I’ve been staying at the Le Meridien Khao Lak for the past several days and have had a very nice stay. I chose the Le Meridien in part because of the very reasonably priced villas they offer. I’ll save the details for my trip report, though just a few thoughts/observations as I get ready to depart to my next port of call:
- The view and setting in Khao Lak is stunning, plain and simple.
- The weather has been beautiful. Monsoon season? What monsoon season!
- The villas here have “hosts,” as they call them, that look after you (though I’m not sure what exactly they do). The funny thing about it was that as we checked in and our “host” introduced herself to us and explained she would help with making arrangements, get us anything we might need, and help with packing and unpacking, but finished by saying “I am NOT a butler.” LOL!
- This place is a friggin’ wildlife preserve. I’ve seen crocodile-sized lizards, snakes in the pool, rats, geckos in our room, etc.
- Why do breakfast buffets in Thailand have to be so good (and extensive)? I don’t think I can even swim anymore…
- The service has been much more genuine than at the Westin Siray Bay, though not especially polished. We were told our private pool would be cleaned every day, though it hasn’t been cleaned once. We got turndown service the first night, but not for any subsequent nights.
- I generally love small towns in Thailand, though Khao Lak really isn’t all that interesting. Furthermore they have a “taxi mafia” here, so charge as much to get into town as a NYC cab would…
- The food at the hotel has been generally good and reasonably priced. The Italian restaurant here is honestly the best I’ve eaten at outside of Italy.
- The GM here is very hands on. I haven’t actually talked or interacted with him, but I’ve seen him at least a dozen times a day just walking around and making sure everything is okay.
- After staying in a formal “villa” for the first time, I have to wonder what the big deal is. I wish I would have just booked a basic room and gotten a suite. Not once have I actually gone into my “backyard,” since it’s basically a wildlife preserve. If I want to sit at a pool I’d much rather sit at the main one.
More to come with the trip report. Now it’s off to another exciting destination. I’ll give some clues in a post tomorrow, so let’s see if anyone can guess where I’m going. It’ll take three flights and over 20 hours, and it’s a destination I’ve never been to.
Beach at sunset
Villa at night
Breakfast
Lizard or crocodile?
Best pizza outside of Italy
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