Tag: budget hotel

sai thong resort

Sai Thong Resort (ทรายทอง รีสอร์ท)Trang

Posted on by Ms. Elle

On our way to Krabi we decided to have a stopover in TRANG. We immediately started thinking of an accommodation that would not break the bank as we already have booked a nice resort in Krabi, Green View Village Resort. While we were discussing the plans for the day we remembered a resort our university booked us in during our annual university sports meet held in Trang a few years back.  Sai Thong Resort is located at 8WJ+64H, Mai Fat, Sikao District, Trang 92150.

Sai Thong Resort (ทรายทอง รีสอร์ท) was a good experience the first time we stayed so we decided to spend our stopover night there.  We walked in and booked for a night. The family room that we got costs 800Thb (23.8USD) per night. We opted for the cheapest family room thinking that it’s only for a night. Not really the best decision. ^_^

Room

The cheapest room is part of a quadruplex bungalow, one of the older structures the resort has. Inside the room is like a time machine that brings you back to the late 90s to early 2000s with the dated items you can find inside. A picture tube TV attached to a TV Box, old switches and electrical outlets, a vintage shower head, and the room itself is showing its years. The good thing is that they retrofitted an Air conditioner which seems to have been added recently. With all that being said, for us, as long as it works we don’t really mind. ^_^

Bathroom

The bathroom was clean. Old but clean. The bowl and sink are either new or just well-maintained. As for the shower set, the bidet, the mirror and the rack beneath it have seen better years.

Amenities/Complimentary 

We had at least 3 water bottles when we got in the room and presumably will be replenished daily.   A roll of toilet paper and a bottle of body shampoo. There’s a mini ref to store your drinks and food.

Wifi:  The room has free WiFi, but connecting our mobile phones was a struggle. Two out of four phones could connect and get decent feed. The moment a third and fourth phone logs in the feed starts to lag. This is something the management needs to look into. At this day and age we all know that having a good wifi signal is akin to having air to breathe. ^_^

Swimming Pool

This resort does not have a pool but is very very near Pak Meng beach. We also did not mind this aspect since it’s only a stopover for a night. ^_^

Food

They did not offer breakfast during our stay but we clearly remember a buffet breakfast was available during our first stay. I think they only offer breakfast to big group deals or something like that. But it does not matter though since it is surrounded with restaurants with affordable prices and with actually good food. ^_^

Recommendation

Do we recommend Sai Thong Resort??? ABSOLUTELY!!! You have options to either save money or be comfortable in your stay.  We opted to save money and we got what we paid for but they do have better rooms for a higher price. This resort is not only near Pak Meng Beach and restaurants… it is also near Rajamangala Trang Aquarium, an affordable place where you can have a bit of an educational fun with the kids. It’s a very convenient resort to be in with your family. A good place for a short getaway from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Affordable Family-Friendly Hotel/Resort

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swimming pool at Phutara lanta resort

Phutara Lanta Resort Koh Lanta Krabi

Posted on by Ms. Elle

 

Accomodation: Phutara Lanta Resort. The best family hotel we have gone to so far.

Location: 693 Moo 2, Saladan,  Koh Lanta Krabi 81150 Thailand
☎: +66980307182

 

Room: We stayed in one of the Two-Bedroom Luxury Poolside Suites on the second floor of a two-storey  duplex building.  The rooms are huge,  in fact the management allows a maximum of 4 adults and 2 children. It is super clean, tidy,  and well insulated; noise is inaudible even between the two bedrooms in the suite. It is well ventilated with separate air conditioning system for each bedroom.  There are several windows if you opt for fresh air, and a nice patio obscured by trees and vegetation in front. This lovely suite has several lighting options to choose from, big built-in closet,  two flat screen TVs, large wall mounted mirror,  lovely big bathroom, and a mini kitchen equipped with cupboards and standard sized sink. The huge king-sized bed is placed on a sturdy wooden built-in platform,  so the bed sits  firmly on it without rickety or creaking sound which was one of the weaknesses of Nadivana Serviced Apartments in Aonang Krabi.

Amenities: The usual room amenities are available like fridge,  hairdryer,  toiletries, electric kettle, and complimentary stuff;  tea,  coffee, and bottled water. But what really got me was the mini kitchen with sink and cupboards. This is the best family hotel we have gone to so far. It makes all the mommy stuff easy and comfortable.

Pool is big and clean. There’s a proper kid pool, 60 cm deep,  perfect for toddlers and young children.  The adult pool is 130 to 160 cm. deep,  perfect for not so good swimmer like us.😊 The pool is well maintained, we had a great time!

swimming pool at Phutara lanta resort

 

Wifi connection is excellent. We did pretty much everything; movie and video streaming, blogging, online games,  social media engagement. Hatzanda and Lanta Riviera Villa just lost the first spot of the strongest WiFi connection as Phutara’s Wifi connection is awesome. No glitch,  the connection was strong everywhere in the hotel premises and I mean every where. Even in the pool area and the parking lot the connection was great.

Restaurant is located at the second floor of the management building. It is small but clean, and has a nice view of the pool on one side and the lush greeneries on the other. Heavy wooden tables and chairs surround a dainty counter where food are served.

Food. The complimentary breakfast is basic, nothing fancy (like Wake Up Hotel in Aonang Krabi),  but tasty which includes fried rice,  stir-fry noodles,  sliced bread,  eggs,  pancakes,  iced tea, orange juice,  and brewed coffee. Food is freshly cooked,  nothing was re-cooked. They also serve lunch and dinner with varied menus like Indian,  Mexican,  European,  Thai,  Pizzas,  and Steaks. We were told that since it was low season, when we came, they won’t be serving dinner. It was not a problem for us but this may not sit well with other visitors.

Resort ground is elevated a few feet from road level, so one could actually get a pretty good view of Klong Khong beach from a far. It is studded with tall trees, flowers,  and tables and benches.  The ground is tidy, mowed, and flowers are trimmed. A good place to hang out for late afternoon tea or coffee, or have a nice read.

Parking is available onsite.  One in front of the hotel with camera and another behind (no CCTV cam).

Services. Phutara’s staff are friendly,  considerate, and they speak English. So communication is not a problem.

Price: $143 for two nights

Overall: 4.5/5 rating

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nadivana serviced apartments

Hotel Review: Nadivana Serviced Apartments

Posted on by Ryan

Location. 159 Moo 4, Ao Nang Muang
Krabi, Muang Krabi 81180 Thailand
☎ 011 66 75 661 358

big pool in nadivana serviced apartment
Hotel Review: Nadivana Serviced Apartments

Room. The room we stayed in was pretty spacious and clean with a huge wall mirror, and a bunk bed which our kids loved so much. In reality though, Summer and Derick used the lower bunk only, as the upper bunk was way too near the air-conditioning. The bed was soft, but shaky. It’s a bed with wheels, wheels that couldn’t be locked, so it’s super unstationary. Pillows were tiny and uncomfortable, the kind that gives you a stiff neck but they’re clean though, which is super important for an asthmatic family like us. There were two dainty lampshades and a huge photo frame of Nopparat beach on the wall. The huge flatscreen TV had several cable channels which we enjoyed as well. The bathroom waa big and clean except for those icky smudges on the black-tiled walls. Other things we appreciate about the bathroom was the big mirror in front of the big sink and having a number of towel rails/holders. We love the vibrant looking, marble bathroom floor of The Lakehouse better though.

Other amenities in the room include several hangers, fridge with beverages (for sale), complementary bottled water, electric pot, safe box, two comfortable, sturdy, plastic chairs, toiletries but without shampoo, weird!

two kids in the swimming pool at nadivana serviced apartment
Hotel Review: Nadivana Serviced Apartments

Amenities

The Pool- adults and kids, both are huge! The pool for adults has a bar that allows swimmers to enjoy their drinks while in the water. Next to it is the kids pool, a proper kids pool, not a jacuzzi/kids pool type. It has a teeny weeny slide that adds to the fun. The pool is awesome! Water is a bit murky but not as murky as the Lakehouse Ko Yo Guesthouse during our stay there. Our kids enjoyed chilling out by the pool and had the time of their life!

WiFi is excellent! No glitch at all. The connection is even faster than Hatzanda Lanta Resort and Lanta Riviera Villa Resortwhich we ranked number 1 in our list prior. We were able to open and stream pretty much everything we thought of watching, in the room and even at the pool side.

Restaurant is located at the main building. They serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner. However, eating outside is better. There’s a nice restaurant which serves great food at a local price just a few meters away, Sakeereen Halal Food.

Food. We opted for breakfast and paid extra $16 for it. Thinking that Nadivana is a big company, we were expecting a good breakfast on our first morning. However we were disappointed big time! The complimentary buffet includes toasted bread, steamed ham and tiny hotdogs which were re-cooked the following morning, cereals, khaw phat (fried rice) which has nonexistent meat and thinly sliced veggies. Eggs are available upon request but you to pay extra.
We had an excellent breakfast experience at Rimlay Park Resort, a relatively small accomodation. Breakfast there was truly a treat.
Anyway, the complimentary buffet breakfast is Nadivana’s weakest link.

Resort ground is wide with the pool occupying the main central portion of the main ground. Behind is where the deluxe quad rooms are situated facing a vast grassland (not a garden) where one could be visited by cows and/or snakes. Yaas snakes! I saw one (on our first morning) slithered into a bushy part of the main building. But don’t worry they have got this silicon cover attached at the foot of the door to keep snakes, frogs, and bugs from coming in through the gap.

Parking. There were no proper onsite parking for those staying in the deluxe quad rooms. They have got a few spaces right in front of the reception/restaurant area but this however is a long way from where our room was, anyway, it’s full the whole time. So we had to park on the grassy vacant lot near our room. We didn’t mind it really, the hiccup was, our car tire got punctured by a nail or metal screw.

Services
The room is serviced everyday and complimentary items are replenished too. The ladies at the reception were friendly, accommodating, and they could communicate in English pretty well.

Clientele

A great choice for those who come in groups of 4 or more.

Price

We stayed at the deluxe quad room for three nights with breakfast, for $178 (5,543.00 baht). Booked at bookingdotcom (https://www.booking.com/s/27_8/b84f891f)

Over-all

If you’re tolerant enough of small nuisances like having the water sprayer on the left side of the toilet, off road parking, possible snake sighting especially if you’re staying in one of the deluxe quad rooms then posh-looking Nadivana Serviced Apartments is a good choice. I strongly suggest however to opt-out breakfast!

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