You'll have to forgive us for being waaay behind the curve on this one, but since we traded cable for a Roku box that streams Netflix into our TV, we've been watching television in a time warp without any connection to real-time programming schedules. Recently, we were slogging through past seasons of Anthony Bourdain's travel show, No Reservations, when we came across the most beautiful hotel we've ever seen.
The Kampung Sampireun in Java, Indonesia isn't a designer hotel or a hip new destination. It's a ten-year-old "village" of bungalows based on traditional West Java huts constructed of bamboo with coconut roofing.
Guests are escorted to their rooms by canoe, and—this is the best part—every morning, a pancake boat floats up to your private porch with traditional rice cakes and syrup. It's hard to see the beauty of the place from our sorry screenshots, but trust us—it looked amazing.
Bourdain, a famous curmudgeon, seems to go out of character when he talks about "how much I love my little house on the lake. The way it looks, the way it feels, the sounds. A paradise where all I wanna do is be still and take it all in." You sold us, Anthony.
• For more information on the Kampung Sampireun, check out their website.
• The "Indonesia" episode is from No Reservations, Season 2, 2006.
Screenshots: No Reservations, Photos: Kampung Sampireun
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Comments (12)
I had just watched this episode the other day on Netflix and was wondering the name of the hotel too. Thanks for the post
It's totally off-topic, but you brought it up--Why did you decide to go the Netflex/Roku route rather than Apple TV? Netflex hardly seems to ahve any streamable selections. I'm just wondering....
We stayed at the Hotelito Desconocido (Little Unknown Hotel) that is similar huts, hand carved furniture, solar heat for showers, no electricity, no tv/phone, sea turtle nesting and estuary, but very lux without the lux price. Sports Illustrated Swimsuit and other catalogs have shot there as well. It was a bit easier to get to than Java. www.hotelito.com
can't speak for the writer- but we love our roku. for 8.99 a month you get unlimited access to netflix streaming. there is quite a bit there if you don't mind being a season behind. and some great older movies- and tons of documentaries. when we last checked (and admittedly it's been a while) Apple TV required you to pay for everything you watch. I love apple but had friends who hated their apple tv so we skipped it.
We have a Roku as well and love it. djs, I'd say the advantage is price - from what I understand, you have to buy everything with Apple TV. Netflix's streaming shows and movies are part of the monthly price (super cheap, especially if you get the one-disc plan!). I've never had a problem with their selection. I think we currently have 80 things in our instant Queue.
The Roku also has different channels, including Amazon, where you can buy or rent more recent shows and movies. I haven't tried Amazon's streaming service yet, but it looks promising. They recently added Pandora, too.
martins402--thanks! Yes, Apple is pay-per-view, which is a concern. I have netflix and on my que of 50 movies only 2 are available for streaming. Perhaps my taste is too mainstream?
limadean-- thanks. Perhaps I should rethink netflix/roku.
Dang. Tried to read about them at the site you link to, but their English version isn't in English :/
A friend, who is a customer rep for a major airline, was assisting Bore-dain in an airport and said he was a complete a--h---! It wasn't as if she was some wacky fan. She was there to help expedite him thru the airport!
DJS, you should consider waiting a few weeks and looking at a few of the other options that just came on the market this week at CES (Consumer Electronics Show). The streaming box market just exploded, and right now Apple TV looks to be the worst of the options. The Boxee Box and Popbox both look like promising additions to this space- you can stream Hulu, YouTube, NetFlix, Amazon, etc.
we love watching our netflix through our xbox. that is another way too.
Only two watch-instantly movies?! My watch-instantly list is ridiculously long.
I have an xbox360 for Netflix. I prefer it to AppleTV, which we tried. Netflix is more cost effective by far.