Beach Club by Haadtien — Hotel in Ko Tao

Beautifully located hotel with an amazing public beach. There are a few things that shouldn’t be a thing in an upscale hotel like this. The pool along the beach (there are two, one in one end and one along) was really dirty with murky water, felt like the filtering system had broken down as it got worse and worse over the three days we stayed. It wasn’t a big issue since the beautiful ocean is right there but this still shouldn’t happen. The other pool, closest to the hotel and restaurant complex, was clean and absolutely stunning. The room we got was nicely located at the very top floor closest to the water, with a nice view over the pool and the beach. Here are though some of the things where one could expect more at a hotel like this. There was only one hanger in the bathroom, on the inside of the door, and the second towel had to go either on the balcony, front door or the mini-closet. No small towels were provided, only two large each, one for beach and pool and one for shower. Basically no storage room except a few hangers in the mini-closet. Finishes were really quite bad, like shower mixer with and inch of silicone as it wasn’t fitted properly, toilet paper holder coming loose, balcony doors with half an inch slip (little bugs and insects finding their way in when dark outside and the lights are on) or the glass in the doors with a ton of silicone smeared along the edges. The room was very clean, except the two fixed glass panels facing the balcony which were full of salt, and we got extra towels in a few minutes when we first didn’t understand they don’t provide small towels for the bathroom. Beautiful views from the balcony that has a large daybed to relax on. Staff is very attentive, will help you cary your bags (it’s a lot of stairs but that’s no secret and you should only choose this place if you’re fit to walk 5 floors or so), and shuttle you to town or the pier at certain times a day. Weird though they only provide shuttle from the hotel, about six times a day during renovations, and only one time back to the hotel, at 7:30 PM. A taxi is 300B if you find the right one, and keep the drivers number because you might end up paying 400 or more during evenings or rains. There’s construction work going on until high season, around Christmas. We missed this information when booking but it is there (at least on Booking. com) if you only read the hotel information, they’re not trying to hide it. They offered one complimentary cocktail and one nonalcoholic drink per person per day, only during happy hour though, as a little extra due to renovation. Yes there’s noice by the restaurant and one of the pools, which then also affects many of the rooms during daytime, but with the picture perfect beach you can easily get away from it. Breakfast is ok, not something to write home about. Coming from the Nordics breakfast is a big thing so guessing some people will really enjoy it. Egg station, bread, some daily wok, a few hot things like sausages and bacon, then greens, and fruits. A bit bland with not much of a change from day to day but you won’t leave hungry. Pool bar isn’t that great, we decided to not spend anything on cocktails or beer here after trying out the free happy hour cocktails that didn’t impress. Thailand isn’t known for great cocktails for sure so we weren’t disappointed either but we saved it for nights out in town instead. At US$ 60 a night, beginning November, we can’t complain really. It’s a beautiful property and location, friendly staff, good exercise walking to and from the village and within the property, but there’s a bit more to wish for to really be the perfect place. Still recommend the place, at least if at the right price. Wouldn’t pay $100+ per night but rather find a decent...

I was very negatively surprised by the reviews on Google of this place as we were hours from checking in with our 4 night stay already paid and not able to cancel. Maybe it was a great way to manage expectations but to be honest after our stay we loved this place.

It's without a doubt the best resort in the island from a holistic perspective. The complex is right by the beach, a private beach, your private beach and, after a lot of wandering around, I can say...the best beach in Koh Tao.

The complex includes the Beach Club and the Haad Tien (the more expensive one) but both are managed jointly and the facilities are shared.

Our room (Beach Double with Balcony) was exactly like in the pictures, quite large with a big and comfy bathroom and a great balcony with an outdoor bed overlooking the beach and the bay. Check the pics.

The breakfast was amazing and very varied. They have two restaurants, Capri and Sea and breakfast is served on both however the egg/omelette station (worth a visit) is only on Sea. Both restaurants are next to each other and have tables over the beach in futon style, pretty cool.

The resort offer everything you need if you want to simply be there and enjoy it's facilities. Two restaurants with good food, plenty of pools, beach to die for, snorkel for rent, kayak for rent, taxi boat, etc. Though you will have to pay the price for it...food is easily 2x what you pay in Sairee and the Dive Centre is super expensive, from my own experience in Koh Tao, a fund dive should be anywhere between 800-1000 baht per immersion with a decent (PADI 5*) centre. The dive center at this Place charges 3800 bath for 2 dives...

The one comment I would make is that for a 4* star resort with European prices I would have expected the snorkel and the kayaks to be free to take (maybe a deposit) but not to be charged for them...

Lastly, while the location is amazing it comes at a price. It's a 10-20 min drive from the port and Sairee and the road is challenging and not all paved. The resort offers quite frequent transfer on their super pumped trucks but if you don't want to feel "trapped" in the resort and its prices I would recommend getting a motorbike. Though be extremely careful, particularly at night, and only drive a motorbike in Koh Tao generally and to the resort particularly if you are a experienced driver.

PS - All pics are taken by me from the Hotel balcony, room and breakfast...

Let’s start from the beginning. We checked in for a beach balcony room and once we got inside it, we looked outside the window seeing the roof of the restaurant in front of us covering all the view (the beach was not even visible and the sea barely visible). We came back immediately to ask for another room but till the next day there were no rooms available (and we got lucky that someone was checking out the next day). We were not happy about it because we payed for the most expensive room to enjoy our view. The receptionist told us “sir I travel a lot as well and when you make a reservation you don’t know what you will get”. We were speechless at such affirmation after double checking on their own website, looking at the pictures for our room and also read a description.I told them “ this is cheating on the reservation because you put pictures and higher price and then you give your guest a room at ground floor with no view”. At these words the receptionist started to scream at us saying “you don’t dare say we are cheating”(and she kept screaming for a while). In such a resort I would never expect such a reaction. The receptionist SCREAMING and pointing her finger at us. I decided to let it go because we were actually scared they could leave us on the street or worse. The next day they changed our room (what we payed for). Never received an apology for that behavior. Speaking about the resort. It was very beautiful but everything extremely overpriced (but that’s “normal” in a resort). The Beach was stunning and food was good. Staff was poorly trained. They charge everything with 10% service but you get really poor service. We tried to call the waiters so many times without being minimally considered. I had to go get our drinks by myself many times and same to get our order at the restaurant. I must say some members of the stuff were really professional and nice, others unprofessional and almost rude. We had a nice stay at the resort but I was expecting much more from the service. I’m sorry but I will never choose this place again or suggest it to other people because we found unacceptable to see a receptionist screaming (and I mean really screaming) at a guest because he/she didn’t like the...