Andaman White Beach Resort (SHA Plus+)

The Andaman White Beach Tucked away off the main road, the Andaman White Beach Resort feels a little like discovering a forgotten tropical hideaway. We were greeted with warm smiles and a genuinely friendly welcome before being shown to our room — spacious, comfortable, but unmistakably from another era. The hotel was built in 2002 and renovated in 2015, though one suspects the renovation budget may have been… modest. You can see hints of the resort’s former glory everywhere. The turquoise-tiled main swimming pool must have looked spectacular in its day, and in our room the sunken bath and jacuzzi finished in the same tiles would have felt wonderfully luxurious back in 2002. Today, though, the furniture has been painted, some tiles are cracked, and the taps have taken on that slightly tarnished look that only time and sea air can create. It’s all still charming — just with a gentle patina of age. The outside restaurant and bar are simple but good, and the sea views from the bar are quite literally unbeatable. You sit there looking straight onto what can only be described as paradise. The resort itself is wrapped in jungle, and the soundtrack is a wonderful mix of rustling leaves, distant wildlife, and waves rolling onto the shore. The staff are excellent — always smiling and clearly proud of what they do. Special mention to Alex, who was friendly, informative and an all-round top guy. I’m not entirely sure who the manager is, but everyone certainly seems to know their job. Breakfast was excellent, happy hour was even better (the Piña Colada deserves particular praise), and although the odd weed growing bravely around the pool hints again at the resort’s past splendour, the atmosphere remains wonderfully relaxed. The resort is about a 15-minute walk to Nai Thon village, though the walk involves a road with very little pavement — so unless you enjoy living dangerously, a taxi for around £7.50 is probably the wiser option. Nai Thon itself appears to be something of a Russian province these days — quite extraordinary how many there are. That’s not meant as a criticism at all, just an observation — they all seemed to be enjoying the sunshine as much as we were. But the true USP of this resort is the beach. It is absolutely stunning. My wife and I actually renamed it “Ray-Ban Beach”. Why? Within an hour of arriving we wandered down for a gentle paddle, only to be hit by a rogue wave that swept both our pairs of glasses clean off our faces and out to sea. We spent the next few days searching the shoreline in vain… hence the name. Consider yourselves warned. All in all, I’d give the resort four stars. It would easily be five if the property weren’t a little tired around the edges. That said, the charm, the beach, and the wonderful staff more than make up for it. And yes — we will definitely return.

We arrived at the hotel from Bangkok to await news of a return flight to London after three previous flights were cancelled. On arrival we were greeted warmly by the staff and given cold towels and a cool drink. Understandably, our rooms were not quite ready but our luggage was stored and we were provided with pool towels. When our rooms were ready a member of staff came and found us on the beach to let us know. Our room was spacious with a large veranda facing the sea. The breakfast was of a good quality and well prepared. We had dinner twice at the hotel, the food was very appetising, and the staff attentive.

We loved, loved the place, simply paradise for the four times we have been there, when it was managed by Luciano. This time the management changed, and we won’t go back - we don’t put a lower rate because the beach is beautiful and the restaurant staff is really nice and friendly. Other than that, it is easy to tell the main focus is to save money. They had in the past three different restaurants, now they closed the beautiful one at the beach, they kept just two but with one menu/kitchen only. No service at the beach as in the past. And no lifeguard was in service, as it used to be. Months before arriving and shortly before, we’ve requested to have the same room where we stayed in the past. They simply didn’t bother and we were given another room. One receptionist was particularly rude, not looking at us for the whole holiday as we dared asking for our beach towels to be changed daily. We asked for an extra one but we were told it was not possible.