Santhiya Koh Yao Yai Resort & Spa — Hotel in Ko Yao Yai

I was hesitating to write a review for this place, as it is really so beautiful, just breathtaking.

However, the good parts stop there. Will describe the experience from arrival to departure.

Arrival We stayed here for 3 nights, booked with Agoda with 1,000 thb resort credit per day, and booked the boat transfer. Check in was before boarding the boat, there is an office with snacks and coffee at Ao Po Grand Marina. There is parking if you have a car. The staff mentioned to us regarding the need to charge our credit card of 1 thb, and we asked them what is the maximum charge, and they did not know, the staff member asked us in a joking way, if we don't trust them. We found this unprofessional, and we told them that the information was unclear.

We went on the speedboat 600 thb per person per way from the pier. When we arrived we were taken into a big room with seats and other guests checking in the same day, with more snacks, drinks and introduction about the room, facilities and stay. It feels like a very mass experience being tour guided. We were brought to the room by buggies.

Room: Spacious and beautiful, everything was just great there, the view, the surrounding, the bed so comfortable, many towels, wonderful. However there was no hot water day 2 and 3.

Service: Front desk - we asked for housekeeping service, I am Thai and spoke Thai, and the response i got was, "English please". We found it highly rude, and i am aware that it was not intentional, but shows a lack of training.

Lunch and dinner at Saitara: We ate every single meal at the restaurant, both at Saitara and Chantara. You have to order via scanning the QR code only which was highly annoying, as the UI is terrible, if you accidentally click back, you have to start again. It is intended to be efficient, but some people do not want to use their phones all the time and they should have the option to order manually. The staff were very inactive in general, whenever we ordered Thai food, they never set the appropriate cutlery and you have to ask every single time, and they dont learn. Service is passive and reactive. They are friendly and nice, but that is about it. The food is overpriced, we ordered massaman curry with chicken and got just bits of skin and some meat. We ordered mango sticky rice at 280 thb++ and got half a mango, and 2 tbsp of sticky rice, very bland, for the price you pay this is not the quality you would expect at a luxury resort. Staff apologised but nothing happened after that.

Buffet Dinner The buffet dinner on Saturday was good, only 750 thb++, with a good spread with Japanese, western, Indian, Thai.

The rest of the meals we had there were just overpriced and low quality, but since we were lazy to go out we ate there, as the beach was nice.

Front desk/departure Check out was the most sour taste, as our booking mentioned that we have resort credit of 1000 thb per day, but the English speaking front desk staff told us that we dont have this benefit in our booking, that we booked with Agoda and we need to contact Agoda. Our booking shows clearly that we have the credit, but they mentioned it was from a third party partner and they will not give anything. They did not apologise, offer to help or anything. It is not the guests responsibility in regards to the room type and benefits they book, if there is some room syncing issue in their backend, and highly irresponsible for them to respond to us in that manner. We also spent around 30 minutes trying to resolve the issue that we ended up having to pay and ask for a refund later. Later that staff escorted us silently, no farewell or thank you or nothing, leaving a negative last impression from the front desk.

The worst thing about it is that even with all these shortcomings regarding the service and hospitality there, the location and building is unique and stunning, that even if this establishment would not change their ways to better their customer interaction points, it is still a special place to see once.

Would recommend if you haven't been: thai style, views,...

We left Santhiya with mixed feelings. It’s gorgeous but had a good and bad experience.

Bad parts: We originally booked the Grand Deluxe Bay View. Do Not Book This Room! This was an upgraded option I booked based off of the photo on the website and the larger size of room. Even if it’s a smaller room, I recommend an ‘ocean view’ option only. The photo is not accurate on the website. It left us feeling scammed. Based on the nonchalant response we got from the front desk, they must often receive complaints on this. The room was in the farthest location from the main hotel area- building 7. There are trucks that will take you 3/4 of the way there but it still requires a lot of additional walking anytime you want to go somewhere. Rooms on the bottom floor also feel like you are in a basement. The view was ugly— so ugly you wouldn’t want to take a picture off of your balcony. We were so unhappy that we went back to the front desk to upgrade. The only option they had left was a villa to which was an additional 150,000 baht. Given that it was our honeymoon, we decided to pay for the upgrade. The hotel did discount the price to help us out but we left the experience feeling a little cheated. You see the pictures and walk into the breathtaking resort then get taken to a room in a basement with an ugly view. It would have completely ruined our experience if we did not upgrade. The resort is spread out. They have trucks and golf carts but it’s still something to consider because some areas require you to walk. The drinks and food are pricey for Thailand. We found ourselves buying drinks and eating food down the beach instead of at the resort. For example a coconut was around 200 baht and an Aperol Spritz was 480 baht. Typically a coconut is 30-80 baht. The excursions are limited and pricey. I recommend booking your excursions outside of the hotel or while you are in Phuket/Krabi. We booked a shared boat for 4000 baht per person through the hotel. It was cancelled the day before due to inclement weather. We were confused because the weather was supposed to be gorgeous the next day (and it was). It was not windy and did not rain until 10 pm. We felt like they were not being transparent about why it was cancelled. We were told they met the minimum of six people so it did not make sense to us. We ended up booking a private boat for the same cost in Krabi two days later. There are not enough beds near the pools or beach. Each day we had to wait next to the pool and beach to find a spot.

Good Parts: the resort is gorgeous— the wooden buildings, the view, the natural design. It’s the most beautiful hotel we have stayed at. The included breakfast is incredible. It’s everything you could want for breakfast and with an incredible view. Outside of the poor experience day 1, the staff was top notch. Always friendly and helpful. There are food options and small stores close by (5 min walk on the beach) if needed. We were able to buy drinks and toiletries when needed. The villas are incredible. The outdoor shower, pool, and view is remarkable. It was the most unique room I’ve stayed in. Room service was quick and easy. We felt safe the entire time. Though you are in the wilderness, they do a great job of spraying for mosquitoes and keeping bugs away. The A/C in the rooms and hot water was all satisfactory.

Additional notes: the resort is quiet and family friendly. If you are looking for a party or late night cocktails, this is not your place. Nights we wanted to stay out late we went to the resort next door. If you are flying in to Krabi, you can book a speed boat from Ao Nang pier to Chong Lard Pier on Koh Yao Yai. Then take a taxi to the hotel (going rate is around 600 baht). It takes about 30-40 minutes. I recommend booking the speed boat in advance— they fill up fast. The hotel has a private car option for (730 baht). We booked this when getting back to the pier. The hotel has free yoga, Muay Thai, kayaks, and paddle boards but not very many...

Santhiya is an idyllic resort that is located in the Ko Yao Yai island. Beautiful rooms, everything is made up of carved wood. The views from the balcony are just breath taking. The bath tub over there is a cherry on the cake. The staff is really friendly. However, it does come with some serious flaws.

First of all, this is marketed as a 5 star resort which I think is misleading in many ways. I would put St Regis and Grand Hyatt for the benchmark of a 5 start resort.

The food and beverage scene here is strictly between average and sub-par. The quality is below average. They are not accomodating to special needs. Having multiple restaurants is just scandalous because you can only dine at 1 of them.

So, by the sea and Titan Grill are literally the same restaurant with same menu, kitchen and the ambiance. Just that the seating is 3 meters apart from each other. I fail to understand why they are marketed as different?

Saitara is useless since it only serves buffet breakfast and one cannot go there to have any other meal. It has a lovely view but opportunity wasted. So technically you are only left with one restaurant that's by the beach, and you can call it whatever you please.

A 5 star resort should have multiple independant restaurants, catering to all dietary needs and personalized food as per requirements. Being a vegetarian, they have a very limited vegetarian menu. If you stay for many days, it can get boring and repetitive.

The staff is not willing to accomodate to special food requests (like vegetarian noodles or tofu satay). The existing dishes on vegetarian menu are not good in both taste and nutrition profile. Thai green curry is watered down coconut milk with excessive amounts of spice making it edible for large number of people. Pad thai 70% vegetables and 30% noodles. Fried rice alone couldn't be eaten. Only good items being papaya salad and mushroom soup. But that variety of food isn't ideal for a vegetarian who is staying for multiple nights. I will not count Pizza and Pasta since it is just not authentic and lacks taste.  When I ask the waiter for food recommendations or specials, I get confused responses and murmurs without any added value. A 5 star resort will never flunk to this level.

Any drink I ordered comes with a copious amount of ice which is not normal. Usually a normal person will have 2-3 ice cubes in his coke, not a glass full of ice with little drink

Looking at the guest profile, I think you can benefit from hiring a dedicated Indian chef with an Indian vegetarian menu cooked separately. Or maybe repurposing a closed restaurant to serve Indian-Middle Eastern vegetarian cuisines.

Now coming to hospitality and service. I think it was fine for the most part, but AI wouldn't call it a 5 star level service. For example, upon check out I requested for some water, the staff told me to go and take it from Check in room water cooler. At a 5 star resort, I will expect the staff to come and hand over a glass of water/or bottle in my hand. That is called service.

In my bedroom there was no water heater and do not distrub sign. The water in the bath tub was little yellow. There is no in-room dining menu available in the room. On your WhatsApp chat, the staff tells me to call 516 for the menu. Ideally when I am chatting on WhatsApp, I expect immediate resolution and not action that I have to take. It is basic norm of service to not let a customer wait or take any action, but rather offer him his requisite beforehand. Those are the only complaints about the bedroom. However the location of my bedroom and the accessibility is a problem. They only operate buggies to the assembly point, which is a roughly 10-15 meter uphill walk from my room. I am tall and have back ache due to a recent injury, requested them to call buggy to my room but they simply denied stating that it is Ozone area. What exactly is Ozone area? What is the implication on my buggy? I can see a perfectly paved road then why not? Neither the staff is educated, nor it is present in...