Originally Posted by SponsorSFC

We have traveled to the CKS in August the last 2 years and will be returning to Rangali in September after staying there at the end of 2016.

They are quite different experiences but as others have said when looking at the value proposition it is hard to go past CKS.

Using the HPC we had a week at CKS and did not eat outside the resort. On check out the total bill for transfers, food and spa treatments was around 50,000 THB this included 2 meals at Jahn and one in The Cellar. This would get you as far as the seaplane to Rangali (and maybe a bottle of wine).

Rangali is more naturally beautiful and there is a greater variety of dining options but the cost is exponentially higher. We spent more in 4 days on Rangali as we did for both our CKS trips combined.

We stayed in Room 301 both trips at CKS, at Rangali we had a free upgrade to a DBV and an extra night as a complimentary upgrade to a WV added to the one we had paid for (before you could book directly into the WV on points). Based on the room itself I would rate in order the DBV, CKS then the WV (but from what I had seen would rate CKS higher than a stardard BV at Rangali).

The views and room at CKS are spectacular enough that you don't need to go anywhere else but the option is there. We had the hotel car pick us up from the airport and stop at a Lotus Tesco to pick up some drinks and snacks, meaning on our first trip we really only left the room for meals. We did leave the hotel on our second trip for a couple of excursions but if we are to go again would probably split a trip between CKS and another resort closer to the action.

Jarvis Marcos has two CKS trip reports that give you a good idea of what to expect including the HPC as well as a Rangali report for comparison.

We found the service better at Rangali but both were good. The issues with CKS were minor and more recent reports seem to indicate the resort has addressed this.

Either resort will be a great experience it just comes down to budget really. At CKS we barely looked at the prices but at Rangali we had to budget and plan more ahead (though to be fair both our Rangali trips were planned as part of a month long European trip so heading for a week just to Rangali may change this somewhat).