Koh Thmei Resort — Hotel in Koh Thmei

In summary:|A member of staff took pictures of us changing, we got food poisoning, the hosts clearly hated us, but the views were lovely? 🙃||We had a very mixed time here, sadly I cannot recommend it. The island is absolutely beautiful, so peaceful and untouched. However we found the hosts (Kavita and Michael) were very hot and cold; at times very friendly and at other times incredibly rude and hostile.||It all went downhill for us when we (both female) both independently saw a member of staff appear to take surreptitious photos of us as we were getting undressed on the beach, and again as we came out the sea. The first time he was holding his phone at a 90 degree angle to himself, pointed at us, and when my girlfriend looked up, he whipped his phone back to a normal position. It could have been coincidence but it certainly didn't look good. When we got out the water the same man was sat at an awkward angle with the phone facing us, and then his phone was followed me as I walked across the beach. ||We were quite shaken but you can never be completely certain. Maybe it was all coincidence and bad luck, but we felt we ought to tell the hosts so they could decide how to handle the situation, or at least be aware in case of any future reports.||We asked for a quiet word and explained what we'd seen, but we were met with very defensive behaviour. They basically said 'no way, it's not possible, you must be mistaken' but they didn't give us a chance to finish explaining what we saw; Michael actually walked away while we were speaking! Kavita said she would look at the man's phone but then never mentioned it again, so I'm guessing she didn't. If she had checked and found nothing then surely she would tell us to reassure us?||From that moment on, both Kavita and Michael were noticibly less friendly towards us. It was a real shame, we had of course been nervous to say anything about the photos but felt sure they would handle it well. Unfortunately their reaction was more like what you'd expect 20 years ago, and we were made to feel like we were the ones who had done something wrong. We understand it must be awkward for them, to have an allegation against a longstanding staff member, and we did everything we could to show Michael and Kavita that we weren't annoyed, and to try and get back to the friendly place we were before. They just seemed to be softening, and the awkwardness lessening when I came down with food poisoning. ||Now we know I caught it at their restaurant because we'd been on the island for 4 days, and it's the only place to eat, but we were worried about breaching the fragile peace, so we were very careful to just say "I've got an upset tummy" and even "maybe I swallowed some sea-water"(!) to be clear we aren't pointing any fingers. We do understand that food poisoning is a risk wherever you go in a hot country, and partly it's just bad luck that it was here. We really weren't blaming them. ||But they became very cold again. After I'd spent a horrible night passing out on the bathroom floor vomiting, my partner went to the restaurant to ask for a little bit of sugar and salt to add to my water to make a rehydration solution. Kavita was so hostile that my partner came back on the verge of tears. Kavita knew we were taking anti-malarials (which were for places we'd been earlier in the trip, you have to continue them for 5 days after exposure) and told my partner that she didn't know why were taking them and it must be those that made us ill! We'd been on them a month with zero GI side effects. She then switched to German to say to her husband "It's ridiculous, we're not in Africa!!" and then walked off.|My partner is a medical doctor who understands German, and if they had spent just the smallest amount of time getting to know us (as they had with the other guests who hadn't reported concerns of sexual misconduct!) they would know that before they mock us in German!||We honestly did everything we could to be model guests; we felt we were treading on eggshells, trying not to make them hate us more after our faux pas of mentioning the photos. We felt very trapped because they were our only source of food and our only way off the island, but I was too ill to leave any earlier.||It began to feel like anything we asked them was an annoyance, and we had to psych ourselves up to ask for something because the reaction might be kind and generous or might be open irritatation. There's no mobile signal and to use the wifi you have to ask one of them to hot-spot off their phone, which they will do only briefly. Towards the end we stopped asking because we couldn't face the negativity that came from the request. ||On the last day Kavita was very friendly again (as they had been at the start). It was very confusing, we never knew where we stood. ||The positives:|-The island is genuinely gorgeous. It really is untouched, and so so peaceful. |-It was really nice having that time with nothing to do but read in a hammock, collect shells, swim in the sea, go for a walk, watch the sunset... |-The snorkelling was beautiful, we saw so many gorgeous fish. |-The food was mostly really good, up until the point I got food poisoning!|-If they like you, Kavita and Michael seem to be very friendly hosts. Just beware if they get the tiniest hint you might be unhappy...

In summary: A member of staff took pictures of us changing, we got food poisoning, the hosts clearly hated us, but the views were lovely? 🙃

It all went downhill for us when we (both female) both independently saw a member of staff take surreptitious photos of us. While we were changing he was holding his phone at a weird angle pointed at us and when my girlfriend looked up, he whipped it back to a normal position. When we got out the sea the same man was sat at an awkward angle with the phone facing us, and then his phone was followed us as we walked across the beach.

We were quite shaken but you can never be completely certain, maybe it was all coincidence? We felt we ought to tell the hosts so they could decide how to handle the situation, or at least be aware in case of any future reports. We asked for a quiet word and explained what we'd seen, but we were met with very defensive behaviour. They basically said 'no way, it's not possible, you must be mistaken' but they didn't give us a chance to finish explaining what we saw; Michael actually walked away while we were speaking! Kavita said she would look at the man's phone but then never mentioned it again, so I'm guessing she didn't.

From then on both Kavita and Michael were noticibly less friendly towards us. It was so disappointing; we had of course been nervous to say anything about the photos but felt sure they would handle it well. Unfortunately their reaction was more like what you'd expect 20 years ago, and we were made to feel like we were the ones who had done something wrong. We understand it must be awkward for them, to have an allegation against a longstanding staff member, and we did everything we could to show Michael and Kavita that we weren't a threat, and to try and get back to the friendly place we were before. They just seemed to be softening, and the awkwardness lessening when I came down with food poisoning.

We know I caught it at their restaurant because we'd been on the island for 4 days, and it's the only place to eat, but we were worried about breaching the fragile peace, so we were very careful to just say "I've got an upset tummy" and even "maybe I swallowed some sea-water"(!) to be clear we aren't pointing any fingers, but they still became very hostile again. After I'd spent a horrible night passing out on the bathroom floor vomiting, my partner went to the restaurant to ask for a little bit of sugar and salt to make a rehydration solution. Kavita was so rude that my partner came back on the verge of tears. They had been moderately unhelpful to her face but then switched to German to vent their annoyance and mock her! If they had made any effort to get to know us they would know my partner understands German!

We honestly did everything we could to be model guests; we felt we were treading on eggshells, trying not to make them hate us more after our faux pas of mentioning the photos. We felt very trapped because they were our only source of food and our only way off the island, but I was too ill to leave any earlier.

It began to feel like we were such an annoyance to them, and we had to psych ourselves up to ask for anything. There's no mobile signal and to use the wifi you have to ask one of them to hot-spot off their phone, which they will do only briefly. Towards the end we stopped asking because we couldn't face the irritation that came from the request.

On the last day Kavita was very friendly again (as they had been at the start). It was very confusing, we never knew where we stood.

The positives: -The island is genuinely gorgeous. It really is untouched, and so so peaceful. -It was really nice having that time with nothing to do but read in a hammock, collect shells, swim in the sea, go for a walk, watch the sunset... -The snorkelling was beautiful, we saw so many gorgeous fish. -The food was mostly really good, up until the point I got food poisoning! -If they like you, Kavita and Michael seem to be very friendly hosts. Just beware if they get the tiniest hint you might be unhappy...

Last time I stayed at Koh Thmei Resort must have been about 6 or 7 years ago, so I had no idea what to expect. For sure not after two very challenging Covid years, especially for the hospitality industry. We had the most unforgettable experience! The journey from Phnom Penh to the island by private taxi organized by the resort goes pretty smooth these days and takes about 4 hours. At the pier in the fisherman village the Private boat from the Resort will be waiting for you and bring you directly to Koh Thmei Resort with no stops, this trip takes about one hour. As soon as the flight from Siem Reap and/or Phnom Penh to Sihanoukville resume this trip will be even more easy and take only about 2 or 3 hours all together! We went there over Christmas and stayed for one week. On arrival, we discovered we were actually the only guests staying there together with the lovely German owners Kavita & Michael which made our stay even more special! They were in full preparation for the New Year’s period when they were fully booked. Michael & Kavita went out of their way to make our stay as enjoyable and comfortable as possible. I am a hotelier myself and know very well what the budgetary limitations where/are during Covid times, I was therefore very impressed to see how well maintained and clean the bungalows and outdoor area’s still are. On top of this pretty much everything on their drink and food menu was still available as usual, portions are very generous, nice variety of dishes local & western, very nice fish and seafood and great coffee! The bungalows are basic but have all the comfort you need if you can handle and be prepared for the luxury of going “back to basics”. A foot shower at the staircase of your private bungalow, lovely patio with sea view, comfortable hammocks, chairs and table, spacious bedroom with mosquito net, ceiling fan, safety box and enough storage space to put away or hang your belongings. And then there was the clean private bathroom with shower, sink and toilet. The restaurant area is very cozy, the owners have a very nice music selection and fantastic sound system, we spent quite some time there for breakfast, lunch, dinner or just to read a book and enjoy the wide views over the bay. Activity wise they have several things to offer, we especially enjoyed the snorkeling trip to the coral reef close by which has some of the biggest variety of hard & soft corals and fish I had ever seen for a very long time and with pretty decent visibility! They can you bring you there with their boat, or you can use their kayak and made it an adventurous daytrip. Wifi is available on request but limited, which I think can be a fantastic advantage when you really want to detox and disconnect from everything. In case you need a phone or internet for urgent matters, you just ask the owners and they will make it available. This resort is a real eco resort in the pure sense of the word; electricity is generated by their solar system; in case this doesn’t work they have a backup generator. Electricity is available every day from 6am until 10pm. Rechargeable flash lights and refillable water bottles are provided during check-in. This Resort is also the perfect venue if you are looking to privatize a most unique location for your family, friends or work incentive trip because with only 8 bungalows they do have special private group packages available! Thanks again Kavita & Michael for this unforgettable holiday, you sure can expect to see us much more...