ftrichard

Just completing a 3-night stay at the full board rate around THB5000++ a night net. Pretty amazing value as it includes three meals a day and booze at all the bars from 11am to 10pm. And, yes, we can get THB3000 each value out of that . Dinner buffet would be around THB500 each. Lunch main course around THB300. Conservatively price drinks at THB100 each so probably THB1000 value there. Doesn't leave much left over to account for the room.

I blew some SNAs on this end-of-year stay and got a Studio room which is at the front of the hotel with direct views of both the beach and the pool bar. I don't know about the regular rooms but this Studio is decent with a walk-in wardrobe.

It's always important to bear the price in mind when considering hotels and I'd say this is a solid 4* property. Most of the guests seem to be Europeans on a package tour with TUI. It's probably sold as all-inclusive but doesn't really compare with genuine all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean or Mexico because there are exclusions on the drinks list (no premium cocktails, ice cream, or daytime coffee included strangely). As has been noted, mealtimes can be chaotic and are definitely not fine dining. The night we arrived there was a staff party and we witnessed numerous upset guests whose food was taking hours to arrive. The star from reception took our order for pizzas in the Italian and made sure we were supplied with enough beer to keep us going. Breakfast quality and variety was better than I expected but the coffee machines were frequently out of action and the behaviour of the guests was what you'd expect from package tourists on their annual getting-away-from-it-all holiday. I don't often mix with these types. Each night there's a buffet and on Saturday night it was a seafood grill on the beach before the rain started.

The location, about 90 minutes drive north from HKT, is really isolated which was fine for us but would be a disaster for package tourists "going to Thailand" for two weeks. I suspect that it's the location that is keeping the rates down for the full board package. You're basically paying low Phuket prices but including all your food and booze. Staff were friendly and knew what they were doing. We enjoyed our 3-day stay and would be happy coming back for a weekend break from home in Samui.



View from reception

View from Studio

View from Studio

Studio balcony

Beach

All inclusive booze from 11am-10pm

Studio bedroom

Studio bathroom

Studio walk-in wardrobe