Saturday, May 22, 2010

Haad Yao Bay View Resort, Koh Phangan

Haad Yao Bay View Resort, Koh Phangan

This is located at one of the longer beaches on Koh Phangan, Haad means beach in Thai and Yao means big. The resort used to house the first concrete building on this beach, a good 10 or so years ago and whilst visiting Koh Phangan very recently for the very first time after having lived on Koh Samui for almost 11 years, I stayed at this resort.

It's very conveniently located on Haad Yao, at the Northern corner and has very attractive prices on all of their rooms, all fitted with air con and wifi in the room. The staff was also very help full. When I was there earlier this month it was a very young average guest staying there.

If you want a convenient and fairly cheap aircon room and don't mind the big concrete building compared to the cosy bungalows Koh Phangan has to offer, this place may be well down your alley.

Booking by Agoda

Booking by Hotels Combined


Standard room


Swimming pool


Exterior view from the beach


Haad Yao beach looking South

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Kaw Kwang Beach Resort, Koh Lanta

Kaw Kwang Beach Resort, Koh Lanta


It has been around 16 years since I was first on Koh Lanta and a few years later I visited again. May 2010 saw the return of me and instead of a single traveller back in the days, I came with my family this time around.

Back in the days it was just sand roads around the island and Kaw Kwang Beach resort was a top end resort and one of the very first resorts on the island at all.

Time does tell and the resort nowadays has lost a bit of its former glory. The resort is now surrounded by high end resorts 21st century style. This is no problem however since the rooms at Kaw Kwang are decently priced and especially the Garden View rooms and bungalows have excellent value.

One of the other things that didn't change over all those years are the nice beaches, seemingly endless long and hardly occupied, although in all fairness, we visited during the beginning of low season and many places around the island were already closed.

We had a family room, which was a basic two room bungalow, the only thing that comes to mind was that the bathroom had a strong smell, so we sprayed, which helped. I did notice at reception that we weren't the only ones with this problem. At the end of the day no serious big problem, I guess it comes with an aged resort.

Wifi was available at the reception area only but of good quality and the food was ok, big portions but nothing special. They have a very nice garden to relax in and a lovely piece of beach in front.

It was great to be back on Koh Lanta again and we all enjoyed our stay at Kaw Kwang. For a good deal, you might want to check this resort out, decent prices and very near the piers and ferries at Saladan village.

Booking by Agoda

Booking by Hotels Combined


Pool


Modern Beach front bungalow


Deluxe Beach and Superior Garden view


Family room


Pool with ocean and beach view


Relaxing garden with sala


Klong Kao beach