Keemala — Hotel in Kamala

The rooms are very nice and well appointed. As are the views, though there wasn’t much effort made in blocking out Kamala town from the view, which really isn’t very pleasant. All of the photo are conveniently angled so this prominent view cannot be seen. The bed has huge and perhaps the most comfortable I’ve ever slept on.||Before booking I assessed the room options and decided the tent villa would be ideal for us, given the large amount of outdoor space, we typically enjoy. However despite the room plan we booked off, we were given a room with no Patio. In-fact the only tent villa without a Patio. Not only this, but our room was the only one with its side canvas down, which was at the parameter of the outdoor space. This made the outdoor space dark and enclosed. It felt like they were trying to hide us maybe because we were a gay couple. They tried to say that our room was special as it was the prototype. I’m not sure how a room that hadn’t ironed out its problems was of any advantage to us. They did offer to move rooms after 2 days, but they offered us a room, that due to the angle it faced, would get little sun on the patio we wanted, so it seemed pointless to pack and unpack for little benefit. When I pointed this out, they said the shadow was from the mountains, but we were at the top of the mountain and the shadow was clearly from the canvas covering and not the mountains at all, this irked me, but is a pretty much standard illogical argument you get in Thailand. After spending a week in Thailand you let those arguments go, and become passive with the system. It’s cathartic as it forces you to let go of control. But at the time of writing this review it’s only been 5 days so I’m not there yet. ||We awaited a nest villa to become available and would pay for the upgrade , which has a considerable patio covering the entire breadth of the space . Sadly this room type never became available.||We’re British, the majority of us holiday to get the sun which our home land lacks. Putting British people in a room without any access to sun is baffling. Especially as the hotel had 90% Arab guests, who spent most of their time avoiding it.||Food was better than average. For a 5 star hotel, with 3 Michelin keys, at a $ rate that was twice as much I’d ever paid, I expected better than this. Breakfast was uninspiring, with the cold buffet serving exactly the same food every single day, with no variety with the exception of a few fruit changes. The hot a la carte breakfast, prioritised choice, over quality or accomplished dishes. For example, where better hotels might serve French toast with crème fresh and a berry compote, or waffles with deep friend chicken, here there was 1 dish, with either French toast, waffles or pancakes. That dish had 3 jugs of standard different sauces and a passion fruit smear and a caramelised banana, that wasn’t caramelised. I’d give breakfast 5 out of 10.||Because we booked 5 consecutive nights we were offered a complimentary afternoon tea. The butler made it clear that 24 hours notice would be needed to book afternoon tea. When we tried to book it the same day, there was no flexibilit, and an insistence that 24 hours should be given. Most of the food was terrible. Cheap chocolate cake with avocado, and whilst this seems interesting, it added nothing to the cake besides colour. A raspberry macaroon which would have been nice, but was spoilt with the same cheap chocolate ganache that was in the cake. Scones came with what appeared to be single whipped cream and some wet watery strawberry stuff. There was a savoury bun with 2 peices of feta cheese and 2 half’s of a black olive inside and nothing else. There were lots of other forgettable petit fours. Needless to say afternoon tea was poor. It would have gotten 2 out of 10, had it not been for the mushroom vol-au-vent, which was exceptional. So on the whole i’d give afternoon tea 3.5 out of 10. ||Dinner was better. Whilst nothing was outstanding, I enjoyed it all. 7 out of 10.||Building works continued most of the day. No one warned of this, but it wasn’t too obnoxious.||The staff were friendly, but I wouldn’t say anyone went above and beyond. They only adhered to the arbitrary rules and 24 hours notice to produce subpar food/||Access around most of the facility was via golf buggy. There was an instagram video of a chap saying that the buggy drivers will take you everywhere including to the beach. This was not true. Not only did they refuse, but the golf buggy’s are not legally allowed on the road, as they have no licence. In quieter areas of the island, I imagine that they would break the rules, but the road network in Kamala is quite fast and busy even during low season, so I can’t see that happening.||The canvas of the building ’ are good quality , but the golf buggy’s will keep you awake all night, as they don’t block out any noise, so I wouldn’t recommend a tent villa to anyone. Ear plugs are proudly on display when you arrive, so they are aware of this. Unfortunately they were not the T shape ear plug that actually blocks out noise, just the cheap flat ones that do nothing but make your ears hurt.||Although the Showers by the main pool had a hot tap, it had only cold water. When I asked about this, they said no hot water. When I asked if it’s broken or just that there was never any hot water, they shrugged their shoulders and just carried on. Not really the facilities and response I’d like from a hotel at this price.||As with most independent hotels in Thailand all of the corners are knocked off. That said the setting and buildings were beautiful.||Checkout wasn’t great. They insisted on checking everything, before we could depart. ||I’m not sure how this place got 3 Michelin keys. It’s mainly an instagram hotel with little substance. The rooms are nice and the settings pretty unique, if that’s all they are basing the rating on, then I get it. However I thought there was a lot more nuance to a Michelin rating than that. Based off of this rating, I won’t trust the relatively new Michelin key assessment in future. They let themselves down before they started. That said I do agree with its 2 key rating for Sala Choengmon in Koh Samui, which is my gold standard for service, room and...

I lay here in room 705 (one of the birds nest villas) with our last 2 days here at Keemala - WOW! This place is sensational, and really has the wow factor when you arrive.

We were greeted by our host Cayla who is just phenomenal truly going above and beyond. A lovely welcome, drinks on arrival and an exchange in WhatsApp numbers whereby this is the method you communicate with your host. She very kindly gave us all the important numbers and activities Keemala can organise. Cayla regularly followed up and gave us great suggestions throughout our stay.

Our room was tended to by Amp & Mint (twice a day) who really are such beautiful souls - our room was spotless, they were extremely kind and undertook some lovely gestures. We were here on our honeymoon (10 days) and they welcomed us with bubbles and a chocolate cake. It was my wife’s birthday and they kindly provided more chocolate, leaves in the shapes of a love heart and a beautifully run bath. Other days we had rabbits made out of towels on our bed as well as an elephant (they knew we were going to the Phuket Elephant Sanctuary) - how thoughtful on picking up on small details.

All of the other staff are a dream, from security, to gardeners. to chefs, to cleaners, to bar staff - honestly I’ve never known such hospitable staff who go above and beyond and at all times with a smile on their face truly pleased to see you. Sofia, Music, China, Daniel were just a few names I picked up but it would be wrong of me to single anyone out as they were all superb.

Our room, exactly as the photos, amazing, absolutely huge with a bed that could sleep 4 with ease. Shower is excellent with great pressure, lovely plush towels for showering and for sun beds. A nice home made bug repellent is in your room which believe it or not smells lovely. My top tip is to get an inflatable lilo for the pool if you’re looking to bask in the sun. In January the sunset on top of us but didn’t quite come far enough over our roof to hit us in the deck so we got a lilo to sunbathe. To be honest, this worked perfectly as it kept you cool.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner. 60% of ingredients are grown on site (which you can experience) with the rest sourced from the local area. Food is to die for, I had a ribeye one night which was exceptional, as were all the Thai dishes I tried. The Thai eggs was simple yet so effective. Plenty of fruit, pastries, jams etc to choose from. I didn’t try the western dishes as I was too busy and engrossed in the Thai dishes.

Tipping you will read different views from different people and cultures. We’re from the UK - do not be tight in tipping, look after those that look after you, after some research the staff will earn significantly less than we/you do so put your hand in your pocket and put a huge grin on their faces. They’re so appreciative of a tip and it goes a long way. 100 THB is about £2.50 so typically would give drivers or those that helped me a small gesture as a result. More to hosts and cleaners etc.

All in all, if you are debating coming here, do not hesitate - the most amazing place for any holidays but in particular our honeymoon. Amazing weather, the most incredible people and cultures. Countless activities, Bangla boxing stadium (MMA), Phuket Elephant Sanctuary, Phuket Old Town, all the islands surrounding Phuket, water sports, beach days, food, temples, massages, 7-11s you name it, Phuket has it.

Keemala - thank you for making our honeymoon so...

Spent two nights in a Bird's Nest Pool Villa at a rate of 25,360 THB ($770) per night, booked via SLH, which for Phuket is very high, yet for this hotel it was a good deal (as this room usually goes for over $1,000).

My experience was that a lot of people come here for the "novelty" of the tree house like rooms, stay one or two nights, and then move on. But the "novelty" (if any) wears off pretty quickly.

Location: The hotel is about a 45 minute drive from the airport, and is not close to anything by foot. So most people just hang out in their rooms, which at these prices is what they should do. The view from the villas is basically the nearly town with the sea in the background, including some high rise buildings. At night there's a lot of lights from the town. I thought this was going to be a "jungly" experience, it was not. 2/5

Cleanliness: No issues, the room and pool were very well cleaned. 4/5

Service: Not luxury. At arrival the service was typical and a bit hurried, which is to be expected when 50% of your rooms turn over every day. Most of our interactions were with the staff at the restaurant, which left a lot to be desired. The service there was friendly but had issues, like having to ask twice for the coffee we ordered at breakfast, or ordering a mushroom-cheese omelette and getting no mushrooms. Not impressed. 3/5

Breakfast: Good options, and they were very flexible with special orders. A small buffet plus al a carte, good selection and good quality. 4/5

Restaurant: Most likely you will end up eating here if you are just staying for 1 or 2 nights. It's a relatively small restaurant, with a menu featuring a lot of dishes, but way too expensive for what it offers. The service is as mentioned above, the food is OK, nothing memorable. Overall, not a luxury hotel restaurant. 3/5

Room: This is what you go there for. Well, it looks (in the photos) different than what it feels when you are there. The villas are not really like tree houses, suspended, they are just on a cliff. This means that you have to climb a LOT of stairs to get to your room. It was like 3 flights to get to ours, and we were on the first level, so be prepared to climb A LOT of stairs. From there on the room was beautiful, especially the bathroom. The bed was huge (two doubles together, so like a California king) and very comfortable. The outdoor area was large and the pool was very generous. The bathroom is the highlight of this room, it is a bit dark though, and I did not like the fact that the toilet is only separated from the rest of the bathroom by a curtain, and is exactly at the entrance to the (huge) bathroom. The shower was quirky as well, but not very practical, as the water goes everywhere under the curtains. My only issue was with the free movies offered on the (small for this room) TV - what else are you going to do stuck here at night? - as they were not loading correctly and kept freezing. Overall, the room was very nice. 4/5

Value: For the price, the hotel does not deliver. Just a great room at $1,000 per night is not good value for money in Thailand. 2/5.

Would not return if...