Luxury Hotels - Six Senses Yao Noi, Thailand - Amazing

Here's a review of our trip to Yao Noi:

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 1: Spectacular Speedboat Ride from Phuket (http://www.boyseesworld.com/2012/04/boat-ride-to-yao-noi-incredible-scenery.html)

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 2: Arrival in Beautiful Yao Noi and an Incoming Tsunami (http://www.boyseesworld.com/2012/04/following-one-of-most-beautiful.html)

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 3: Beauty, Indulgence, Privacy, and a ~Zero Carbon Footprint (http://www.boyseesworld.com/2012/05/six-senses-yao-noi.html)

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 4: Spectacular Longboat Excursion to the Islands, Songkran - the Thai New Year, and a what makes Six Senses so Unique (Six Senses Yao Noi Part 4: Longboat Excursion to the Islands, Songkran - the Thai New Year, and a what makes Six Senses so Unique)

Bonus: The Stunning Clouds of Yao Noi (http://www.boyseesworld.com/2012/05/clouds-of-southern-thailand.html)

Amazing place, and amazing pictures! The clouds are incredible, huh?
I've been wanting to visit a Six Senses for a while - I'll surely consider Yao Noi after reading about your trip.

May I know what type of villa did you stay in?
Seems like there is quite a variety at Yao Noi. Thanks :)

Amazing place, and amazing pictures! The clouds are incredible, huh?
I've been wanting to visit a Six Senses for a while - I'll surely consider Yao Noi after reading about your trip.

May I know what type of villa did you stay in?
Seems like there is quite a variety at Yao Noi. Thanks :)

I believe they are all pool villas. Most have sea views. We had a sea view that was partially obstructed. If you get one higher up, many have completely unobstructed views of the islands. They also have some larger units that can accommodate more people.

great pictures, especially views from six senses and scenery ^

hilltop reserve opened to guests in jun/jul 2011 >
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=cache:ZuZlcewB0rwJ:http://www.sixsenses.com/file.php%3Fs%3Dpress%26f%3D20110623185433227.doc%2 Bsix%2Bsenses%2B%2522asia%2527s%2Bmost%2Bepic%2Bvi ew%2522&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&ct=clnk
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages/show_page/44389-Six-Senses-Yao-Noi,-Phuket-reopens

different wording >
http://www.sixsenses.com/e-brochure/GreenSeasonYaoNoi2012/
the hilltop reserve becomes a private club for all our guests just for the summer
may 1 > sep 30
two for one massage throughout the green season

i wonder if they do NOT book it for stays/events?

We have stayed at some superb properties on this trip, including the Park Hyatt Sydney, Amankora in Bhutan, and Trisara in Phuket. But Six Senses Yao Noi stands out.

We were there April 11 to 14 of this year.

Fantastic property, fantastic views, fantastic breakfast good food, great boat trips, very nice staff.

Just 2 problems:

- The stupid Six Senses policy of having open-plan bathrooms - when you leave your air conditioned bedroom in the evening for toilet, shower or toothbrushing, you find yourself in a sweatingly hot bathoom with bugs and sometimes even with bats and birds!

- Depending on the winds, the beach is often not swimmable because of dirt in the water. But when you take a boat to the surrounding islands, you still can find good places to snorkel and swim.

So you need the large pool of the hilltop villa to swim - because the other villa pools are sadly to small for proper swimming. Plunging is fine... I hope they will open the Hilltop Villa permanently for all guests!

But anyway: Six Senses Yao Noi is highly recommended for a visit, for the sheer magical beauty of the scenery!

The stupid Six Senses policy of having open-plan bathrooms - when you leave your air conditioned bedroom in the evening for toilet, shower or toothbrushing, you find yourself in a sweatingly hot bathoom with bugs and sometimes even with bats and birds!
http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYaoNoi/AccommodationsandRates.php
ocean deluxe pool villa layout is different
not sure about layouts for >
http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYaoNoi/TheView.php
http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYaoNoi/TheHouse.php

villa pools are sadly to small for proper swimmingall 18m2 except retreat ($2.7K) and reserve

I hope they will open the Hilltop Villa permanently for all guests!i put the info i found in my above post

http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYaoNoi/Downloads/PDF/YaoNoimaps.pdf
shows beachfront villas etc

Fantastic property, fantastic views, fantastic breakfast good food, great boat trips, very nice staff.

Just 2 problems:

- The stupid Six Senses policy of having open-plan bathrooms - when you leave your air conditioned bedroom in the evening for toilet, shower or toothbrushing, you find yourself in a sweatingly hot bathoom with bugs and sometimes even with bats and birds!

- Depending on the winds, the beach is often not swimmable because of dirt in the water. But when you take a boat to the surrounding islands, you still can find good places to snorkel and swim.

So you need the large pool of the hilltop villa to swim - because the other villa pools are sadly to small for proper swimming. Plunging is fine... I hope they will open the Hilltop Villa permanently for all guests!

But anyway: Six Senses Yao Noi is highly recommended for a visit, for the sheer magical beauty of the scenery!

My wife is nodding in agreement about the open bathroom issue - mosquitoes!

my parents just spent 10 nights there very recently and while they absolutely raved at the views, they were much less impressed with the service there and found it way overpriced for what it was (at low season).

It was very impersonal, and was not one bit generous. In my mom's word, if you could bring the level of service of an aman, or the club chedi at Tanah Gajah then it could worth twice as much, but with the current service half the price is already overpaying.

Several examples:

- Inconsistency in the food, same dish ordered at the same restaurant on different days: completely different taste.

- Generosity: a welcome or parting gift would have been appreciated (like the IC amb gift), the cost didnt matter (2-5 US would have been more than fine), but just something that reminds you the property a couple years later and leaves you a good memory.
No slippers/sandals provided in the room, and if requested they sell them to you.

- Incomfortable setup of the room: TV is hard to watch for 2 people except if one standing. Only one chair in the bedroom itself, and it was hard to view the tv from the bed.
They were awaken a couple times by rats eating through the roof apparently...
No place to eat in the room except outside by the pool, with no lighting in the evening except candles...


While the staff was always smiling and extremely polite my family did not have the feeling everything was done to try to please the guest like is normally espected in those kind of resorts. The word "No" should not exist in the staff vocabulary, ie not possible to get a la carte on buffet nights.

They were much more impressed with the service at the MO and the R&C in Chiang Mai and the Hyatt in Hua Hin where they are right now.

In summary they said 10 nights was too long a stay at this property and they probably would not have remarked as many flaws if they only stayed 5 nights or less. Most people there left after a couple of days.