Tropical Herbal Spa & Resort Reviews & Ratings

Likes: Above all, this resort is good value for money; similar accommodation in popular beach destinations in Thailand could cost almost twice as much. The villas are all (as far as we can see) thoughtfully laid out and individually designed to take advantage of the site in order to create a small world unto itself, utilising level differences, screens and landscaping to ensure privacy. Service cannot be faulted although the staff does not come across as being very 'professional' in the strict sense but we find that it adds to the relaxed and friendly atmosphere (and therefore a strong point)---we eagerly look forward to returning to the resort after a day of island hopping, almost like going 'home', that says something about the service environment. The food at the resort restaurant was also surprisingly good and exceeded our expectations (we only had Thai food and did not sample the international offerings). Lastly the spa service was very competent and well done (we had the royal Thai massage course, in a very tranquil and natural setting. Dislikes: Location is almost 1 km away from the beach, but the hotel offers free taxi service. The distance also means you don't get sea view from any of the rooms, to be fair the hotel never advertised any sea view. Our reservation mix up was a bit of a damper but all is quickly forgiven as they made up for it by offering us the Grand Villa for the rate of our original Deluxe. (Although I guess I would still have preferred my original choice of villa) There was a lack of hot water in our villa which was only rectified shortly before check-out. The 2-person bath was not as clean as we had hoped due to persistence of falling leaves and dirt; this problem could be avoided with a bit more maintenance in the bathroom and making sure tree branches do not hang right over the tub. Other minor issues include the rather limited American breakfast and the design of the lighting at night which makes it difficult to see the pathways.