We spent 10 nights at JW Marriott Khao Lak for our honeymoon and it was absolutely perfect for our needs! An utterly beautiful hotel with clean rooms and facilities and the kindest, most helpful staff I've ever come across in a hotel. Our room was spacious and beautiful, with direct access to the 2.4km pool - this was a great feature and it felt like we had a bit of private pool whilst being able to swim all the way to the main pool. The pool also adds to the feeling that you're in a village community rather than a commercial hotel, as we made friends with our ”neighbours” and would see them from time to time when we were out swimming. The hotel's beach is clean and stunning, the sun beds are thickly padded and comfortable, and we made use of the bodyboarding and kayaking equipment on our stay. The restaurants at the hotel were incredible! The main ones are Ta-Krai (Thai), Sakura (Japanese), and Olive (Italian). Before arriving I was a bit sceptical at how authentic the restaurants would be but the hotel has ensured they've brought in the best chefs who could bring authentic cuisine to Khao Lak. The sushi at Sakura was probably the freshest and tastiest I've ever had (albeit, I've not been to Japan yet, but it's still better than all the London sushi places where we live and even better than Nobu). We loved Olive restaurant too, in particular their Sunset BBQ evening where you're spoilt for choice on meats, seafood, sides, salads, and a full-on Italian cheese and ham bar with really delicious, authentic selections. Chef Enzo there was dishing out cheeses to us and making recommendations what to pair each cheese with and was so helpful (and the cheeses were incredible). We opted for the Breakfast and Dinner package and we're really glad we did as we loved going back to those restaurants over the 10 days. For lunch we'd eat at the hotel cafes, or out at excursions, or at local restaurants adjacent to the hotel, such as Phen's (delicious!). We also bought a spa package at Quan Spa in the hotel and booked in lots of treatments throughout our stay. The spa is beautiful and the massage therapists were excellent; it's a bit pricier than outside the hotel but the spa environment is worth it for that luxe feeling (and still cheaper than in the UK!). Overall, I don't think we found and faults with our stay at JWM and we will definitely come back in the future, perhaps for our anniversaries! And we would highly recommend it to all our family and friends!
We stayed in the Deluxe Pool Villa for 5 nights. The resort is in 2 sections. The front section has beach frontage with a pool & restaurant, the back section with the Villa's is set individually amongst garden with a large pool with water slide & playground for children, then another pool for adults only. Buffet breakfast selection has a variety of options to select from. The villa was very spacious with your own private pool with 2 spa jets. Whilst the main pools close at 6pm, you can continue to use your own private pool. With warm nights it was lovely being able to cool off later in the evening. Our room was provided with 2 beach towels. We had a small private courtyard with an outdoor shower. Our villa had a split system air-con for easy control of temperature. The bathroom was also spacious with a large bath, separate shower & toilet, and vanity area. Villa was serviced each day. The bed whilst firm, wasn't too uncomfortable. In all our Thailand & Asia travels, beds do typically tend to be in the firm side. The resort is located just a short walk from the main street, so it was very tranquil. Buffet breakfast had something for everyone There are plenty of choices on main street for food options. Bring the low season (July), they were renovating areas of the resort, but we didn't find it overly disturbing. We would happily stay here again.
We were very pleased with our stay at the hotel Wanaburee. It is in a prefect location, on the beach and surrounded by forest which is lovely to hear the sounds of nature. There are 2 pools, one right on the front looking out to the sea and my favourite was the 2nd in a beautiful location surrounded by the trees (adults only). The food at the restaurant was really good every night and I was happy to see they served frozen cocktails which are lovely in the warm heat. The staff are what really helps to make this hotel, with everyone very friendly. We hope the hotel appreciates their staff. Special shout out to Sinny who was a wonderful member of the bar/restaurant team, friendly and helpful at all times with a smile on her face every day. We also very much appreciated her good English, as our Thai was limited to hello and thank you! This hotel is good value for money and prices not so different from the main ***** in khao lak (unless you go to the outskirts). Having a massage right on the beach was also a wonderful experience. We stayed in a forest view room which had great space and the hotel cleaning was good throughout.