlements or villages, which enhances the Robinson Crusoe feeling. Communal meals are prepared in the central restaurant shack and served at the big tables outside on the veranda (or inside when it’s raining). Before arrival you’ll be asked if you have any food preferences - vegetarian/fish/chicken - and the cook matches your desires. Every day the menu was a surprise, but it was always delicious and with great variety. We didn't have the same dish once during the four days we stayed here. Kayaks and snorkeling gear are free available for guests. However, the underwater world around Pulau Palambak is not the most beautiful in the Banyak Islands; for that you‘re better off going to Tailana or Tambarat. Boat trips can be arranged at reasonable costs. The sand in front of the resort is cleaned daily by the staff (possibly together with volunteering guests). Staff is super friendly and helpful. Essential communication takes place by e-mail and WhatsApp via Mrs Claudine, the great organizational talent behind the scenes. She can also arrange your boat transport from/to the mainland. The MB Camp in Singkil has the same owner as the MB Palambak Island Resort. Direct speedboats can be arranged between both places if required.