Le Pirate Resort on Gili Meno: Our Honest Review

With three locations across Indonesia, Le Pirate is known for its affordable beach hut-style bungalows and idyllic island locations. The adults-only retreat lets you experience laid-back tropical island vibes with all of the luxuries of a modern resort.

We stayed at their newest location on the tiny island of Gili Meno, just a few hours from mainland Bali by boat. Here’s our honest review.

Location

Gili Meno is a sleepy little island a couple of hours' boat trip from mainland Bali. With the nickname "honeymoon island," it's unsurprising that it's a popular destination among couples. What better place for an adults-only resort?

If you’re coming from mainland Bali, you’ll need to take the Eka Jaya fast boat which takes 2+ hours from Padang Bai port. Once you reach Gili Meno, the boat docks on the opposite side of the island to the resort. With no vehicles, you’ll need to walk around 15 minutes.

For those heading to Le Pirate from one of the other Gili Islands or mainland Lombok, a better option is to charter a small private boat as these can dock directly outside of the resort to save walking. We paid 50,000 IDR per person (based on five people) for a private boat from Gili T to Gili Meno.

Gili Meno has little in the way of activities. It’s very much a place for unwinding and disconnecting. The island is best known for its untouched white sand beaches and fantastic snorkelling spots, including the famous underwater statues. You can also take a day trip to the other Gili Islands where there's slightly more to do.

We wouldn't recommend spending your whole trip on Gili Meno, but 2-3 nights would be perfect for a peaceful mini-break.

In the evenings, you’ll discover a handful of local bars and restaurants across the island. If you’re lucky, you might find the legendary Gili Meno band Brotherhood playing at one of them.

The Accommodation

All the rooms at Le Pirate are designed as individual blue and white beach huts. There are four types of rooms available:

• Junior Beach Huts - a row of attached huts, most affordable option.

• Beach Huts - detached huts for a little extra privacy.

• Sweet Rooms - largest huts with a spacious wrap-around terrace.

• Bunk Rooms - contains a single bed and bunkbed, sleeping 3 people.

We stayed in a Sweet Room during our stay and loved the large wrap-around terrace and the extra privacy it offered. These rooms also have an extra full-sized window to allow more natural light into the small room.

Each beach hut has its own private outdoor veranda, complete with a hammock and a cosy seating area. The Sweet Rooms also have a small table and chairs on their larger terrace.

Our room looked directly out onto one of the two swimming pools - perfect for diving into the refreshing water in the morning. Visiting during the quiet season, our group practically had this pool to ourselves during our stay.

The huts are pretty small compared to other places we’ve stayed in Bali, but this didn't prove to be an issue. The room was super clean and the double bed was extremely comfortable. Plus we spent most of our time outside on the deck or in the pool and restaurant areas anyway.

However, the compact room meant our luggage had to be kept stowed away under the bed. While there’s plenty of storage space, taking your entire suitcase out every time you need fresh underwear isn’t ideal. It’s best to unpack your essentials when you arrive and be done with it.

The positive of such a small room is that the air conditioning is very effective. It may take some adjustment to get a good temperature all night, but you certainly won’t be sweating in the intense island heat.

Each of the huts also has a private outdoor bathroom. While showering out in nature during the day was a nice experience, the bathroom does attract a few bugs at night. Make sure to keep the mosquito spray on hand!

In keeping with the minimalist style, the only amenities in the room were a safe, an umbrella, and a sand duster. The bathrooms also had some toiletries and both beach and bath towels. While basic, it's more than enough for a short stay.

Admittedly, the lack of a kettle in the room didn’t bode well for our coffee-heavy morning routine, but if you opt for breakfast at their onsite restaurant (extra fee) you can enjoy unlimited hot drinks.

Our favourite little touch in the room was the motivational quote on the wall. Each hut has a quote that's inspired by its name. Our hut was called "Chance," with the quote "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn’t take!".

Food and Drink

Le Pirate’s onsite restaurant overlooks the main pool. It has a good selection of Western food and a few local dishes too.

The large restaurant is usually pretty quiet, with more than enough seating for all guests, so you can lounge around as long as you want without taking up someone’s table.

Staff can also serve food and drinks to the poolside if you'd prefer to eat while you tan. It's possible to open a tab at the restaurant and pay for everything at the end of your stay.

All of the food we tried at Le Pirate tasted great. We did find the service a little slow, although things do tend to work on "island time" in the Gilis! The prices are also higher than other local cafes and restaurants on the island, which is usually what you expect from a resort restaurant.

Just a couple of minutes walk from the resort is Sasak Café, a rustic local spot by the beach with affordable and delicious food and a live band most evenings. We recommend heading here for a cheaper meal.

What Else To Expect

The staff at Le Pirate are super friendly and cannot do enough for their guests. The moment we arrived we were greeted with some refreshing welcome drinks while our luggage was carried directly to our rooms.

The resort has two large outdoor pools, one by reception and one that was right outside our beach hut. The pools were always open so we could enjoy spontaneous dips at any hour. Poolside deck chairs and loungers are great to switch things up when you tire of the hammock outside your hut.

Le Pirate also has its own small stretch of private beach with beanbags laid out during the day for relaxing by the ocean.

If you want to explore more of Gili Meno, you can hire bicycles from the resort for 60,000 IDR per day (pro rata for half day). The island is pretty small so it doesn't take long to cycle around. The beaches on the east of the island near the harbour are worth visiting and great for swimming.

Reception can organise boat trips and transfers if you’d prefer to go further afield and explore the other islands (there are also cheaper public boats – see our guide to getting around the Gili’s).

The resort also has a partnership with Meno Dive Club to offer guests exciting diving excursions around the islands.

Le Pirate sits on the west coast of the island, so the resort has a beautiful view at sunset. Each evening, the staff set up a rustic outdoor bar so you can enjoy a chilled Bintang or cocktail while watching the sun dip beyond the horizon.

You can even mix your own cocktail using their old-school bicycle blender and get a discount for your hard work!

On alternating evenings, the resort hosts either an outdoor cinema or a bonfire on the beach, which is complimentary for Le Pirate guests. You'll need to ask at reception to find out what movies they'll be showing during your stay.

As long as it's not raining, these activities go ahead all throughout the year, no matter how busy the resort is. During our stay, they still played the movie for the one couple that wanted to watch it - a lovely romantic evening for them!

It's great that Le Pirate offers these evening activities for guests as there's not much else to do on Gili Meno at night. It certainly doesn't have the same party vibe as its notorious neighbour, Gili T.