Guest reviews The Sands Khao Lak By Kata Thani Resorts

by jugendmoth Oslo, Norway

Perfect! Best service, you can imagine! Lgbt friendly!

It's not a first time, I'm choosing Katathani hotels, and they never disappoint me. Amazing, friendly people and perfect service! As example: one day we had broken air con and we been asked, if we want be moved in other room immediately. We rejected offer and just decided relax in terrace instead. It was 22:30 and workers came like in 2 min after the call to reception. They fixed air con and we got free dinner coupon in hotel restaurant. It was very nice to know, that hotel takes care of their customers and is so careful to each detail. I also can mention, that hotel is spotless! Everyone is super friendly. Perfect place for take your kids there! Girls in breakfast and restaurant making some mistakes, as they are trainees. But that's okay, we always got everything fixed and lots of "sorries" and smiles:) Breakfast is for all tastes. Big choose and lots of fruits! Only dawnside I can mention is tasteless unauthentic food in restaurant. So, if you are really tired to go to main street for food, you still can order from restaurant, but then order Italian food. Still far from perfection, but it's best they have in there. I also have suspection, that maybe lots of people wouldn't like authentic Thai food, so maybe this hotel choise made for purpose. Also alhocol cocktails are very sweet. But that's a problem in all Thailand. So just get bottle in hotel shop and make your own cocktails! P.S. Don't miss watermelon and coconut shakes! They are amazing!

by Iamsuperk Brisbane, Australia

Nice hotel for families and older travellers

We stayed 9 nights in March as the last stop on our Thailand holiday to explore Khao Lak and luckily our timing got us out just before Corona-Virus lock downs came into effect. We split our time between a Sands room and a Pool Access Junior Suite. If we did it again and budget permitting we would have the pool access room only as it was fantastic. Rooms: Sands room was nice, no bath but the showers were great. Pool Access rooms were spacious and well laid out. One annoyance was there was no bottle opener/cork screw in either room. The "pillow menu" worked really well and ensured we had a great sleep and the beds were super comfortable. The ceiling fan in the balcony area is a life saver for those really hot days. Wifi: WiFi was very poor. It is fine for messaging or casual web browsing but not suitable for streaming or any real-time video etc without constant buffering and dropouts and this was when the hotel wasn't busy at all. I ran several speed tests from around the hotel with downloads of 2-5mb and uploads at up to 186mb !!! This should be the other way round so I think Sands needs to check their WiFi settings. Food: The breakfast had many choices, which my partner loved. I was impressed by the room service menu which was very reasonably priced and had a great range of options with some very affordable specials. Kudos also that all price lists are tax/fees inclusive. We ate twice at Talay in the evening, The food was lovely. Unfortunately the setting was somewhat ruined by the very poor entertainer and children. This was frustrating when it's clearly marketed as a more romantic upmarket setting. To be clear, I have no problem with the kids being there or even running around on the grass. What I did have a problem with was them singing over the "singers" PA system. Having a 6 year old girl screeching the "Frozen" theme song while we were trying to enjoy dinner was just crazy. On the entertainment, it was cringe worthy poor at times and having worked in the music industry for years I don't know how they are even employed there when there are so many good musicians in Thailand. The singer / guitarist at Talay cannot sing, I initially thought it was a comedy act he was that bad and mumbling through songs to a backing track. Whoever is hiring musicians at Sands must be tone-deaf !! The one thing we would have liked was a more contemporary space for couples (or solos) only in the evenings with some (modern) background music away from the "Love Boat" style crooners by the other areas. As for the other facilities, the pools are fantastic. The onsite mini-mart is very reasonably priced, for example the price of a beer or breezer is 5-10Thb more than outside. A large bottle of SangSom is 50Thb more than outside shops. We are split on if we'd stay again, we loved the facilities and being able to chill out but felt it was really a family or oldies type feel (and we're no spring chickens). Thanks also to Sands for your help with Airline numbers when we were faced with cancellations and also for the late check-out when our plans were disrupted, this was very much appreciated !! For local tips: Larn Deo restaurant (one of the first on the main road from the entry) runs an excellent laundry service for 50Thb/kg. Jasmines restaurant was consistently the best food outside the restaurant. Nang Thong supermarket (700m once on main road) has the best range including bakery, wines and beers/ciders. Including Bundaberg / ginger beer for the Aussies.

by Ben_I588

The perfect wedding venue!!!

We couldn’t of asked for a nicer wedding than at the Sands Khao Lak. Everything was well organised from start to finish with the one contact (Wiracha) from the moment we first emailed the sands (one year before) to organising our wedding on the day. The ceremony was beautiful with a privacy screen between us and the other resort guests to give us our own private beachfront area. The reception dinner was again beautifully done and the food (buffet style) was well presented and delicious. There were plenty of staff on hand at all times and they were happy to assist in any way that we asked. We organised our own photographer and instead got a videographer as part of the wedding package and the 5 minute video we received was high quality very well done. We didn’t know what to expect of our resort wedding at the sands but we couldn’t fault Wiracha and her team and are glad we chose to have our wedding there. Thank you to all the staff at The Sands Khao Lak for making our wedding perfect!!!

by JENNYJ7070 Liverpool, United Kingdom

Fantastic hotel and staff

I was undecided whether to give this place full marks as I had one criticism. We arrived as COVID-19 was starting to rampage. The hotel was spotlessly clean, all aspects of the hotel were tendered to. Staff were exceptionally polite and the room was fantastic. We chose a junior suite facing towards the beach. Breakfast was included and it was very good. We had lunch a couple of times in the hotel and again it was all good. The one downside for me was the evening buffets. We visited on the fist night having arrived late and it was average and tried the Thai themed buffet later in the week. I just found it lacking compared with the variety of local restaurants on the main road. As expected the majority are ridiculously cheap and the quality of the food is off the chart. Overall a fantastic resort, facilities and staff and I would return.

by OnAir593490 Falkirk, United Kingdom

Fantastic

Stayed here originally for 18 nights however had to return early staying 8 nights in a junior suite. (1311) The setting is perfect, the layout of the place is perfect and the management set up, principles and customer ethos is first class. From checkin to checkout our stay was wonderful. The staff are so kind, professional and really care about you. From reception staff, breakfast staff, room service staff, gardeners, maintenance to pool staff, everyone you meet or pass are so happy and pleasant. The junior suite was spacious, clean with plenty of space for clothes etc. Spacious bathroom with walls that open up to open plan. (although not to everyone's taste and do not see much point) The quality of the wardrobes need updated as they are very basic with internal lights modified. The balcony was excellent and the outside ceiling fan was a great extra. The quality of bedding, toiletries, towels and robes and slippers were excellent. WIFI in the room was good and the TV channels were varied, although very small TV for the size of the suite.The maid service was excellent. Breakfast choices were very good. We used the adults only pool which was very clean, sunbeds and umbrellas were of good quality and comfy. Excellent towel management process conserving the environment and which other large scale hotel chains could learn from. Has a separate smoking area at the pool which is perfect for us non smokers. The chlorine was checked regularly by the pool attendants. The only downside was the wifi signal. Intermittently working and needs to be rectified. The grounds are immaculately maintained by the gardens team and spotless. The choice of happy hours is spread around the hotel which is very good. The prices are reasonable. The bar at sunset also has the happy hour however we found the staff there were not as attentive compared to the other bars and restaurants and rushed to close the place as soon as they could. Also too many staff with no visible supervision. Would make a fantastic sunset club bar. Taxis service at the hotel is first class. Taxis clean, safe and respective drivers and a great helpful lady who calls the taxi for you. 150bt to the main market, bars and restaurants 10 minutes away or you can just walk up the drive which is safe and well lit for the local bars, restaurants and shops. Just watch the main street as the footpaths are terrible, uneven, stones, mud when wet and something the locals need to upgrade urgently. The hotel has it's own supermarkets which are reasonably priced and there are other cheaper ones up on the main road. Overall a fantastic hotel, excellent ethos, first class customer service and a caring team from staff to management. Well done to you all, you make your country proud and keep up the good work. We will definitely 100% be back in the future when it is safe and possible to do.