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

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 2: Arrival in Beautiful Yao Noi and an Incoming Tsunami

Six Senses Yao Noi Part 3: Beauty, Indulgence, Privacy, and a ~Zero Carbon Footprint

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

Bonus: The Stunning Clouds of Yao Noi

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.co...&hl=en&ct=clnk
http://www.traveldailynews.com/pages...Phuket-reopens

different wording >
http://www.sixsenses.com/e-brochure/...sonYaoNoi2012/
i wonder if they do NOT book it for stays/events?

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!

http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYa...nsandRates.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

all 18m2 except retreat ($2.7K) and reserve

i put the info i found in my above post

http://www.sixsenses.com/SixSensesYa...YaoNoimaps.pdf
shows beachfront villas etc

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.

Just returned from three nights at SS Yao Noi and we had, overall, an excellent stay. The resort was only at 75% capacity, as it was green season, so perhaps that helped with some of the service issues that people have noted above and in other threads. Our GEM, Woody, was terrific - gave us good suggestions, let us take a peek at some of the bigger villas, worked to upgrade us to an oceanview room, and even helped us rent a moped to check out the island for the day.

The resort itself is gorgeous - very secluded, very intimate, but with a fairly large footprint. The boat ride into Yao Noi is definitely a highlight, as you feel a bit like a character in The Man With The Golden Gun, coming up close to the steep, limestone islands. Upon arrival you're whisked right off to your room. We booked a garden view room but almost immediately regretted it, so on night 2 we switched over to an ocean view and were extremely happy with the decision.

The villas are quite spacious, with large plunge pools, sunbathing areas, a sala, a large outdoor bathroom, indoor and outdoor showers, and an air conditioned bedroom. We never minded the outdoor bathroom but I know it is much-maligned on this site! The one issue we did have was a malfunctioning bathtub, but it was quickly fixed.

As perks through our travel agent, we were provided a complimentary massage, chocolates, a bottle of champagne, a fruit basket, as well as a private dinner in our villa - by FAR the most generous of all the hotels we visited during our honeymoon! The private dinner was perhaps the highlight of the whole trip to Yao Noi, with superb service and really impeccable, traditional Thai food. They even brought our desserts down to the beach for us so we could watch the movie they were playing on the outdoor projector!

Food overall was excellent, with only a few minor faults. The breakfast buffet was massive and the best we had while in Thailand - Thai, Western and Indian hot options, muesli/granola/yogurt, cereals, fresh juices, and a massive list of fresh pastries and breads (and all-day free ice cream!). The Mediterranean restaurant (the Dining Room) was a bit more polished than the Thai restaurant (the Living Room), while food at the Hilltop Reserve was unspectacular and overpriced.

That said, despite the mediocre food, the view at the Reserve is completely unmatched anywhere we have visited. Truly unbelievable! It is worth going to SS Yao Noi just to see it.

The whole resort is beautiful, with vegetable gardens sprinkled everywhere, a stunning spa (with good quality massages), tennis courts, kayak rentals and easy access to check out the rest of the island via moped. There's also a beautiful mangrove littered with geckos and other lizards. The only downer to the grounds themselves was some construction going on at the beach to help shore it up. I would also note that there were more children here than I expected this resort to have, though the number of couples/honeymooners far outweighed the families - I was simply surprised to see any kids!

Overall, it was the nearly perfect way to finish off our honeymoon - felt very exclusive, very intimate. Since Yao Noi is so quiet itself, it might not be somewhere to visit for 7-9 days, but for 3-5 it was exactly what we were looking for.

How about the spa, facilities, treatments and staff?

For Deer's benefit, and perhaps that of other interested posters as well: Yao Noi now has enclosable, air-conditioned bathrooms. I can't say whether all villas have been refitted -- a recent poster said they had a villa with open bath -- but in my case, the villa I had this year (same category as last year, but two doors away) has AC in the bath and toilet zone; the one last year did not.