Originally Posted by rbAA

I've stayed on points (before the last devaluation,) and as Spire they gave us the UPG to the swim up rooms. We did have to pay for breakfast of course. Ask at check in and they may oblige.

Noonit Kitchen to south of the property and TomTan to the north were our favorites nearby, but Rimhead, basically a food truck parked at the end of the Moo between the JW Marriott and Anatara, a couple km's north on the beach, is by far the best and our favorite. We ate at Pesto, the hotel restaurant. Good but pricy, even with the 20% off F&B as Spire members. The breakfast is very good for a hotel buffet with a decent selection of Thai, Chinese (with noodle bar,) and western (egg station as usual) dishes. A little expensive if you pay at the hotel, but the rates online that include breakfast make it much better. They have discounted the breakfast by about 50% for us in the past on the points stay, but now we just book the rate with breakfast. They have a sign that kids eat free, but that was a year ago.

Not sure how they would handle the 2 children issue, but I don't think it's a problem as long as one is an infant.

If you have a car (as this area is quite desolate though the hotel does have a shuttle van, for airport pickup/dropoff and local rides, but I believe they charge for it's use, again with some discount offered,) parking is free. You may want to rent one for a day or two to do some exploring. We always have one as our favorite massage place is all the way south in town, though the beach massage just to the south of the property is OK. There is a minimart nearby and a supermarket of sorts in the little village, which would be a little bit of a walk. If you walk up the beach to Rimhead, there are shops on that Moo by the JW, so you may want to combine those two errands into one.

However, our Mai Khao stay in a couple weeks is at the Anatara as we got a great timeshare deal with a private villa and pool for $379 all in for the 3 nights and only have to attend a morning, right after breakfast, timeshare presentation.