Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve, Thailand [Master Thread]
Aug 29, 2019, 4:41 am
#16
Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 573
I cannot believe the lack of recent conversation about this property!
Well, for what it's worth we're going to stay for 5 nights at the end of the month (August 2019) since the Ritz Hong Kong where we were originally booked and one of my favorite properties anywhere, seems just too complicated given the current political climate. Though eating a pretty expensive flight to HK will suck, staying at Phulay Bay should make up for it. I'll add photos and comments when I get back.
Well, for what it's worth we're going to stay for 5 nights at the end of the month (August 2019) since the Ritz Hong Kong where we were originally booked and one of my favorite properties anywhere, seems just too complicated given the current political climate. Though eating a pretty expensive flight to HK will suck, staying at Phulay Bay should make up for it. I'll add photos and comments when I get back.
I cancel HK and want book Krabi end of October.
Aug 29, 2019, 9:05 am
#17
Suspended
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Southern California, USA
Programs: Marriott Ambassador and LTT, UA Plat/LT Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 8,764
Most cannot afford this property and one is unable to use points since it doesn't participate in Bonvoy. Hence, not much conversation!
You'd be more likely to hear or learn more about this property by posting about or searching for it in the Luxury Hotels Forum--where people are a lot more accustomed and experienced with this price point.
Enjoy! I certainly will be most interested in your experience. Just know that your Bonvoy status has little to no bearing on any stay at a Reserve property--since they don't participate in Bonvoy.
You'd be more likely to hear or learn more about this property by posting about or searching for it in the Luxury Hotels Forum--where people are a lot more accustomed and experienced with this price point.
Enjoy! I certainly will be most interested in your experience. Just know that your Bonvoy status has little to no bearing on any stay at a Reserve property--since they don't participate in Bonvoy.
Sep 4, 2019, 6:24 pm
#18
Join Date: Jul 2015
Posts: 1,028
Will do. I am Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime, so I'm curious if Marriott status does nothing at this property as advertised. I was at the Ritz in Singapore a few months ago and they really went out of their way to give me a few perks - including free breakfast - even though they clearly didn't have to since they too aren't part of Bonvoy. I booked a Reserve Pool Villa for the 5 nights this evening after cancelling my HK Itinerary.
Any recognition of your status? I was thinking of changing to the Beach Villa and seeing if there were any possible upgrades when it gets closer.
Sep 8, 2019, 1:46 am
#19
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: LAX, DCA, FUK
Programs: UA 1.5MM 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime
Posts: 156
Greetings. We just got back from Phulay Bay, and had an excellent time. The food and the spa were TERRIFIC. Best Thai food I've ever had, hands down. The Sri Trang restaurant was being renovated while we were there, so they combined the 'International' menu at Jampoon with the menu from Sri Trang and sat everyone at Jampoon. Lae Lay seafood restaurant was open and it was also outstanding. The Grilled Tiger Prawns, and crab/caviar appetizer was amazing. If I had to give a nod to one menu or the other, I'd say the Thai food wins out, but taking nothing away from Lae Lay. I found nothing interesting on the International menu at Jampoon, but we had breakfast there daily, and it was really very good. The sparking wine and freshly cut coconuts were a nice breakfast touch.
The butler service was top notch as you'd expect. Sam our Butler was incredibly warm and friendly, and nothing was a bother for her. She arranged our daily agenda, and never had us waiting more than a minute or two from our agreed to times to meet. The weather was downright terrible, but as we're living in Asia these days, I knew that traveling anywhere in South Asia during the rainy season was a roll of the dice. We spent most days at the Spa except for the last full day where we went to Hong Island to explore a bit. The Spa charges were VERY reasonable as compared to St. Regis, Shangri-La and other Spa's we've visited, but I would suspect the prices were very expensive for Thailand. All the treatments were great. Hong Island was 'ok' as others have reported. Loved the boat ride and the trip through a secluded cove. Just the boat ride itself made the trip worthwhile. All the tourists that show up about an hour after you arrive is why I was fine taking off back to Phulay Bay after just a few hours there.
The resort is lovely and can't say enough about the whole experience. We were upgraded from a Reserve Pool Villa, to an Ocean View Reserve Pool Villa. It was very nice. The bed was crazy huge, which I'm not 100% sure I get the point of, but the overall quality of the Villa was first rate. I would estimate they were at 30% capacity during our stay. The property GM was not on site during our stay, and as she was told that I had asked specifically to meet her to talk about the Reserve brand, she sent a nice bottle of Veuve Clicquot to our Villa with an apology letter saying she couldn't meet up as we'd be gone before she returned. Fair enough.
Bottom line is though I was sad that we couldn't do more exploring due to the weather, the resort was great, and we'll definitely be returning.
Birthday wishes for mrs. daberlin made with flowers and river grass.
Beautiful views at high tide
walkway leading out of the villa
The butler service was top notch as you'd expect. Sam our Butler was incredibly warm and friendly, and nothing was a bother for her. She arranged our daily agenda, and never had us waiting more than a minute or two from our agreed to times to meet. The weather was downright terrible, but as we're living in Asia these days, I knew that traveling anywhere in South Asia during the rainy season was a roll of the dice. We spent most days at the Spa except for the last full day where we went to Hong Island to explore a bit. The Spa charges were VERY reasonable as compared to St. Regis, Shangri-La and other Spa's we've visited, but I would suspect the prices were very expensive for Thailand. All the treatments were great. Hong Island was 'ok' as others have reported. Loved the boat ride and the trip through a secluded cove. Just the boat ride itself made the trip worthwhile. All the tourists that show up about an hour after you arrive is why I was fine taking off back to Phulay Bay after just a few hours there.
The resort is lovely and can't say enough about the whole experience. We were upgraded from a Reserve Pool Villa, to an Ocean View Reserve Pool Villa. It was very nice. The bed was crazy huge, which I'm not 100% sure I get the point of, but the overall quality of the Villa was first rate. I would estimate they were at 30% capacity during our stay. The property GM was not on site during our stay, and as she was told that I had asked specifically to meet her to talk about the Reserve brand, she sent a nice bottle of Veuve Clicquot to our Villa with an apology letter saying she couldn't meet up as we'd be gone before she returned. Fair enough.
Bottom line is though I was sad that we couldn't do more exploring due to the weather, the resort was great, and we'll definitely be returning.
Birthday wishes for mrs. daberlin made with flowers and river grass.
Beautiful views at high tide
walkway leading out of the villa
Sep 8, 2019, 2:04 am
#20
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: LAX, DCA, FUK
Programs: UA 1.5MM 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime
Posts: 156
Any update from your trip? I'm debating if the Reserve Pool Villa is worth the extra $1400 over 4 days that it would cost me vs. the Beach Villa.
Any recognition of your status? I was thinking of changing to the Beach Villa and seeing if there were any possible upgrades when it gets closer.
Any recognition of your status? I was thinking of changing to the Beach Villa and seeing if there were any possible upgrades when it gets closer.
Sep 8, 2019, 2:09 am
#21
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: LAX, DCA, FUK
Programs: UA 1.5MM 1K, AA EXP, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Lifetime
Posts: 156
Jun 7, 2021, 7:33 pm
#22
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,838
Phulay Bay Krabi - Ritz Carlton Reserve = Pampered as the Only Guests on the Resort
Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
111 Moo 3, Tumbol Nongthalay Amphur Muang Krabi, TH 81000
RecommendedLiked: LocationServiceFoodAmenitiesRoom
Phulay Bay Krabi - Ritz Carlton Reserve = Pampered as the Only Guests on the Resort (34 Photos)
Phulay Bay, a Ritz-Carlton Reserve
In normal years I am a bit hesitant to stay at Ritz Carlton Reserve hotels because they do not participate in Bonvoy, however this year renewing status with many hotel chains is easier so staying at RCR was less of an issue and we decided to go to Phulay Bay. The hotel informed us that baby Minnie was their youngest guest ever to check-in at the age of 5 weeks old and they did their utmost to ensure we had a comfortable stay. We were all alone on the resort except a couple of days in the middle of our stay where one couple showed up, so we could not possibly have had a more peaceful and relaxing time; I can highly recommend this hotel for a premium luxury experience.
Room
RCR hotels do not have to upgrade Marriott Bonvoy elite guests but Phulay Bay is aware of guest elite status and they do upgrade depending on the circumstances. This time was no exception – I booked the second room type and we received an upgrade to the Reserve Pool Villa. This is one heck of a stunning villa, the word ‘grandiose’ would come to mind with the cathedral ceiling in the bathroom including sky light, the huge thick wood doors with Thai paintings, the indoor bathtub in a greenhouse tower, the gigantic 4-meter wide bed, and lots of real estate space outdoors with Japanese-style design including a private pool in front and an outdoor tub in the back. All in all, a great property which has been very well maintained since it opened 16 years ago. The one downside of this resort in my opinion is that many room types do not have the most fantastic sea views, in fact some premium room types only have modest views which is in contrast more hilly resorts in Phuket and Koh Samui. The villa was also not purely stand-alone – the pool villas are arranged in blocks of two so we had a large door outside which could serve as a connecting door with the adjoining villa. Obviously since we were alone on the resort this was a non-issue but in different circumstances for top luxury I wonder how privacy would feel. While less important, I would also note that the bathroom amenities were forgettable and not my favorites.
Service
Despite the unusual circumstances, I did not notice any kind of slippage in service which was great from A to Z. They were very well prepared for our arrival with lots of useful baby amenities such as a sterilizer for baby bottles, shampoo and lotion for infants, diaper garbage can, etc. We could also order lots of off the menu items with ingredients which optimize breastfeeding, housekeeping was offered twice a day, they kept one restaurant open only for us or alternatively in-room breakfast was available too, special pillows we ordered were ready for us in the room upon our arrival, and butler service was available to serve us alone. We also received a nice turndown amenity every night (usually a local dessert) which was appreciated.
Dining
The breakfast menu was not the most luxurious I have seen in Thailand but the quality of the ingredients was excellent and the venue very nice overlooking the pool and the sea. I especially enjoyed the avocado toast which was an interesting blend of smooth textures with hummus and sweet juicy mangoes. The Kanom Jeen dish was also delicious and provided a special southern Thai touch to the menu. I would also note that many ingredients they use for cooking are grown in the resort garden and fully organic.
Beach
The beach is not the strong point of Phulay Bay but they normally have a shuttle boat to take guests to Hong Island nearby for a fun day trip expedition but it was not available this time due to covid restrictions.
Wifi
Wifi worked great with speeds of 150 Mbps.
Overall
For people who want a more quiet destination than Phuket or Koh Samui, Krabi is a good choice but the downside is that there are not as many hotels to choose from. In the luxury space, there is a new Banyan Tree nearby which opened a few months ago. BT is also non-participating in the Accor program (a more upscale BT, maybe similar to the distinction between RCR vs RC), has shown willingness to upgrade elites like RCR despite the lack of participation, but the similarities end there so they are less head-on competitors than I previously thought. BT has the better sea views because it’s on a hill, all room types at BT have a private pool unlike the lower room types at Phulay Bay which do not, but BT is a very dense resort with small villas unlike the Phulay Bay where our villa was 100+ sqm plus outdoor space adding another 250 sqm, also RCR has the butler service while BT does not. For those reasons both hotels probably cater to different crowds in my opinion. Anyway, bottom line I wish expensive stays at Phulay Bay could help make progress towards the $20k USD required spend to renew Ambassador status in normal years, but the property is special which will draw us back nonetheless.
Jun 7, 2021, 11:10 pm
#23
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,461
Overall For people who want a more quiet destination than Phuket or Koh Samui, Krabi is a good choice but the downside is that there are not as many hotels to choose from. In the luxury space, there is a new Banyan Tree nearby which opened a few months ago. BT is also non-participating in the Accor program (a more upscale BT, maybe similar to the distinction between RCR vs RC), has shown willingness to upgrade elites like RCR despite the lack of participation, but the similarities end there so they are less head-on competitors than I previously thought. BT has the better sea views because it’s on a hill, all room types at BT have a private pool unlike the lower room types at Phulay Bay which do not, but BT is a very dense resort with small villas unlike the Phulay Bay where our villa was 100+ sqm plus outdoor space adding another 250 sqm, also RCR has the butler service while BT does not. For those reasons both hotels probably cater to different crowds in my opinion.
Coincidentally, we were at Banyan Tree just two weeks ago. It was relatively jam-packed, with four rooms occupied! They upgraded us to one of the beachfront villas, which are standalone. The sea views were spectacular, the service amazing. We were assigned a personal concierge, but that may have just been the low occupancy. She was able to set us up with (re)opening night reservations at BT Bangkok's Vertigo for a birthday dinner, where we were welcomed like VIPs.
Feb 9, 2022, 2:30 am
#25
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Singapore / Bangkok
Programs: SQ, BA, QR, Marriott Titanium & LT Plat, HH Diamond, Hyatt Globalist, Accor Plat, AmEx Cent
Posts: 444
Sandbox 7 day stay
First time travelling to Thailand in a while, decided to do a 7 day sandbox in Krabi then onwards to Bangkok. Phulay Bay was phenomenal and easily into my Top 5 hotels!
I was shown a few different room types on arrival and settled on a beach villa with view. All staff exceptional, food was amazing, sunset bar fantastic, and trip to Hong Island well worth it.
I also visited the new Banyan Tree (walked along to it via beach at low tide) … nice resort, not in my opinion as tranquil as Phulay Bay, and a more dense layout.
Highly recommend Phulay Bay and already thinking of a return trip!
I was shown a few different room types on arrival and settled on a beach villa with view. All staff exceptional, food was amazing, sunset bar fantastic, and trip to Hong Island well worth it.
I also visited the new Banyan Tree (walked along to it via beach at low tide) … nice resort, not in my opinion as tranquil as Phulay Bay, and a more dense layout.
Highly recommend Phulay Bay and already thinking of a return trip!
Last edited by EGW1; Feb 9, 2022 at 2:46 am
Jun 1, 2022, 3:41 am
#26
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,252
I am about to check out after a three-night stay here and have to provide a very dissenting view to some of the opinions above. A large part of luxury for me is things being well designed / not requiring effort and this hotel is a total failure there. Overall, I found this place confusing and I'm not much clearer what a RC Reserve actually is than when I checked in.
Positives first:
- Service may have been the most friendly of anywhere I've ever stayed. Every single member of staff was happy and laid back, clearly thought has gone into making guests feel good after interactions
- The setting on Phang Nga Bay is stunning. My first time in this part of Thailand and it won't be my last. Lazing by the pool looking over the bay was a delight
- The airport transfer was slick and well handled
- A lot of the landscaping around the resort is beautiful (others bits are hideous though, why is there a random totally out of place Balinese water feature taking up half of the resort?)
- The bedding they use is great
Now, to the negatives. Most relate to one thing - the hard product is INFURIATING. Whilst the villa looks impressive, almost nothing is practical. It is like staying in a temple/church where no thought has been given to making it livable. I sent a photo of the interior to my parents and the cutting response I got back was "that looks like something from MTV Cribs". That is exactly what it felt like, a hard product designed by someone with an almost limitless budget who thinks luxury is living in a fairytale castle. So many things are ugly, vulgar and over the top purely for the sake of it. What do I mean?
- The double length bed takes up nearly half of the villa bedroom floorspace. It is blocked on three sides, so you have to climb into/out of it only on the short edge. To go from outside through the bedroom you have to walk around the length of the entire bed every time. There are no sockets by the bed.
- The villa is a light sleeper's nightmare. The ceilings are double / triple height with a large window inexplicably placed ABOVE the bed with no way to cover it. I didn't appreciate falling asleep jetlagged at 5am to be woken up by light streaming into the room an hour later at 6am. Same thing with a thunderstorm last night where lightening illuminates the entire bedroom. It feels a bit like being in a budget horror movie. The air conditioning cools very effectively but banged loudly at random intervals just to make sure a good night's sleep is impossible.
- As noted by escape4 , the villas are semi-detached and it rather destroys any sense of isolation to hear your neighbours in the garden. Worse, the villas have very poor interior sound isolation so I got treated to repeated shouts of "Sawasdee Kha! Room Service! Hello!" when laying in bed in the morning whilst the staff tried to get the attention of next door in vain.
- The bathroom surfaces are at the correct height for a 5 foot 4 Thai lady, however, anyone 6ft or above will spent a lot of time bending over. I burnt myself several times before I got used to all of the different taps. The shower has two big brass hot and cold taps with no separate flow and temperature controls. There is a massive delay and basically the settings are not much more sophisticated than 'on' and 'off', so it takes 1-2 minutes of turning the taps backwards and forwards every time you want a shower to find a semi-acceptable temperature. The toiletries are in ceramic vessels without dispensers, so you have to tip them over and shake them like a glass ketchup bottle, hoping enough comes out but not the entire contents each time.
- Whilst the bedroom is filled with natural light whether you like it or not, lighting at night is poor, with no separate lamps and basically the option of all the lights on or off, no properly lit place to shave / apply make-up, etc.
I could go on.
Equally, whilst service was extremely friendly, this is not Aman-style anticipatory luxury. Indeed, I've had better service at other standard Ritz-Carlton resorts. Housekeeping yesterday a case in point. I left my villa mid-morning to go spend a few hours by the pool and then had an activity booked through the hotel for 3pm. My butler came by whilst I was by the pool about lunchtime to have a chat, so they knew exactly what I was doing. What is the only time all day they should avoid trying to clean my room? Just before 3pm. What did I find when I went back to the villa to try to have a shower just after 2.30pm? They were in the middle of cleaning my villa.
Food was fine but frankly not to the standard of other high-end luxury resorts this place imagines it is competing with. Watery cappuccino with breakfast, relatively limited variety of breakfast options. The Thai restaurant was quite nice.
This is not going to win me any friends, but my overall impression was this is basically Disneyland for the newly wealthy from developing Asian countries. I am going to be very glad to check out and head back to Bangkok in an hour.
Positives first:
- Service may have been the most friendly of anywhere I've ever stayed. Every single member of staff was happy and laid back, clearly thought has gone into making guests feel good after interactions
- The setting on Phang Nga Bay is stunning. My first time in this part of Thailand and it won't be my last. Lazing by the pool looking over the bay was a delight
- The airport transfer was slick and well handled
- A lot of the landscaping around the resort is beautiful (others bits are hideous though, why is there a random totally out of place Balinese water feature taking up half of the resort?)
- The bedding they use is great
Now, to the negatives. Most relate to one thing - the hard product is INFURIATING. Whilst the villa looks impressive, almost nothing is practical. It is like staying in a temple/church where no thought has been given to making it livable. I sent a photo of the interior to my parents and the cutting response I got back was "that looks like something from MTV Cribs". That is exactly what it felt like, a hard product designed by someone with an almost limitless budget who thinks luxury is living in a fairytale castle. So many things are ugly, vulgar and over the top purely for the sake of it. What do I mean?
- The double length bed takes up nearly half of the villa bedroom floorspace. It is blocked on three sides, so you have to climb into/out of it only on the short edge. To go from outside through the bedroom you have to walk around the length of the entire bed every time. There are no sockets by the bed.
- The villa is a light sleeper's nightmare. The ceilings are double / triple height with a large window inexplicably placed ABOVE the bed with no way to cover it. I didn't appreciate falling asleep jetlagged at 5am to be woken up by light streaming into the room an hour later at 6am. Same thing with a thunderstorm last night where lightening illuminates the entire bedroom. It feels a bit like being in a budget horror movie. The air conditioning cools very effectively but banged loudly at random intervals just to make sure a good night's sleep is impossible.
- As noted by escape4 , the villas are semi-detached and it rather destroys any sense of isolation to hear your neighbours in the garden. Worse, the villas have very poor interior sound isolation so I got treated to repeated shouts of "Sawasdee Kha! Room Service! Hello!" when laying in bed in the morning whilst the staff tried to get the attention of next door in vain.
- The bathroom surfaces are at the correct height for a 5 foot 4 Thai lady, however, anyone 6ft or above will spent a lot of time bending over. I burnt myself several times before I got used to all of the different taps. The shower has two big brass hot and cold taps with no separate flow and temperature controls. There is a massive delay and basically the settings are not much more sophisticated than 'on' and 'off', so it takes 1-2 minutes of turning the taps backwards and forwards every time you want a shower to find a semi-acceptable temperature. The toiletries are in ceramic vessels without dispensers, so you have to tip them over and shake them like a glass ketchup bottle, hoping enough comes out but not the entire contents each time.
- Whilst the bedroom is filled with natural light whether you like it or not, lighting at night is poor, with no separate lamps and basically the option of all the lights on or off, no properly lit place to shave / apply make-up, etc.
I could go on.
Equally, whilst service was extremely friendly, this is not Aman-style anticipatory luxury. Indeed, I've had better service at other standard Ritz-Carlton resorts. Housekeeping yesterday a case in point. I left my villa mid-morning to go spend a few hours by the pool and then had an activity booked through the hotel for 3pm. My butler came by whilst I was by the pool about lunchtime to have a chat, so they knew exactly what I was doing. What is the only time all day they should avoid trying to clean my room? Just before 3pm. What did I find when I went back to the villa to try to have a shower just after 2.30pm? They were in the middle of cleaning my villa.
Food was fine but frankly not to the standard of other high-end luxury resorts this place imagines it is competing with. Watery cappuccino with breakfast, relatively limited variety of breakfast options. The Thai restaurant was quite nice.
This is not going to win me any friends, but my overall impression was this is basically Disneyland for the newly wealthy from developing Asian countries. I am going to be very glad to check out and head back to Bangkok in an hour.
Jun 1, 2022, 6:25 am
#27
formerly fdemoulin
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: UK
Programs: SPG Lifetime Platinum, BA Silver, Virgin Flying Club Red
Posts: 916
I am about to check out after a three-night stay here and have to provide a very dissenting view to some of the opinions above. A large part of luxury for me is things being well designed / not requiring effort and this hotel is a total failure there. Overall, I found this place confusing and I'm not much clearer what a RC Reserve actually is than when I checked in.
Positives first:
- Service may have been the most friendly of anywhere I've ever stayed. Every single member of staff was happy and laid back, clearly thought has gone into making guests feel good after interactions
- The setting on Phang Nga Bay is stunning. My first time in this part of Thailand and it won't be my last. Lazing by the pool looking over the bay was a delight
- The airport transfer was slick and well handled
- A lot of the landscaping around the resort is beautiful (others bits are hideous though, why is there a random totally out of place Balinese water feature taking up half of the resort?)
- The bedding they use is great
Now, to the negatives. Most relate to one thing - the hard product is INFURIATING. Whilst the villa looks impressive, almost nothing is practical. It is like staying in a temple/church where no thought has been given to making it livable. I sent a photo of the interior to my parents and the cutting response I got back was "that looks like something from MTV Cribs". That is exactly what it felt like, a hard product designed by someone with an almost limitless budget who thinks luxury is living in a fairytale castle. So many things are ugly, vulgar and over the top purely for the sake of it. What do I mean?
- The double length bed takes up nearly half of the villa bedroom floorspace. It is blocked on three sides, so you have to climb into/out of it only on the short edge. To go from outside through the bedroom you have to walk around the length of the entire bed every time. There are no sockets by the bed.
- The villa is a light sleeper's nightmare. The ceilings are double / triple height with a large window inexplicably placed ABOVE the bed with no way to cover it. I didn't appreciate falling asleep jetlagged at 5am to be woken up by light streaming into the room an hour later at 6am. Same thing with a thunderstorm last night where lightening illuminates the entire bedroom. It feels a bit like being in a budget horror movie. The air conditioning cools very effectively but banged loudly at random intervals just to make sure a good night's sleep is impossible.
- As noted by escape4 , the villas are semi-detached and it rather destroys any sense of isolation to hear your neighbours in the garden. Worse, the villas have very poor interior sound isolation so I got treated to repeated shouts of "Sawasdee Kha! Room Service! Hello!" when laying in bed in the morning whilst the staff tried to get the attention of next door in vain.
- The bathroom surfaces are at the correct height for a 5 foot 4 Thai lady, however, anyone 6ft or above will spent a lot of time bending over. I burnt myself several times before I got used to all of the different taps. The shower has two big brass hot and cold taps with no separate flow and temperature controls. There is a massive delay and basically the settings are not much more sophisticated than 'on' and 'off', so it takes 1-2 minutes of turning the taps backwards and forwards every time you want a shower to find a semi-acceptable temperature. The toiletries are in ceramic vessels without dispensers, so you have to tip them over and shake them like a glass ketchup bottle, hoping enough comes out but not the entire contents each time.
- Whilst the bedroom is filled with natural light whether you like it or not, lighting at night is poor, with no separate lamps and basically the option of all the lights on or off, no properly lit place to shave / apply make-up, etc.
I could go on.
Equally, whilst service was extremely friendly, this is not Aman-style anticipatory luxury. Indeed, I've had better service at other standard Ritz-Carlton resorts. Housekeeping yesterday a case in point. I left my villa mid-morning to go spend a few hours by the pool and then had an activity booked through the hotel for 3pm. My butler came by whilst I was by the pool about lunchtime to have a chat, so they knew exactly what I was doing. What is the only time all day they should avoid trying to clean my room? Just before 3pm. What did I find when I went back to the villa to try to have a shower just after 2.30pm? They were in the middle of cleaning my villa.
Food was fine but frankly not to the standard of other high-end luxury resorts this place imagines it is competing with. Watery cappuccino with breakfast, relatively limited variety of breakfast options. The Thai restaurant was quite nice.
This is not going to win me any friends, but my overall impression was this is basically Disneyland for the newly wealthy from developing Asian countries. I am going to be very glad to check out and head back to Bangkok in an hour.
Positives first:
- Service may have been the most friendly of anywhere I've ever stayed. Every single member of staff was happy and laid back, clearly thought has gone into making guests feel good after interactions
- The setting on Phang Nga Bay is stunning. My first time in this part of Thailand and it won't be my last. Lazing by the pool looking over the bay was a delight
- The airport transfer was slick and well handled
- A lot of the landscaping around the resort is beautiful (others bits are hideous though, why is there a random totally out of place Balinese water feature taking up half of the resort?)
- The bedding they use is great
Now, to the negatives. Most relate to one thing - the hard product is INFURIATING. Whilst the villa looks impressive, almost nothing is practical. It is like staying in a temple/church where no thought has been given to making it livable. I sent a photo of the interior to my parents and the cutting response I got back was "that looks like something from MTV Cribs". That is exactly what it felt like, a hard product designed by someone with an almost limitless budget who thinks luxury is living in a fairytale castle. So many things are ugly, vulgar and over the top purely for the sake of it. What do I mean?
- The double length bed takes up nearly half of the villa bedroom floorspace. It is blocked on three sides, so you have to climb into/out of it only on the short edge. To go from outside through the bedroom you have to walk around the length of the entire bed every time. There are no sockets by the bed.
- The villa is a light sleeper's nightmare. The ceilings are double / triple height with a large window inexplicably placed ABOVE the bed with no way to cover it. I didn't appreciate falling asleep jetlagged at 5am to be woken up by light streaming into the room an hour later at 6am. Same thing with a thunderstorm last night where lightening illuminates the entire bedroom. It feels a bit like being in a budget horror movie. The air conditioning cools very effectively but banged loudly at random intervals just to make sure a good night's sleep is impossible.
- As noted by escape4 , the villas are semi-detached and it rather destroys any sense of isolation to hear your neighbours in the garden. Worse, the villas have very poor interior sound isolation so I got treated to repeated shouts of "Sawasdee Kha! Room Service! Hello!" when laying in bed in the morning whilst the staff tried to get the attention of next door in vain.
- The bathroom surfaces are at the correct height for a 5 foot 4 Thai lady, however, anyone 6ft or above will spent a lot of time bending over. I burnt myself several times before I got used to all of the different taps. The shower has two big brass hot and cold taps with no separate flow and temperature controls. There is a massive delay and basically the settings are not much more sophisticated than 'on' and 'off', so it takes 1-2 minutes of turning the taps backwards and forwards every time you want a shower to find a semi-acceptable temperature. The toiletries are in ceramic vessels without dispensers, so you have to tip them over and shake them like a glass ketchup bottle, hoping enough comes out but not the entire contents each time.
- Whilst the bedroom is filled with natural light whether you like it or not, lighting at night is poor, with no separate lamps and basically the option of all the lights on or off, no properly lit place to shave / apply make-up, etc.
I could go on.
Equally, whilst service was extremely friendly, this is not Aman-style anticipatory luxury. Indeed, I've had better service at other standard Ritz-Carlton resorts. Housekeeping yesterday a case in point. I left my villa mid-morning to go spend a few hours by the pool and then had an activity booked through the hotel for 3pm. My butler came by whilst I was by the pool about lunchtime to have a chat, so they knew exactly what I was doing. What is the only time all day they should avoid trying to clean my room? Just before 3pm. What did I find when I went back to the villa to try to have a shower just after 2.30pm? They were in the middle of cleaning my villa.
Food was fine but frankly not to the standard of other high-end luxury resorts this place imagines it is competing with. Watery cappuccino with breakfast, relatively limited variety of breakfast options. The Thai restaurant was quite nice.
This is not going to win me any friends, but my overall impression was this is basically Disneyland for the newly wealthy from developing Asian countries. I am going to be very glad to check out and head back to Bangkok in an hour.
Jun 1, 2022, 6:45 am
#28
Join Date: Apr 2015
Programs: Some
Posts: 5,252
very interesting review. Ironically we were thinking of staying late this year, but when we looked at some you tube videos, well we were a bit put off. The design looked downright ugly. I think we will give this one a miss. Just wish rayavadee krabi would rejoin Marriott, but we can only dream. RC krabi sounds like it has similar problems to Naka island, just impractical. Think we will cross this off our list especially given the price point Thanks for the tip
I am OK with a little bit impractical for a reason, e.g. I really quite like Mystique. This was literally just terrible design choices absolutely everywhere, though.
Jul 29, 2022, 3:07 pm
#30
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AS 75K; UA 1MM; Hyatt Globalist; Marriott LTP; Hilton Diamond (Aspire)
Posts: 56,461