We had booked a car transfer from the Westin to Le Meridien for 2PM at a cost of 2,700THB (about $87USD). They informed us the ride would take about two hours, which it did, so we arrived at Le Meridien at around 4PM. Hotel entrance Car transfer Hotel entrance We were welcomed in the open…
Continue reading: Beaches and Mountains: Le Meridien Khao Lak
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Seems like you're hitting up the "little" places in Asia, having been there so much.
What's the biggest gap in your Asia map now that India is crossed off? Been to Cambodia yet? Gotta see Angkor Wat I hear
@ James -- My next destinations will likely be Taipei, Cambodia, and Laos, which are the most "major" places I've yet to visit.
Nice review. I've always been interested in this property because Khao Lak is the departure point I've always used for diving the Similan Islands. The other times I've been there we stayed at the JW Marriott, which as you noted is a good couple of hour drive from Khao Lak.
-David
Lucky, Great couple of reviews. I spend a lot of time in similar asian resorts and love seeing some of the alternatives. thanks
@ Andy -- I'm just more of a pool than beach person. Not a huge fan of sand or swimming in ocean water. That being said, I did spend some time at the beach.
Just looked at the trip report index and realized you are going to Munich! My absolute favorite foreign city -- can't wait.
@ Other Ben -- I'm with you, it's probably my favorite as well, if you include the surrounding areas.
Coins,
Thanks for labeling the beach picture 'beach', and the pizza picture 'pizza'. I never would have known!
Thanks for the reviews (just read both) but I don't understand the whole "book a mercedes for $65" thing. What has always been great about Asia to me is being able to get off a plane in a place like Phuket and haggling with one of the taxi vendors to take you wherever you need to go for way cheaper than this...isn't that part of the journey half the fun? Same thing with these expensive massages...I don't think I could ever rationalize spending $60+ (or in your case, sounds like $100+) an hour knowing that you can get a massage that's just as good for $10/hour max somewhere off the resort.
Those photos look amazing. I so want to go to this hotel now. Judging by the photos, I could just eat, drink, go to the beach, and hang out in the room and be thrilled.
It looks a great place for holidays and summer vacations and it seems affordable. The Thai food and the beach, it looks amazing! Can't wait to visit that hotel!
Interesting your experience with the villas. When we went there (as a PLT), we paid like 8k points for an upgrade to the villa, then they upgraded me as a platinum to a ocean-front villa. We really enjoyed being on the water with tons of outside space, pool and lounges facing the water. We thought this was well worth it.
As for the Italian place, I agree, I wasn't expecting much, but ended up LOVING it. Also, When we were there, they had a private buffet for PLT members (I think you could pay like $50pp if you aren't PLT) at the Thai restaurant on the pond that was out of this world. I think it was even as good as the Penn BKK breakfast buffet!
Lucky, I absolutely loved the Le Meridien Khao Lak. We got upgraded as Plat at the time (2008) to one of the standard villas and it was fine for us. Personal service by our own attendant bringing juice and coffee in the morning, with breakfast if we wanted in the villa. Loved the outdoor shower!
In addition to the unexpected wildlife, do they still have the small zoo on-premises? And did you get to the fish shack up the beach to the left a few hundred meters? Wonderful inexpensive dining.
Had a similarly good time at the HKT Thai/*A lounge on the flight back to BKK, though didn't have the old-school 747, just an older-school A300, in Y. Overall MrsXS and I loved our visit to the Khao Lak area, and in fact had it on our short-list of expat destinations, till we ended up deciding on the Uruguayan costa de oro instead.
Pool villas, esp the kind with butlers typically start at 500 US a night. This seems like a bargain. Of course, the pool vila, doesn't look out of this world fab, but still.
We really enjoyed our stay at the Le Meridien Khao Lak a few years ago. While we didn't splurge a villa, we found our suite (for part of the stay) and room to be nice and very relaxing.
We ended up spending a few extra days here due to the shutdown of the BKK airport by protesters. The front desk was very helpful in getting us rebooked on another flight as well as extending a reduced rate and free internet for the extra days we stayed. Not a bad place to be "stuck", sipping on Singha beer on the beach! 🙂
Also a great base for staying before/after a Similan Island liveaboard trip which is what we did. It was really nice to come back to the Le Meridien and have a real shower after 3 days at sea.
My partner and I just booked a trip to this... Looks like amazing. Can't wait till we go. Still slightly concerned about the weather though. Thanks for the informative report!
Great review, Ben. Thanks. I am thinking of visiting here and also Le Meridien Koh Samui too. This has helped me decide to stay at LM in both places actually. Cheers, DG.