OUTRIGGER Phi Phi Island Resort — Hotel in Ko Phi Phi Don

Worrying situation of this luxury hotel. We asked for a further refund from the 4000€ we spent as we thought it would be fair based on the below but were refused. Dear Sirs,

For the second consecutive year, our arrival was poorly managed. Despite prior arrangements, no staff were present to greet us, nor was the expected tractor service available. We were left waiting until we eventually flagged down a porter ourselves and navigated our way to the hotel—fortunate only because we had visited before and remembered the route. The check-in process was equally disappointing. The receptionist greeted us with a curt demand for our passports, offering no welcome, orientation, or hospitality. This lack of customer service was only surpassed by another staff member at reception - receptionist with short hair, whose dismissive and outright rude demeanor was entirely unfitting for a resort that claims to be welcoming. The beach service was wholly inadequate. On multiple occasions, service was not set up by 11 a.m., and orders consistently fell into one of three categories: they never arrived despite being charged, they were incorrect, or—on rare occasions—they were actually fulfilled correctly - this happened for 14 days straight. The condition of the beach towels was alarming. It is shocking that towels in such a poor state—threadbare, discolored, and with visible holes—were provided to guests. This demonstrates a clear lack of care. Even more concerning, we later discovered that the better-quality towels were being used to cover machinery in the bar. The breakfast offering was severely below standard, with issues extending beyond mere quality to genuine health concerns. As captured in the attached footage, visible mold was present in multiple areas. Although this was eventually addressed, it had already severely impacted our stay. Given that an average of eight staff members were present each morning, it is inexcusable that such conditions were ever allowed to arise. Additionally, we reported ongoing issues such as ant infestations and other unhygienic practices daily, yet little was done to rectify them. It was apparent that staff across all levels were struggling. Witnessing the same employees working from early morning until late at night created a disheartening image of overworked personnel. Many openly admitted to being exhausted, which negatively affected both their well-being and the level of service provided to guests. Security on the beach was a daily concern. There was a clear lack of staff presence, and we had to alert management ourselves when individuals unaffiliated with the hotel were loitering in close proximity. On one occasion, we felt genuinely unsafe due to the absence of any staff or security personnel monitoring the area. The beach is far from private, despite claims to the contrary. We were specifically assured that neighboring resorts would cease to cause such chaos via their tractor service, yet this issue remains unresolved. It is highly concerning that guests are misled regarding this matter. Issues we raised in 2024 regarding the pool area remain unaddressed, with conditions deteriorating further. Service and cleanliness were subpar, and the pool deck was dangerously hot—an absurd oversight in a supposed "barefoot luxury" resort. This not only affects comfort but also poses a potential safety risk. The bi-nightly fire show parties, which were already raised as an issue in 2024, continued to disrupt our evenings. Despite assurances that this problem would be addressed, it remains a major detriment to the resort’s supposed atmosphere of relaxation. In light of these repeated failures, we are not merely canceling our future reservation but also formally requesting a 50% refund on our total stay. This remains a substantial financial loss for us, yet it is a reasonable request given the significant shortfalls in service, hygiene, security, and overall experience. We trust that Zeavola Resort will acknowledge these issues and respond appropriately. We look forward to your prompt resolution of...

UPDATE:

The staff and general manager (Lion) immediately reached out to us after seeing this review. We came back to a much cleaner room, and while we were testing the private pool (which was actually pretty nice), Lion visited to see what we could do to fix our experience.

We explained our concerns about the price point to luxury disconnect, room amenities, and outside bathroom issue. For instance, throughout the night, the bathroom routine of going quickly through multiple sets of doors (to avoid letting more mosquitos in) while watching your step to dodge roaches and giant millipedes got pretty old.

Lion offered to move us to the one remaining villa along the beach, which had a connected bathroom - along with reimbursing us for the difference in cost. The new room itself actually feels better appointed and much nicer than the “luxury” pool villa - so perhaps keep that in mind.

Overall we’re of course adjusting our reviews, based on the exceptional service/staff, but leaving the original review up as well.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

This will be best as a Pros/Cons list, so here goes:

PROS: staff at the restaurants seem very friendly. High marks to them, and the facility itself is certainly not their fault. a couple of our food dishes were quite good

CONS: room is literally locked by a padlock… like a locker. I could let this slide if not for the rest… the room isn’t really sealed at all… even when closed, the door has a huge gap in it, allowing bugs and other creatures through. These gaps are everywhere, so you may as well be sleeping outside (only a slight exaggeration) the bathroom isn’t connected to the room… so you get to leave your poorly-sealed room, letting even more bugs in, whenever you want to go to the toilet, brush your teeth, etc. the remedy for this is a mosquito net in your bedroom, and an electrified bug zapper wand thingy… ours didn’t even turn on, of course. A net can be cute, and our last place on Yao Noi had one, but ours just felt dirty and run down, and a cheap solution to a terribly sealed room. This could be fine at a MUCH lower price point, but not at this one. the pool of our “private pool villa”, while nice looking at a glance, didn’t even have a safe way to easily enter the pool. There is evidence of a long-lost ladder, but the rungs were missing. This pool appears to be more for show than function (it looks nice in the photos online, but those are also either photoshopped or many years old, as the property doesn’t look even close to that pristine). We certainly won’t be going in ours. At $500 USD/night, this is madness. For the record, we camp… so are no strangers to roughing it/wilderness/bugs. But at this price point (by far the most expensive we found on the entire island), and touting itself as the pinnacle of 5-star luxury, this appears closer to straight up fraud to us. Looking through the reviews and Reddit posts, I have to wonder at the legitimacy of these posts (including for the other nearby resorts, which all appeared even more run down than this one). It appears as if the reviews are being flooded with local glowing reviews, with the occasional “real” ones showing the horror stories of recent reality (find the ones with pics).

At this point, we’re not sure what we can even do, because this island looks about like one giant bait and switch, luring folks with old images and fake recent posts. We have been actively looking through reviews for an alternative place to relocate to, and it looks like entire island suffers from the same fate. It’s like they built it all up 20 years ago and never touched anything for maintenance since.

In the case of our “luxury” pool villa suite at Zeavola, even when brand new, I don’t think this could have qualified as luxury/5-star, nor does it get to lean on the eco-glamping vibe that’s all the rage… because it’s completely lacking the glamour/luxury that makes those eco-friendly hotspots so attractive.

I’d steer clear of Zeavola, and if you can help it, perhaps avoid Phi Phi entirely. Find a different...

We stayed at this hotel for a wonderful 7 nights which were just like heaven! When we first arrived with my mother, we were warmly welcomed and offered butterfly pea juice, as well as cold towels. Since it is still quite hot in May, soft drinks and towels were just right! Check in was prompt and unproblematic, we had the Village Suite and It was incredible! Large and spacious, with a comfortable bed, as well as a spacious bathroom. There was also a small terrace where you could either sit on a bench or sit comfortably on floor mats. Cleaning and fresh fruits everyday, as well as treating mosquitoes and insects in the evening. In addition, the staff left small souvenirs on the table every evening, which will definitely serve as a reminder of your stay at the Zeavola resort! A nice bonus to our stay was that since we were staying at the hotel for a long period, the hotel offered a free hour of aroma massage! The spa at the Zeavola resort is excellent! There you can relax and enjoy Thai massage or scrubs, body wraps, etc. Special thanks to the masseuses Chut and Netnapa, they do a great massage, not too soft, but not too hard - just right! The resort’s territory itself is not too small, but not too big. Around solid greenery, beautiful flowers, trees, and you can also meet a lot of different living creatures! Among the roads there are small signs with information about the birds that live on the island. We were able to see some exotic birds, but unfortunately not others due to the late season. However, this detail in the form of signs is very useful and informative, as vacationers can get to know the local "neighbors" better. :) I advise you to visit the pool. It has sweet water and is surrounded by tropical greenery, so you can feel like you are in a private little oasis! Because the island sometimes has low tides, the pool is a great alternative to swim and cool off. I also hasten to highlight breakfasts and dinners at the resort! Zeavola offers an excellent range of dishes for all tastes. Breakfast is both a buffet and a choice of menus. I also want to note that all egg dishes are served personally and thus are always fresh! I advise you to try Thai soup, which is also served fresh for breakfast. Every morning the buffet-choice varied, which was great because we didn't get tired because of the monotony. As for dinner, it is a menu choice. The restaurant offers a wide selection of dishes for all tastes: traditional Thai dishes and Western dishes. Being from Germany, I want to be honest, I did not think that Western food like a burger or pasta would be delicious, but how wrong I was! Everything, absolutely all the dishes the chef performed with a bang. Highly recommend trying the creme brulee dessert and the pistachio dessert, it was absolutely amazing! All seven days I was absolutely satisfied with the food, which was the first time I had on vacation. The hotel also has a water center where you can rent kayaks, etc. for free. It was very cool to kayak along the azure water and watch from a distance to the island and the hotel itself. Such events also help to diversify your stay in paradise. ;) Still overwhelmed with emotions, I want to thank all the staff of the Zeavola Resort for a great time, where we were surrounded by care and attention. Special thanks to Wave and Noina, who always served our family with a smile and a good mood at breakfast and dinner! I also wanted to thank Yui, who always quickly responded to our requests and requests during the check-in and during the first days of our stay. And of course, a big thank you to the general manager Lion, who periodically passed between the guests at breakfast in the morning and asked about their well-being and whether they were satisfied with everything. Such a personal approach deserves attention and respect, as the managers keep their finger on the pulse and try to do everything possible for the comfort of guests. Many thanks to the Zeavola Resort for an unforgettable vacation, I really hope that someday my mother and I will...