Gorgeous property with genuinely lovely staff. The on-site naturalist Chamu was particularly fantastic.
I wanted to address two things that I believe could genuinely help the property improve.
1. Staff seems mainly hired from local community, which is lovely. We found everyone to have the absolute right attitude and approach to service. However, more training is required. None of the staff knew what an iced latte was or how to make any iced coffee drink without adding a ton of sugar. Several Western requirements for food also not catered to or understood. Also, we heard the head chef greet the kitchen staff with a loud, "Jai Shree Ram". Several staff were not Hindu and also, as guests, this felt incredibly unprofessional and problematic. It made us deeply uncomfortable and was likely uncomfortable (to put it mildly) for any non-Hindu staff. This is the absolute most BASIC requirement for staff to show up as professionals and leave political and religious affiliations to the personal domain. This fact alone would be a reason for us not to come stay again.
2. Eco-friendliness--we loved the glass jugs of water in our room instead of plastic bottles. Many resorts are also doing away with individually-packaged bath products. This would be a great win for Serai. Also, to require guests to carry their own water bottles on safaris, instead of providing plastic bottles.