L'esprit De Naiyang Beach Resort

Don’t go. We had a horrible experience at this hotel and several of us ended up sick or injured. They don’t even have basic bandages or a proper first aid kit available. It felt like they gave out the worst rooms first and left the better, functional ones empty. We kept complaining and were only moved after we started checking the empty villas ourselves and noticed they were still being listed as available for booking. The staff acted polite on the surface, but their responses were always along the lines of “that’s unfortunate” rather than actually fixing the problems. This is not a place for a relaxing vacation, and both the villas and some of the staff felt quite unclean and unprofessional. Booking this hotel was a mistake and it ruined my vacation; even years later, the experience still annoys me.

We stayed here for two nights at the end of our Thailand trip. We had to extend due to flight changes and thought this looked like a lovely place to relax before leaving. We booked the pool access villa as a final splurge. We got a lovely welcome from the staff. Most of the staff here are amazing. The service is 4 stars even if nothing else in the hotel is. They take your bags to your room for you and pick them up again when you check out. Restaurant staff and bar staff were all delightful. Service with a great big smile. We got a cocktail while we were waiting for our room to be ready and quickly realised that one row of pool access villas had shade from the sun and one row was completely exposed. Sure enough we ended up with one that was completely exposed. With a UV of 13 and 37 degree heat that’s not really ideal. So the terrace area was unusable from the start which was a huge disappointment. The layout also made no sense as there was no way back onto the terrace from the pool. Our pool access steps were outside the villa main front door meaning you had to walk through the living room to get between the pool and the terrace. The pool had crumbling walls and was in need of some serious maintenance. There were random steps throughout which you’d fall/slip down without knowing there were there. There didn’t seem to be a filter so you were swimming with an array of dead bugs and an assortment of leaves and debris from the trees. We would get out covered in brown stuff. The room itself was tired with stains on the ceiling. There was no smart tv. The next morning we asked for an umbrella for our terrace so we could use it. We were told they don’t do that and we could use the other loungers around the pool. We could. But we paid quite a lot extra to have our own terrace. The staff members demeanour changed when she realised we weren’t happy and got very defensive. She told us they give the side with shade to the guests who are staying longer and we needed to understand their position. So it’s a deliberate decision and they know those rooms are better. She told us we couldn’t move rooms as there were none available on the other side. A manager then came and said we COULD move rooms if we wanted to as there was one. Interesting. So we moved. The room on the other side had a much better bathroom and also had a smart tv with streaming apps. There shouldn’t be such a disparity between rooms which are the same price and are advertised with no differences noted. Breakfast was terrible for a hotel that claims to be 4 stars. Barely any choice. Dry pastries and minimal hot food - not much choice for vegetarians. The lunch and dinner options were better than breakfast and they had a lot of options for vegetarians. To get to the beach you have to go over their little raft. There is a lovely man and his cat there to pull you across. This shuts at 9pm so you have to be back before then. It’s pitch black there when the sun has gone so make sure you have phone battery for your torch. The hotel gives you a little torch in the room but the battery was dead in ours when we arrived. It is a 5 minute walk on the beach or along the wooded path to the town area which has lots of restaurants and bars. This beach was the worst we visited in Thailand - seems quite dirty. I would never come to this hotel or this area of Phuket again.

A wonderful stay, great staff and highly recommend getting a pool suite room. The resort could do with some minor touch ups but was clean and relaxing, worked wellClose to the beach with more restaurants - a quiet pretty hotel and place for relaxing.