Khaolak Orchid Beach Resort

We stayed at the Khaolak Orchid Beach Resort, a 4-star hotel in Phang-Nga, which is a little bit in the middle of nowhere. There were still plenty of resorts around town, but we were alone for at least a kilometer in both directions. I had no idea we were going to be this out of the way.

I also had no idea it was going to be as empty as it was around. One of the travel sites I was looking at before going said that July is a secondary peak season, so I figured there'd be a decent crowd at the hotel and around town. Kent got information from another source that said July is the low season, and that seems more accurate. The first morning we woke up at the hotel, we encountered two families of three or four, and a group of four American guys who we later concluded were most likely there with some sort of security group, and not on vacation. These "frat boys," as we called them, were there the whole time we were. The two families were gone on Monday, but were replaced by a Belgian family with two very cute 8-year old twin daughters, with whom we spent a fair amount of time. The daughters didn't speak anything but Flemish, but their parents spoke English and French fluently, and maybe German, too?

It being that empty, though, we got excellent customer service. This is a really great hotel, and it only cost about $42 a night. Plus, because they were in the middle of construction of a new wing, we were given 20% off meals at the hotel restaurant. Breakfast was free, of course. Full, hot breakfast with coffee, juice (although the orange juice was actually orange beverine), toast, American or Thai main course, and fruit. I don't think I ever finished my breakfast. Almost, though.

I'll walk you through the photos backwards, since I always forget to upload them backwards so they come out in the right order.

This is the view to the right from our balcony. It's pretty washed out in the background, but that's the beach, just off the property.

This is the view straight on from our balcony. That pool was really nice. You can see the bar in it, but it wasn't open to so few guests. The new wing is being constructed in the background.


There was a big window with hinged shutters in the bathroom. So you could sit in the bathtub and have the shutters open and look out through the glass doors on the balcony. It was totally suite.

Korea is not alone in its bedding practices. Thailand also has the peculiar idea that it's better to lie on one sheet with no topsheet, and only be covered by a bedspread. In such a hot country, it's kind of surprising they don't embrace minimal bed coverings.

Mini-fridge. This is the first hotel I've been in where the minibar in the room wasn't exorbitantly priced. We still didn't take advantage, though.

We only watched TV once for like an hour the whole time. There were just two channels in English, both news channels. One was a Russian news channel, but in English. The rest had crappy Thai soap operas and other junk.

Kent on our balcony. In Thailand it's really gauche to hang laundry in plain sight, so each balcony had a discreet wooden laundry rack to hang wet clothes on. It's not in the picture, though. I just thought you'd like to know.



Oh, there it is. It has a towel hanging on it, and other stuff behind that.

Foyer.