Land-of-Miles

I spend my working year engaging people and when paying the thick end of circa 40k THB per night do not think it should be necessary to invest a huge amount of time and effort in developing relationships to get simple things done when I am enjoying valuable leisure time.

This simply should not be necessary at any property with Deluxe pretensions. I might add it wasn't necessary when we stayed at the Conrad, or the Santiburi and hasn't been necessary at other excellent properties in Thailand. We had better service on our dinner out at Jahn at the Conrad than we received at any point at the IC except perhaps our in villa BBQ.

You should not have to dumb down your expectations to get them met at any place that is selling rooms at the rates of the upper end rooms at the IC BTN. The property lost out on a lot of spend as a result of this as I effectively refused to book further meals there after our first.

Sure it may be excellent value as a redemption with revenue uplift, it wasn't great as a RA booking into the second most expensive room type (and then receiving the smallest footprint room of that type).

MrOscarh

Firstly, it sounds like you paid way over the odds for your room... and were likely in a less than satisfied mood on receipt of the room itself. I suspect this would have coloured all subsequent events. We, on the contrary, booked into the highest level room (not the Napa suite) at significantly less than the rate you quote, and enjoyed the Thai hospitality. It was certainly on a level with any service I have experienced across the IC network. We also ate outside the IC, and I do think their dining options are limited, especially if one has a stay of more than say 3 nights.

Sorry that your stay fell short of your expectations.

canesfan

Staying here in 3 weeks. Can someone explain the difference between a Resort Classic Room and a King Panoramic Ocean View Resort Classic room?

I booked on 5 nights with combo of points and anniversary nights in the Resort Classic Room, although on the website the King Panoramic Ocean room is actually cheaper. Are the Resort Classic Rooms the ones on the side of the main building? From a picture I see on google, I see about 8 rooms below the pool that don't directly face the ocean.

I'd prefer to face the ocean and not the side of the building. I am an Ambassador, however my membership expires at the end of this month, so wondering if I should renew and maybe that would get me a upgrade to a Panoramic room. I don't care what type of room I get, I would just prefer not to get the ones I see in the picture on the side of the building.

Land-of-Miles

The room type I booked was the highest category apart from the Napa room. The rate was good for the time of year (I.e. Xmas)it will obviously be cheaper in low season.

Whilst I don't think I got a good room of the type I booked which is fairly shocking as a RA, I thought the service beyond that was woeful quite apart from the room.

I can safely say I would never ever visit this resort again even if the stay was free. My leisure time is way too precious to waste at low service places like this.

Key point is this resort is pretty awful.

monahos

You must be referring to this photo:

Despite following this thread for years, I had not realized until your post that there were 8 rooms on the side!

Apparently the terminology has been adjusted recently: in the past, the upgraded rooms IIRC were described as having a vaulted ceiling, which, as you can see from the photos, limits their number to 6. Now, 'top floor' appears to mean no unit above whence one can peer over the railing into your balcony, which would qualify 10 more rooms for that category.

Those side rooms appear to be bundled in the resort classic category along with the lower floor ocean-facing rooms, and are probably assigned to whoever is at the bottom of the pole that day: package tourists, travel agency bookings, and perhaps non-status points redeemers?
Actually, looking at the photos featuring the pool above, the 'partial sea view' appears acceptable, especially from the unit closer to the shore.
Now, I seem to recall an old post complaining about a faraway room with noisy staff congregating nearby, which seems to fit the description of the upper level rooms on the unit away from the shore...

FWIW I ended up in one of the vaulted rooms on a points booking as a Plat Ambassador a few years ago.

Pseudo Nim

Not to post an excessively long dissenting opinion, but having stayed here as an RA I really enjoyed it. Service was great, location is a bit iffy because it's so far out, but I would most certainly come back. Maybe my demands are lower than those of others, but we had a great time.

MrOscarh

IIRC you were in a beach villa, which is not the highest category. Proper research always pays off. I think you are pretty much alone in your opinion of the resort and it's service.

MrOscarh

Ditto. They look after RAs very well IME. It's a long way out but that suited us perfectly.

Land-of-Miles

Beach villas and the better 1 bed suites were exactly the same price during my stay. The only higher category available was the Napa suite which was overkill for our needs and the private pool was the principle selling point for us. I did do substantial advance research down to the specific villa type I wanted, my request was however just ignored and I was given one of the worst villas of the type.

I don't think I am alone (if you peruse this thread) but if so I am happy to be a dissenting opinion, I wish I had the benefit of knowing what I do now before wasting a great deal of money and my precious time staying at this resort.

I am happy for those who like it though, I can only speak from my own experience and it was distinctly sub par. Even my wife who is substantially more laid back than I am about these things, thought it was quite poor and was rather offended that her requests were equally badly executed whether expressed in English or Thai.

canesfan

Yes referring to that photo. Although I looked at the room descriptions again and for the Resort Classic Room, it clearly states spectacular views of the gulf. Which leans me to believe each room directly looks onto ocean? There are a couple of different descriptions for the Suites that say seclusion, views of gulf, so maybe those could be them?

palermo

I honestly cannot understand why people rave about this hotel.

Views are very nice and room interiors are fine.

The general condition of the common areas of the hotel is quite run down compared to other 5 star property in Thailand or the IC Danang or Bali.

Pools are nice but no service except in the main one by the beach that can get very crowded.

The beach is not swimmable except from the far end of the jetty and this may not be an option for most people. Location is very very faraway from anywhere else in KS.

The Flames restaurant is substandard.

Service is not great.

There is a road between the beach and the actual hotel.

Their main point of focus these days seem to be weddings and that is probably my biggest issue. They let wedding attendees staying in other nearby hotels use the hotel facilities. This is a big issue in my view.

There is at least one villa which is rented through Airbnb which is way cheaper than the Hotel but give access to all shared services and facilities (pool, beach, etc).

In summary, there is no comparison with the IC Danang.

Pseudo Nim

I'm *really* confused. You're comparing IC KS to Da Nang? Are you even serious? The seasons are different, the price level and property type is different, and hell, it's a different *country* even! Did you know IC Thalasso is even better than Da Nang? And that the One and Only Maldives is better than IC Thalasso? You're not even comparing apples to fruits - you're comparing apples to cement mixers.

By the way, some people need visas for Vietnam but not for Thailand. Making it a further bizarre comparison.

MrOscarh

Wrong hotel. There is no road between the hotel and the beach.

Pseudo Nim

What? Sure there is. You have to take the staircase down to the beach, or a buggy, but there's a "sort of" road between the hotel and the beach. Technically.

MrOscarh

Actually, there isn't. The road is within the hotel. All the beach facilities are directly on the beach. Are you thinking of a hotel in Phuket?