KOH TAO CABANA RESORT — Hotel in Ko Tao

My cousins booked this place for three nights on Koh Tao. We are all avid snorkelers and divers, and we were very much looking forward to our stay here. We have traveled through all of Thailand many times over the last decade, and have been to this beautiful island many times. We always come back to Thailand, because the people are incredibly kind, and welcoming. We could not have had a more different experience here at Koh Tao Cabana Resort. ||||My cousins booked us a couple of the Tree top Villas, on line they looked beautiful and perfect for the family get away that we were planning. We wanted something overlooking the water, and close to town. ||||When we got to the resort, we saw a confrontation between a guest and what appeared to be the manager of the resort. The guest was not happy about their villa and was complaining about the mosquitoes, and some kind of stains on the bed linens and that the room was not very clean. We just kind of looked at each other, thinking maybe this gentleman/guest was a bit too high maintenance, but we waited patiently while they tried to sort things out. What we noticed though, which was alarming, was how rude the staff/manager was to this guest. They did not really listen, instead made this guest feel badly for complaining and told him that the room was "clean enough" and if "he didn't like it, he could leave." This is very unusual for Thailand, the Thai people usually don't like confrontation, so we have only seen this on a rare occasion.||||This was a very uncomfortable situation to be greeted with, one of the young Thai women working at the front desk, greeted us with a small smile, looking embarrassed and asked us to please wait by the pool and gave us a drink of juice, and a complimentary drink card. We were fine with it, we just went for a quick swim in the pool and had a beer. But the situation escalated and the guest left very upset, we passed him on the way back to the check in reception and he said, "good luck, this place is a joke!"||||We shrugged it off, thinking that was exceptional and that we would not have the same experience. We WERE WRONG! ||||Both of the Tree Top Villas we checked into were dirty, stains on the bed linens, long hair everywhere, grime and mold in the shower and the towels were a dull brown color, to top that off, there were several huge dead cockroaches right next to the bed. And the air-conditioning smelled like intense mold. Not what we expected from what appeared on line to be a nicer resort on Koh Tao. We were disappointed but we had a dive trip lined up so we had to be on our way and couldn't deal with the room situation. ||||Long story short, when we went to the manager and staff later, we explained that we were not happy with the cleanliness of our villas, that the linens were stained and that the villas smelled like a strong mold smell, cockroaches, hair etc, but the strong mold smell was intense and we could feel it in our lungs immediately. I get that it's an island and humid, but they should be on top of their air conditioners, they are crucial at a resort like this and most guests probably use them quite often when the temperatures get hot.||||We quickly realized that the guest who was complaining, was right, and not being critical. These Villas are not as clean and nice as they should be. The staff/manager are RUDE, and extremely unprofessional. We were so turned off by our experience, we lasted only one of the three nights and left early to go to another resort close by, The Haadetien Beach Resort. (highly recommend that resort over this one!) ||||This resort is a joke, like the previous guest had told us. And when we were checking out two days early, the same staff/manager was on the phone literally yelling at a guest that their reservation that they had paid for, would not be honored. We got out of there as soon as we could and had a much nicer experience. We DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS...

Good:We stayed at the Champoo Villa for 3 nights, and then Sunset Cottage Villa 28 for 3 nights. The Champoo Villa is just next to the reception desk, so you don’t have to walk a lot, although there are 2 flights of steep stairs you have to climb to reach it. Our stay there was nice, the A/C was working well and everything seemed decent, in terms of the view, comfort and cleanliness. Then we switched to the Sunset Cottage Villa, that is at the far end of the resort, overlooking a small bay. While the view is spectacular, it is definitely NOT recommended for the people who are not in good shape, as you have to climb A LOT of stairs in order to reach it - approximately a 4-minute walk uphill. The cottage is very authentic, made of wood, and the partially open-air bathroom really adds to the general jungle feeling. The staff are all extremely helpful and polite, and they really try to accommodate each and every ask. However, at time there were issues with getting the orders right at the restaurant.

BAD:

Cleanliness: The entire resort is in a dire need of renovation. It was a stark contrast to the premium price they charge. While they do try to maintain the place, and keep stuff clean, i.e., bedsheets, floors, etc., you can immediately tell that a lot of things are really worn out and should be replaced. By this I mean towels, taps, light switches, deck chairs, etc. For example, although the Champoo villa advertises as 146 sq.meters, with a rooftop balcony, in reality the balcony is covered with black dust and the two deck chairs seemed to have survived a nuclear war. In the Sunset Villa, the sink tap and the shower were covered in scale and rust, and there were electric wires sticking out from the wall, there was mould on walls and around the sink- not something you should get for this price. There was a stale, mouldy smell coming from the A/C, matress, towels, etc.

Noise: While the resort in seemingly far away from the party part of the Sairee beach, the bass from the rave can really be heard/felt even through closed windows until at least until 2:00 AM every night. The resort provides earplugs, as obviously they can’t do anything about it. So, if you are an extremely light sleeper, this is not a place for you. It’s a pitty as I really wanted to sleep with the windows wide open, but the music was too loud for my standards.

Breakfast: Honestly, for the price we were plainh, I expected a better breakfast. One reason being that it seems they don’t refill the buffet offer, so if you are late to breakfast, there might not be a lot left. Moreover, you can’t pour the coffee yourself, but have to ask for a refill of filtered coffee, and the selection of teas is really poor. Dishes and food containers showed signs of inadequate cleaning, raising hygiene concerns.

Wildlife: Definitely NOT a place if you are afraid of insects (butterflies, mosquitos, flies, spiders, centepedes), and squirrels. The hotel provides a bug repellent, which is nice. Shuttle: We were a bit shocked when they picked us up at the port in their truck, as we had to sit outside with the luggage. It is only a 5-minute ride, but then again, for price we were paying, we expected a proper mini-van.

Beach: Unfortunately, due to mass tourism, chemicals from our SPFs, old diesel engines of the taxi boats, the once beautiful coral reef at the Sairee beach is quite dead. :( The water is shallow and murky and there isn’t much to see apart from sea cucumers and occassional bright coloured fish. The hotel does provide free of charge kayaks for the guests to use, which is a nice touch.

In conclusion, our stay at Cabana fell short of expectations, primarily due to outdated facilities and cleanliness issues. While the location is appealing, potential guests should weigh the positives against the numerous drawbacks before considering...

Do not stay here!!! Unless you want bed bugs||Initially we loved the hotel, very cool room and pleasant check in! However this changed very quickly after the first night ||||I woke up covered in bugs bites all over my legs, both myself and my boyfriend assumed these were mosquito bites despite using mosquito net overnight. ||The bathroom is open to the outside so the room was constantly filled with mosquitos.||||Our horror really began the second night, we seen bugs running across the sheets, pillows and mattress. These bed bugs were clearly what had caused the bites on my legs. ||We attempted to contact reception on the WhatsApp number provided however it was closed so we received no reply until the morning.||||I stripped the bedsheets, pillow cases and mattress topper off in an attempt to remove the bed bugs. The mattress cover was disgusting, covered in stains and marks all over both sides - it was filthy!! And one of the pillows was completely mouldy on both sides - again it was disgusting! (Photos attached of all dirty linen)||||Both myself and my boyfriend were unable to sleep on the bed due to this, we both lay on the sofa and stayed up all night. Which was very disappointing as we had paid quite a lot for the 2 night stay (17000 Baht).||||On check out I explained to reception staff what had happened, they were very understanding and apologetic - the manager got involved and asked for all photos to be sent to them. Staff even took pictures of the bites on my legs for their own records.||||We were told a full refund for the stay would be issued within a few days, as we had booked through a 3rd party website a refund could not be issued in person. Both myself and my boyfriend seen this situation as resolved after this promise of a refund.||||They sent us an email the day after check out stating the dirty linen was an oversight on their behalf due to the high volume of guests - surely clean linen is the bare minimum standard a hotel should provide!!||They also said they will put pest control measures in place to prevent infestations in rooms - ||||We were left disappointed and angry yet again by this hotel - They said in their email they will transfer is 4000 Baht to a Thai bank account (which I obviously don’t have). The hotel also claimed a miscommunication lead us to think we were getting a refund. Which is a blatant lie.||||It’s clear now they lied about a refund so we would leave the hotel quickly and quietly.||||Overall, save yourself the hassle and stay somewhere else that isn’t infested with bugs and the linen has been cleaned...