Lipe Beach Resort — Hotel in Ko Lipe

Let’s start with would I stay here again and the answer is NO. This was our second stop on a 5 island trip and we had really been looking forward to our 6 night stay here. So the day before we arrive, we recieve an email talking about an upgrade and they explain each row in the resort etc. They then add the cost to it, never have I been approached about a payable upgrade. Anyway, we arrive on the island and it seems every resort has a rep standing there to take you by long tail boat or tuk tuk to your resort. First time on this island so we’re a little free that we can’t see anyone from Lipe beach. So I call them and they say they don’t provide this service but to get a tuk tuk. There’s limited tuk tuks and no one was around so we dragged our bags through the midday sun about 20/25 mins to find this resort. Please note, once walking street finishes you have to walk through a mud track before you get to the resort and this applies to walking in and out of town with almost no light. We finally arrive and we’re soaked and I ask them why they don’t greet guests from the pier, no answer just an awkward laugh. So anyway, we’ve booked a premier cottage costing £530 for the 6 nights, shown to our room which is on the furthest row from the sea with a dirt track behind. Now it was literally just a room with a bed, one side table and a mini fridge. If there are two people staying in this room, you’ll not be able to walk past each other. The terrace comprised of a wooden bog bed with no cushions, so no where to relax unless you want to break your back. We had to upgrade to the second row, bigger room with table and chairs and partial sea view costing an extra £170. Now we were much happier with this room, comfy bed, good aircon, 2 bottles of water a day. However honestly, I have never come across such unfriendly staff in Thailand before. You get a good breakfast included and present your vouchers every morning, you’ll not get a smile from those girls. Bar staff the same, the only nice people you’ll come across are the young guys who take your luggage to the rooms and the massage girls. Strange thing is to get your room clean, you need to leave the key at reception and you have no access until it’s cleaned. There are also huge gaps in the floor for the mosquitos to get in and bite you as they did us both. The beach is nice, unfortunately very cheap plastic sunloungers with no cushions or padding. The sunbeds have signs only for Lipe beach guests, but you’ll see others from outside the hotel just come and use them and staff don’t walk around and check or ask if you want anything from the bar. We also made a comment that some plastic rubbish had been left in the same place for 4 days before it was removed by staff. My take away from this resort is it’s very overpriced with not very good quality of service or rooms. Half the resort was empty as you can tell by the way the chairs are on the terraces but they’ll still charge you more rather than upgrade. We have now arrived in Koh Mook and we’re paying £35 a night for a beach front hotel which is way better than Lipe beach. It’s on a really nice beach, but other than this I really don’t think it’s worth £133 a night, they charge 4/5 star Thai prices for a 2 star max hotel. I hope the manager reads this, but then again I was going to speak with her when I saw her at the bar but she’s just as unfriendly, so you understand how the staff get away with it. Honestly, don’t waste your money on...

I really liked this resort. It has a lot of soul and is situated on one of the best parts of Sunrise Beach.

The resort & beach: With a lot of eye for detail, they created a very boheme atmosphere. You can tell that someone put a lot of thought and love into decorating the place and that gives it a special vibe. The beach is beautiful and clean. The only downside is that on certain days at certain hours it can get quite busy left and right with a lot of longtailboats coming and going. And the motors of these boats are loud, but it is not all day long. There is like one busy hour in the morning and one in the afternoon when they all come back. At least it was like that during my one week stay. Saturday morning was super busy also at around 2/3pm and sleeping on the beach was not possible with all that ruckus. But if you know what to expect, it's fine as you can just do something else then. And the section of the beach of this resort is in my opinion the most beautiful one on the island.

The bungalows: I stayed in a second row bungalow which was a little more low key than the front row options. Cold water, no A/C, but a fan, but it was more than enough. Not a lot of space to hang your clothes, but I travelled light and I guess so do most of the people coming here and it was enough. The bed was very comfortable and the mosquito net almost not needed and I did not see any bugs during my stay. The bungalow was beautiful. The only things I didn't like, were that my toilet seat was kind of broken and didn't/couldn't get fixed properly during my stay and that the water from the sink actually just flowed out of the bungalow into the sand behind it, instead of being connected to the sewer,like the shower and toilet. This is not really eco-friendly and could be improved. Certainly one of the more expensive options for this bungalow range on the island, BUT if you want to spend time in your resort it is definitely worth it.

The service: Super friendly and likeable staff up to the guy selling the coconuts. Almost everyone spoke good English and really put an effort into me having a good time at the resort. Staff is mainly young, so this also added to the atmosphere of the resort.

Food: Everything tasted good and was made to order. Had breakfast everyday and was satisfied. No buffet (what I preferred), but you can choose from different Thai and Western breakfast options and they are always accompanied by a fresh fruit plate.

The only thing that was a big turn off for me is the way leading up to the resort. As soon as you enter the resort everything is well taken care of and beautiful, but the part from the street where you have to pass the school to get to the "gate" of the resort is heavily littered and at night kind of scary, if you're coming back from town solo and it's dark. Sometimes I wished there could have been a service that you could call to walk you the last 100mts to the resort at night.

All in all, very pleasant experience. Could imagine to...

A BAIT AND SWUTCH SCSM - AVOID!!!!

My friend and I booked air-conditioned, sea-view rooms a week in advance on Agoda. We chose this resort — and paid extra — specifically because it allowed us to book individual air-conditioned rooms. Having a sea view was an added bonus, but the air-conditioning was the main reason we booked here. This was the main reason we had booked here and not at several other resorts that were less expensive.

After traveling for 12 exhausting hours starting at 2:30 AM, we arrived to find the resort refusing to honor our booking. The desk manager and senior manager claimed our reservation was only for a dark, tiny garden room with no sea view, no air-conditioning, and just a fan. If we wanted the air-conditioned sea-view rooms we had booked, they demanded an extra 1,500 baht per night.

When we explained that we had booked in good faith through Agoda, they flatly told us this was a problem between us, Agoda, and the booking agent — “nothing to do with the resort.” They refused to compromise, refused to take responsibility, and even refused to call Agoda directly, despite my giving them the Agoda Thailand number. The managers made almost no effort to help.

I then had to spend two hours on the phone with Agoda, at my own expense, trying to fix this mess. We nearly left the resort entirely because of the bad faith and dishonesty of the management. Agoda refused to refund us, insisting it wasn’t their problem. Only after long delays did Agoda finally agree to cover the price difference so we could get the rooms we had already paid for. The desk manager did agree then that we only have to pay an additional 1000 baht per night.

The truth seems obvious: this resort misrepresents its rooms to booking sites, then pressures exhausted guests on arrival to pay more. Very few of the non beach-row rooms have air-conditioning — they are small, dark, and fan-only and only a couple have ocean glimpses if you bend your neck around the side. Once you’ve prepaid Agoda, it becomes extremely difficult to resolve, which feels like part of their strategy.

Avoid this resort at all costs. Dishonest management, terrible customer service, and most rooms are nothing like what you think...