Am having a small freak out as have just booked the Zeavola for 4 nights at the end of the month. There are many good reports on TripAdvisor and it's recommended by Mr&Mrs Smith, Travel Intelligence etc too. I've read some bad reviews on FT though. Has anyone got first hand experience? I'm now really worried about mosquitos, lack of privacy, a busy beach and constant music, which is not at all what I want. I'm after a quiet beach with great views. Help!!!

I don't know exactly where this place is but the web site says it's on the north part of the island. I think that part is pretty secluded so you shouldn't have any problems with crowded beaches or loud music. You'll probably need to take a longtail boat to get to other parts of the island.

You'll be fine. It's on one of the most secluded beaches on the entire island. Is it busy? Well, that's relative I suppose--during the day you'll get some foot traffic from locals from the gypsy village next to the beach, but it's not like the rest of Phi Phi where you've got pasty tourists drinking whiskey buckets and puking all night. It wouldn't be something I'd classify as 'crowded'...more like 'local'

Mosquitoes? If you don't want those, then you probably shouldn't be on any island in Thailand. They're attracted to wet places...so on most every island they come out at night. Bring DEET with you and you'll never even notice them.

Zeavola is one of the most unique and beautiful hotels I've seen...and Laem Thong (the beach it's on) is unparalleled in scenery and for off-shore snorkeling.

You'd be mad to cancel...just my 2 cents.

Thanks for the advice, much appreciated.

As you know from my trip report I disagree with almost everything that filmwill says. Please post your experiences when you return. Some of the things I disliked could have changed. For example the growth of the vegetation might have improved the privacy of the bungalows. Maybe they have removed the loudspeakers built into the sand on the beach.

I have just returned from another trip, this time Koh Lanta and Koh Muk and once again I was reminded that the mozzie problem at Zeavola was uniquely out of control when we were there. Hopefully they have gotten the swarms of mozzies under control by now (even though spraying during our stay failed to help).

filmwill mentions snorkelling. We are very avid snorkellers and by Thailand standards it is good but do note that there was very active boat traffic and we were yelled at by passing boats even though we didn't think we were encroaching on traffic lanes.

As you know from my trip report I disagree with almost everything that filmwill says. Please post your experiences when you return. Some of the things I disliked could have changed. For example the growth of the vegetation might have improved the privacy of the bungalows. Maybe they have removed the loudspeakers built into the sand on the beach.

I have just returned from another trip, this time Koh Lanta and Koh Muk and once again I was reminded that the mozzie problem at Zeavola was uniquely out of control when we were there. Hopefully they have gotten the swarms of mozzies under control by now (even though spraying during our stay failed to help).

filmwill mentions snorkelling. We are very avid snorkellers and by Thailand standards it is good but do note that there was very active boat traffic and we were yelled at by passing boats even though we didn't think we were encroaching on traffic lanes.

Wow. Suck on some more lemons there, buddy.

That said, I do appreciate having my name bolded...twice at that! Makes me feel special.

I suppose it's a true feat that hotel management has somehow figured a way to train the mosquitoes on the island specifically to target their resort only. Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?

Again, I'll say mention that mosquitoes are attracted to water...so most islands in Thailand suffer from this problem.

To each their own...and then there's those that are impossible to please.