Originally Posted by roder

Just completed a 4-night stay in late-October. We booked through Citi Travel using the Prestige 4th Night Free benefit, and with an extremely aggressive rate, we overall paid half compared to the the Marriott.com price for a Garden View Pool Villa, so from a value standpoint, I was happy.

We stayed in Villa #9, which had completed the recent renovation, meaning the bathroom was enclosed and air-conditioned — a welcome upgrade compared to our understanding of the fully open-air setups of the older units. That said, it wasn’t entirely immune to mosquitoes, so come prepared. The villa had small ocean glimpses, though the dense layout of the resort means villas are fairly close together; there’s decent privacy but not a true sense of exclusivity. The design is what I’d describe as rustic luxury — natural materials, spacious, but not sleek or modern.

One thing to note: each villa appears to have its own dedicated hot water tank, so there’s only enough hot water for about one full tub. A shower–tub–shower sequence will leave you with a lukewarm bath and cold rinse afterwards. Once understanding this limitation, the outdoor tub setup was lovely for a late-afternoon soak, especially as the temperatures were pretty cool during out stay.

Unfortunately, where the resort really fell apart is F&B. Across 4 breakfasts, 1 lunch, and 2 dinners, we were consistently underwhelmed.

Breakfast: Decent variety but overall mediocre quality. Many hot items must be ordered and delivered to your table, which can take quite a while

Lunch/Dinner: Simply disappointing. The Thai food was barely up to a Panda Express standard. How they are unable to execute decent local cuisine is beyond me. The Italian was equally disappointing. Our lunchtime pizza order was a complete miss, and even more disappointing since we had surprisingly fantastic beachside pizza at Nomad Beach Club and Cafe Del Mar earlier in the trip. Another time, we ordered a second serving of a pasta as the first came out great, but the second iteration was sadly dry and flavorless.

The new restaurant (Aiyara) was still under final construction/finishing during our stay so sadly can not comment on their food.

In stark contrast, the local restaurant in the nearby village was fantastic & one of our favorite meals in Phuket. The owner is very friendly and open roughly 1–6 PM, making it only a lunch option. The good news is he’ll deliver to the resort via WhatsApp (.+66 89-990-3059‬) and will drop the food with security, providing a nice alternative for in-villa lunch.

I will also say beach on property was pretty disappointing. It’s only swimmable at high tide, and even then, it was full of debris — mostly leaves and sticks, though some trash as well. At low tide, swimming isn’t possible. We also walked to the opposite side of the island (Tab Po Beach) one afternoon. It was packed with James Bond Island day-trippers, overrun with cheap vendors and jetski hawkers, not worth the effort particularly with the rough road to get there. These beaches just pale in comparison to Surin or Layan, on the west coast of Phuket, as examples.

On a positive note, both the villa pool and main pool were very nice, well-maintained and relaxing spaces to spend time.

Lastly, will note that the bikes provided by the resort are useful but in poor condition. They could use some serious maintenance. Still, handy for getting to town for lunch.

Also, we had arranged a private James Bond Island speedboat trip (not through the hotel), and it was excellent. The operator picked us up directly at the resort pier, and we customized the itinerary to skip Tab Po and visit a quiet sandbar instead. If I were to join a group tour, I’d look at Seanery Boat, which departs from Ao Po Pier around noon and looked quite nice.

Overall, I’m glad we finally stayed, as it’s long been on my list.... but I wouldn’t return. The setting is interesting and the villas have charm, but the food quality and limited dining options make it hard to justify a repeat visit. For a property this isolated, you expect the on-site experience to carry the stay, and sadly, it just doesn’t.