kismet

I am planning my first trip to Krabi (my fourth trip to Thailand) in March.

I would love to stay at the Rayavadee but the least expensive room I can find is over $650.00. (Does anyone know of any way to stay there less expensively than that?)

My second choice is the Pimalai on Koh Lanta at $255.00. Just wish it weren't so remote.

JamesA has recommended the Tubkaak but I don't find much written about it and I hesitate a little from the photos.

Another idea is to go back to Phuket to try the Thavorn Beach Village Resort and stay in one of their Ocean View Villas which I heard were nice ($302.00.)

Has anyone been to any of these places recently? Would you share your thoughts (and rates) with me. For a comparison, if it helps, I have stayed at the Chedi (Phuket) and at Poppies (Samui.)

We are two couples (in our sixties) looking for a beautiful,quiet,relaxing resort with a beach for swimming, a good restaurant(s) and spa services on site or near by.

Thanks so much!

juanm

Have just returned (5th Feb) from Phuket, Krabi and Bangkok. We stayed at the Meridien Yacht Club (MYC) in Phuket, Rayavadee in Krabi and the Shangri La in Bangkok. Thai air run B777s from Bangkok to Phuket (upgrade to business class cost me 15 uk pounds each way! - do it). Run hourly most of the day. They run B737-400s to/from Krabi.

Rayavadee is on a peninsular only reachable by boat. We were met at a small beach where we boarded a Rayavadee speed boat (all luggage handled by them-didn't touch it from the point it was picked up from our room in MYC), and it was heavy too!

Well, the wife does not like boats, but is was an easy 15 min trip in their speedboat. Depending on the tide, the speedboat may be met by a trailer to take you in the last part... (tide goes out a long way).

Rayavadee is quite stunning, A la James Bond type cliffs around you and set in ?lush? gardens (take plenty of insect repellent for early morning and late afternoon/evening walks etc.). Has access to 3 beaches (remember they are all public beaches though and have a lot of long tail boat traffic which make them very noisy and very busy!! (probably its only real critisism).

This is another high class hotel, once again service impeccable, food excellent with 3 restaurants to choose from. Thai restaurant -excellent menu with outdoor, indoor or air-cond dining. International restaurant - small, but very good menu (Lamb chops were very good...). and a small restaurant down by the pool bar on Railey beach (this is a very busy beach), but nice bar with more of a snacks menu. (Satay, Kebabs, Burgers etc.), but if that is all you want for dinner it makes a nice change.

Not much in the way of evening entertainment, but the lounge is nice for a few after dinner drinks and to feed the mosquitoes (if your not careful). Dlx Pavillions in the grounds are very nicely furnished, with a down stairs sitting room and cloakroom, bedroom upstairs (both with tv's). Large bathroom/toilet with walk in shower and big round bath. Lots of hanging space. a few shelves, but no drawer storage for shirts etc.

Amazing Spa, big ?wow? factor with stunning entrance. A bit on the expensive side, but still indulged?Large pool area (which is where we spent most of our time), well maintained with pool staff for laying out your bed and providing cold bottled water or iced teas (foc), or Singha Yai all day. Stayed 7 nights, and took the speedboat back to the Krabi town pier where we were met by Rayavadee staff who took us to Krabi airport for return to Bangkok. Once again, they handled all the luggage and even took the tickets and got us our boarding passes. Didn?t touch the luggage until we picked it up in Bangkok.

This is an amazing hotel, with outstanding service but ?very? expensive and I think the beaches are spoilt by all the noisy long tail boats.

Lisa1224

We stayed at Rayavedee last January and I completely agree with the past poster. We booked our entire trip through Asain Affair Holidays (Singapore airlines) and got a really good deal. I don't know exactly how much we paid at Rayavadee but breakfast and dinner were included. Asain Affair holidays has a web site if you want to check and see how much they charge (asainaffairholidays.com) hope this helps.

kismet

Thanks to you both.

I was put off by the price and booked the Pimalai instead for March.

I hope I have a chance to check out Krabi one day and I will compare a little. I'll post something when I return.

I appreciate your help.

CFW

Kismet, If you are still checking this website, please let me know how you liked the Pimalai. We are planning a trip to Thailand at the end of January/beginning of February, and are considering the Pimalai as an option. We're looking for an upscale resort with beautiful beach and surroundings, good restaurants, and lovely accomodations with patios or terraces. Pimalai looks like it might be what we are looking for, but I was concerned that it may be too remote. What did you think? Were you able to get out & see any surrounding areas? If anyone else has stayed there any information would be greatly appreciated. It's hard to tell from a hotel's website.

JamesA

Koh Lanta is a 'very' qyuiet place and this has it's benefits for those looking for a quiet' place, but do realise that it 'is' quiet and you have to decide how much time you want to spend at you resort and whether you want to get out and about more, if you want to do things like Phi Phi and Phang Nga Bay then krabi is the better choice.
For Phuket The Mangosteen Resort and Spa at Nai Harn Beach is very nice, also the Kata Thani has been refurbished ( Kata beach ). Mom Tri's Boathouse and Villa Royale of course. Kata beach resort is great for absolute beachfront as is well priced.