thailand — Luxury Travel and Lifestyle

There are many hotels and resorts to choose from depending on the kind of experience you’re looking for. I knew I wanted to be somewhere as remote as possible after being in Bangkok, so I chose to stay at Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort, which is located on the north side of the island.

Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort is one of the two premium luxury resorts you’ll find on the island. I picked this one over the other one, because the reviews on TripAdvisor were overall more positive than the other choice and the photos looked much better, especially the bathrooms.

The Resort:

The Bungalows are clean and well kept. There are golf carts that will come pick you up at your bungalow to take you to wherever you want to go at the resort. The main restaurant serves an amazing buffet for both breakfast and dinner. There’s a little village right behind the hotel where you can find local restaurants, bars, and even book tours. If you are planning to stay at Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort, you might want to check the restaurants here first before putting down the money for the resort buffet.

There are two infinity swimming pools here. They are located on the opposite ends of the resort. The smaller one is located right on the beach, but it gets crowded very quickly. The larger pool was never crowded whenever I visited, but the downside of the larger pool is that you don’t really get to lay out on the beach. The sunbeds are on the grass area overlooking the beach.

There is a tennis court as well for you tennis players.

The Wana Spa is a beautiful spa with various treatments and massages for both men, women, and couples. I did a Yogurt Honey Body Scrub treatment at the spa and my skin was baby soft after. It was the perfect treatment after being in the sun for a few days.

The Location:

The location of the resort was challenging at times. It is only accessible by boat and if you want to go to Tonsai Bay, which is the main town, you have to take a boat there. It is only a 15 minute ride, however, the resort only shuttles to the main town about 3 times a day and the last returning shuttle is around 3pm, so if you don’t get on the 3pm shuttle back, you have to find your own boat back to the resort. It is very easy to find a long tail boat on Tonsai Bay, but the problem I encountered was that no boats would go to the resort between 5pm-9pm because it is simply not safe due to the tides. One night I was able to find a boat back at 9pm, but I had to walk through at least half a mile in the water to get back to the resort because the boat was not able to get close enough to the resort due to low tide. I'm sure it would be different depending on the month you're going. I was there in Feb.

The most off-putting thing that happened was the day we arrived at the resort. The tides were so low that our speedboat had to anchor so far away from land that we literally had to jump into the ocean with our bags over our heads and walk/swim to get to the resort. People tripped over rocks, luggage got drenched, our clothes got wet, and many were bleeding from cuts from walking through corals. It was so poorly handled. If you plan on staying here, please bring water shoes and wear something comfortable on the day you arrive and depart. We had to walk through water on the day we left as well, but it wasn’t as bad as the day we arrived.

Overall

I had an amazing stay despite the nightmare on the first day. I would definitely return again. I will have to say it is more suited for couples and people that want to relax. There is no nightlife around Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort, all the actions were at Tonsai Bay, which I will follow up with another post about my experience of Phi Phi Island in general.

If you have any other questions about Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort, don’t hesitate to leave a comment below.

Their website is- http://www.phiphiislandvillage.com

If you are looking for an exciting hotel with a lively dining and night scene in the heart of the city, W Bangkok might just be what you’re looking for. W Bangkok is composed of two buildings on North Sathorn Road – a new modern tower and a heritage building. The heritage building is the House on Sathorn, which has a fascinating history and at one point used to be a Russian Embassy. When the W Hotel took over, they went through a three-year restoration process in consultation with the Thai government’s Department of Fine Arts to ensure a faithful restoration of the building.

The overarching narrative design of the hotel is ‘Bejeweled Mystique’. The concept was to create a contemporary, modern counterpoint or juxtaposition to the traditional, historic and ornamental heritage building… The heritage building represents the ‘bejeweled’; while the tower is the ‘mysterious’.

The location

Some reviewers on TripAdvisor complained about the location of the hotel, but I found it extremely convenient to everything I wanted to do. It is in the Business District.

The service

I was greeted by Alex, the Director of Rooms, upon check-in and if you ever get to meet him, do make a point to ask him about his experience working in Bangkok and other properties. He offered a lot of great insights to the neighborhood around the hotel. Alex also remembered my name for the duration of my stay and greeted me by my first name whenever I ran into him.

I highly suggest you using their concierge team if you are visiting the country for the first time. They are experienced and efficient at assisting all your needs, including direction for your taxi or uber. I've stayed at many W Hotels, the service here is a notch above a lot of their other propertities.

The room

The room is very well designed and laid out. It feels open, clean, and updated.

My room had a free-standing bathtub with the city view behind it. The bathroom is adorned with full size Bliss products, not just the travel size you normally get at other W Hotels. Everything was extremely clean and spotless. It felt like a brand new hotel.

You can manage the room's AC, lighting, and do not disturb sign from a Lenovo mobile device by the bedside. Water bottles were left all over the room, free of charge daily. Bathroom and the lighting in the room has been specially thought out brilliantly.

Being a SPG member, the wifi was also free, and surprisingly stable. There’s a sound system where you can sync your phone to play your own music as well. All the outlets are internationally equipped, you will not need to bring converters if you plan on staying here.

My room had a great view of the city with ample lighting that floods the entire room. I loved opening the curtains all the way to see the view outside every morning.

The design

I know often times W Hotels can be a sensory overload, but it works here. Everything is meticulous designed and I fell in love with the spiral staircase in the lobby and the light installation by the lift area. The installation contains 800 tuk-tuk lights. It is stunning in person. The carpets in the entrance and in the elevators are changed three times a day, from “good morning” to “good afternoon” to “good evening”.

Amenities

The highlight is definitely the WET Pool, which is the outdoor pool surrounded by lounge chairs, couches and covered day beds. The best of all? It is open 24/7! The pool is attached to the gym, which it also open 24/7.

I wish I had taken some photos of the gym, because it is a fully functional gym, not your typical hotel gym where there are only 4 machines and one rack of free weights. The gym is equipped with TechnoGym® fitness equipment such as treadmills, elliptical trainer, exercise bikes with LCD displays (2 x 46" TV's), free Weights, yoga mats, medicine ball, boxing bag and speed Ball. Towels are provided along with water cooler, refreshments. It is by bar one of the best hotel gyms I’ve been to.

Restaurant and Bar

There are plenty of eateries at W Bangkok. The Kitchen Table brings the essence of a Modern Bistro; dishes here are inspired from all over the world. The restaurant serves a wide selection of cuisine types with strong focus on honest flavors combining the best of global cookery with Thai culinary traditions.

The Kitchen Pantry is your casual spot. It houses a large designer vertical chiller cabinets that present an array of soft beverages, waters, fresh juices, wines and champagne pop bottles. It was my go to spot for my morning latte!

The House on Santhron is their main culinary house. Head to The Courtyard for high tea out in the beautiful outdoor space, satiate your palate with the delicacies at the luxury restaurant, The Dining Room, then start your evening at The Bar before partying the night away at The Woodbar.

Unfortunately, I did not get to eat here because of time constraint, but I did take some photos of the amazing breakfast they were serving in the morning. It has EVERYTHING you can imagine all nicely presented.

I had drinks at Wood bar, which was packed on a Saturday night. Great signature cocktails that are Instagram worthy!

Final Thoughts

W Bangkok exceeded my expectation. Though i’m usually a W fan, it can be a hit and miss at times….hint hint New York Times Square. I would stay here again and would definitely recommend it to friends. The service was impeccable and the hotel feels new. There’s a lot of traffic during the day and at night, but you never feel overwhelmed by the crowd. The lobby bar is definitely a scene at night on the weekends, but if you want something quieter, you can always head next door to the House on Sathorn.

It is one of the most exciting hotels to be at. I did spend time at few other hotels in Bangkok, but W Bangkok blew them out of the water. It’s stylish, sexy, and very well rounded in all aspects.