PES_B1

The Renaissance is much smaller size than this but have 30+ villas and more suites for elite upgrades while the JW next door to Renaissance have 4 suites and no Villa. Now can see how the Renaissance FDM is very proud of his hotel's elite upgrade chances

azepine00

hahaha

florens

Any recent reviews? Got 4 nights booked late October and got a villa with all inclusive. The hotel confirmed everything is included at every outlet unlimited. Kind of sounss too good to be true. Paying 35k THB for 4 nights.

TalkingPoint

Some friends stayed this month. They were on the $4500/nt villa pricing the hotel has been running. Continues to be very low occupancy... Would be hard to get 35k baht of value unless you drink a lot. Even then, since it's always happy hour, drinks are only 120b so it would still be hard.

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

Will08

What do you mean it is really isolated? Isolated from where? Khao Lak is a destination in itself with plenty of great restaurants in town? Phuket is a short drive and you can also easily get to Krabi from there in less than 2 hours. Khao Sok national park is a nice 1 hours drive away and it’s a great location to head out to the Similan islands.

Some of the best seafood restaurants can be found in Khao Lak.

ftrichard

I'm sure everything you have said is true. By isolated I do not mean it's out in the tundra. I mean package tourists are functionally trapped there with nowhere to go or nothing to do independently. Look on the map. Package tourists (the vast majority of guests it would seem) would need a car to get anywhere. Phuket is not a short drive. It's 90 minutes down the highway to HKT. We did it both ways. There are a handful of Thai restaurants and massage places on the beach immediately next to Le Meridien but that's it. Nothing within walking distance. Nothing within hiking distance. No public transport. We drove through Nang Thong on the way back to the airport which was lively and has nightlife and that was about 20 minutes drive from Le Meridien but package tourists cannot get there independently.

Package tourists are (a) unlikely to be comfortable driving in Thailand and in any case (b) would not hire a car at HKT because their package tour includes the transfers to the resort. There are many others who have made the same observation in reviews and we talked to some guests from the UK who were there for two weeks and already in the first week starting to feel a bit trapped. Package tourists are not like adventurous backpackers (who won't stay at Le Meridien anyway), richer FIT travellers (like flyer talkers) or Thais or foreign residents in Thailand who may indeed drive from home or hire a car to get there (which we will do next time we fly over from Samui as we had issues with our transfer from HKT yet again).

I reinforce this observation not to have a flame war but because mosts guests at this hotel are on tour operator packages and the isolated location will affect their holiday if they have the slightest inclination to experience some of Thailand on their trip. Likely this will affect Flyertalk travellers less who are probably a bit more independent and will arrive with their own transport and/or won't be there for a two-week package tour on a holiday-of-a-lifetime from Europe.

Will08

What you have described is any hotel outside of the Patong area. They all require transport to get anywhere bar a few restaurants outside of hotels and the odd hotel shuttle bus. The journey from the airport to LM Khao Lak can actually be quicker than getting to LM Phuket beach resort due to traffic so the journey time you quote has no bearing on the area being isolated. I think the price has more to do with the quality of the rooms which you highlight in your photos rather than the location. JW Khao Lak Suites is commanding more than VB, RC and even W Koh Samui.

It is actually a decent drive from Koh Samui across to Khao Lak, with Samet Nangshe a slight detour offering amazing views for a lunch stopover and the new roads in the area make driving fairly straight forward. Food for thought rather than flying into HKT.

ftrichard

Ha. Have you got shares in Le Meridien Khao Lak? We will probably have to agree to disagree on the definition of "isolated" when it refers to the experience of all-inclusive package tourists brought to Thailand en masse by European tour operators which is what I was talking about and I wasn't comparing the resort or the clientele to other Bonvoy hotels in Khao Lak or Phuket because I do not think other hotels so emphatically target all-inclusive package tourists brought by TUI to HKT which the guests we talked to at the bars were. At least, other Bonvoy hotels don't seem to offer such all-inclusive meal and booze plans through the Marriott web site because I looked for them before booking this. And, yes, as the photos show although the hotel is new and carrying the Le Meridien brand, it's clearly no more than 4* and I'd say the Four Points in Patong is in many ways a higher-quality property (though with its own issues with soundproofing).

I'm well aware how long it takes to get to Le Meridien Phuket from HKT as I've gone the journey a number of times and the two hotels cannot be compared for convenience to nightlife, tourist restaurants, and mainstream tourist attractions - the Phuket property being a short taxi ride away from the flesh pots of Patong. But I'm not here to be a rowing keyboard warrior and a diversity of online opinions on the specific location of Le Meridien Khao Lak may help others make a decision as to whether it's right for them so your opinion of course is as valid as mine as long as you've stayed there.

Will08

You do realise JW Khao Lak is bookable via TUI just the same, hence the comparison as opposed to having any form of affiliation with them. By the very nature of a resort being a 'resort' you have plenty of guests, (even on here) who visit these type of hotels with every intention on never leaving during the entirety of their stay regardless of all inclusive options.

It is hardly a "row" is it, I just think your post was full of contradictions. On the one hand you stereotype 'all inclusive guests' as not being adventurous and not wanting to spend money on transport because they have transfers included and on the other you are saying these guests feel trapped because they feel isolated. You are quite right a Patong property is a short ride away from tourist attractions but so is LM Khao Lak and it is inaccurate to suggest it isn't. If you spent the entirety of your trip in the confines of hotel grounds because you felt you were isolated and there was nothing close by then that was your misconception or lack of understanding of the area. It is not helpful for those reading who have never been there before to think this is actually the case.

ftrichard

All good. Peace at Christmas time. Hugs.

ftrichard

Just finished a second stay here on the all-inclusive rate of around THB7000 a night including three meals and booze from 11am-10pm. There's a lot to like about this resort for the price. Over Easter the other guests appeared to be mostly European families on - I would imagine - package holidays. A few staff recognised us from our last stay in December and a few remarked on us being Titanium members so I guess elites are a relative rarity at this hotel.

One thing to report here which is quite irksome is that for the second time the stay has failed to post correctly. The first time I got about two thirds the Bonvoy points I should have for the 3-night stay and I couldn't be bothered to follow it up because I hadn't got a receipt at check out but most of the stay posted and the 1000 welcome gift points posted.

This time I got a grand total of 700 Bonvoy points and no 1000 welcome points. Sigh. I do, however, have a printed receipt for the payment (not itemised) that they gave me when I paid upon check in so I've written to customer service to get it fixed. Quite tiresome and there's clearly something wrong with the way they post Bonvoy stays. Next time I stay here I will query this at check out and let them know that twice now the points have failed to post correctly.

PhilE

We also just completed our 2nd stay here based on an all-inclusive rate of about THB9000 for 1 week in a 1-bed villa. Really enjoyed it, and whilst there were a few hiccups in service, we decided to see the funny side - all the staff were very friendly and most were very helpful, so the overall experience was extremely relaxing. We did 3 nights at the JW Khao Lak beforehand and were upgraded from a duplex suite to a larger 1-bed suite, but it can't compare to a pool villa. We actually found the JW too big, too busy and with too many families with unruly kids. Whilst the JW's dining venues give a nicer first impression and offer better menus on paper, in practice the Thai restaurant had live music that was too loud and repetitive, with lots of kids, whilst the Japanese also had lots of kids and a limited menu. Don't get me started on the breakfast 'pile it high' practices. I won't do a full comparison here but happy to answer questions from a middle-aged couple's perspective if you're considering JW vs LM - each has pros/ cons but overall we preferred LM (the pool villa helped a lot, of course).

As to Richard's point - LM also credited an incorrect number of points (JW was correct) - but thanks to his comment, I made sure to get receipts and have asked the Ambassador team to correct this. On a positive note, there was no attempt to charge us for any meals or drinks (as expected with all inclusive, but when you still sign a chit for every meal and round of drinks, you do wonder...)

ftrichard

You mean THB9000 *per night* for the all-inclusive week in the pool villa? Otherwise you may claim to have found the bargain of the century.

Actually 9000 per night is pretty good for the villa. I may check my next reservation in July and change it if this rate is still there. Just to annoy my family who are also staying.

You’re correct that it is a little disconcerting to be signing for all those drinks throughout the day when the bill shows you how much they would be charging. But the lack of spurious charges at check out means the all-inclusive process is one aspect of their accounting that works correctly.

PhilE

Oops - yes, that’s per night! I felt we got about 4000-4500/ day value from the meals and drinks without going mad so the Destination Unlocked deal does seem good.

Strangely I can’t find any pool villas bookable via the app (tried various dates over next 12 months). Mentioned this at checkout and got a shrug and a “maybe it’s the app” as they’re definitely not all booked out and reception didn’t know of any renovations planned (they don’t need it - still in decent condition, just minor signs of wear).