Railay Village Resort & Spa (SHA Extra Plus+)

This hotel is nothing like the brochure. We arrived on the floating pier and absolutely no one around to help. We had to pull out cases through the walking street to the opposite beach. Reception understood very little English. The room was filthy. The windows and curtains dreadful. The bathroom damp, no chrome left on the taps, tidemark around the bath and the window covered up as workers kept coming to the back of the building. The furniture is very dark and the room gloomy. We went back to reception and said we couldn’t stay there. We were promised we would be moved the next day and it never happened. We also tried everywhere on the island for availability but everywhere was full. We called in a breakfast but had already decided we wouldn’t stay. If the room hygiene was so poor what were the kitchens like? The lid on the bread container was filthy and the yogurt was in a large bowl sitting on the counter. We ate out each day. There two pools one has 3 loungers and one umbrella and the other 8 loungers and 3 umbrellas. We had paid for a pool access room which seemed pointless. The air con stopped working each day. An engineer would arrive, change the batteries in the remote and leave. There was a power outage in the third day which left us with no lights or air con. Another engineer and several staff outside the bathroom trying to resolve the issue. The wardrobe door was broke so we could move it to hang our clothes and the safe wouldn’t work. We booked this hotel via Agodo who clearly don’t inspect the properties in their books. When I contacted them for help on arrival the customer service told me to speak to the hotel. You would have to have pretty low standards to find any of this acceptable.

With more care and fine tuning, this has the potential to be an amazing hotel, however it lacks serious care and attention to detail. If you can get over the long list of niggles, you could probably enjoy this hotel. We have just returned from a 5-night stay and this was our experience and honest review: Pro’s: Fantastic location on the beach, steps away from walking street, bars and restaurants, lovely garden grounds surrounding accommodation, 2 pools, the largest is beautiful and peaceful surrounded by trees and wild life. The room was spacious with appropriate amenities, fridge, good WIFI and effective air con etc, bottled water given daily. Hotel transfers to and from resort by their own private boat and taxis were faultless and worth the extra money. Reception staff were friendly and helpful. Con’s: This resort does not sell alcohol, however, can be purchased from nearby bar and minimart and drunk on premises, however it’s a shame as it has a prime placed terrace with tables on the edge of the beach. There are not enough sunbeds for guests, for the 28 condos hosting at least 2 people each around the main pool, only 16 sunbeds were available. Breakfast was at best average and lacked daily basics such as bananas, supplies were not replenished quickly and I needed to ask for things like yoghurt when the bowls were empty. Lacked attention to detail, such as a lot of the crockery was chipped. Most of the staff were not Thai people and did not speak English, they came across as ignorant and not friendly when asked to replenish breakfast items. The rooms are tired and in need of TLC, not cleaned well, splash marks everywhere, poor lighting and only 4 hangers provided for 2 people. You are only given one key which activates the air conditioning, therefore it cannot be left on when you are out of the room. Whist the bed was enormous (2 large singles pushed to together) and comfy, the pillows were not and rock hard. Maid/room service was very poor, if they turned up at all it was 4pm and too late in the day, we were constantly chasing staff for more toilet rolls and towels. If they came in, they only made the bed and left water and sometimes loo roll, nothing else. The bathroom was not cleaned, towels were not replaced, tea/coffee supplies not replenished and used cups not changed. We were not offered clean pool or bath towels at all during our 5-night stay. Plenty of service staff were seen, however also observed to spend a lot of time chatting with each other and on their phones, I would have no issue with this if they were providing a good service..