Rapala Rock wood Resort (Railay East) — Hotel in Krabi Province

Rapala Rock Wood Resort was not for us...it was 1 star accommodation. It taught us the hard lesson that no matter how cheap accommodation is, if it crosses the line of what you’re comfortable living in then no amount of savings is worth it. Communication with the staff via Airbnb was slow, short, confusing and unhelpful - by the time we arrived we had no idea where we were going, despite weeks of trying to work it out. Arriving by boat to Railay West, it was a hard 10min walk with our luggage across to Railay East - luckily the signage was easy enough to follow, even though the paths were a bit rough and we passed by gross smell after gross smell. The accommodation is definitely not in a convenient location, but luckily things in Railay aren’t too far away. When you arrive at the bottom of steep, long steps up to the reception, the staff kinda ignore your presence until you are right in front of them to avoid using the electronic pulley system to help you bring your luggage up...so prepare yourself to lug your luggage all the way up and then to your room (no help there either). At check in you get a cup of something red and refreshing - thank gosh after that climb! Some of the staff are very friendly, while others seem lazy and uninterested in being helpful in anyway. You have to leave a deposit of 200THB for the room key, and then they walk you to your bungalow - it’s a pretty expansive area, so it may be set quite far back. There is also a lot of rubbish, cats and chickens around the grounds. The bungalows are very, very basic. There’s a tiny sitting area out front with a hammock, a very small room with a very hard bed and hard pillows, but a decent mosquito net. The room was sandy, and there was a note that they are “short on janitors” so things may not be clean...the step over the line for us was the descent down some steps into a dank, damp, mosquito-filled adjoining bathroom that smelt terrible, was just gross to use, and didn’t have a toilet that flushed. After one night there and no shower (too grossed out to use it), we bailed down the road to a resort. Best. Decision. Ever. I should note, check out was not great either. Despite all of that, the food at the restaurant was surprisingly delicious and well priced, especially for Railay! I’d avoid anything deep fried though - something went wrong with my stomach after eating their tempura vegetables. This type of accommodation is definitely for certain types of travellers, and we...

Misleading photos on booking.com - it only shows you the fancy modern huts and not the double room fan ones which I thought was very misleading. The staff wasn’t so friendly and welcoming to start of with. There was no hot/warm water. The bathroom was practically outside which was connected to the room. I had a bad experience staying here and wasn’t comfortable at all. The first night I attempted to shower and there was a big cockroach and lizard in the bathroom which freaked me out to the point I didn’t shower. The bed wasn’t comfortable, it has a mosquito net but the two nights we stayed, there was some sort of cricket insect in the room which was making noise the whole night when attempting to sleep. We also had a small issue of them doing our laundry (couldn't find our clothes at first, then said it will be ready for the next day and not the time that was promised.) If you don’t mind insects and a small space then this place is fine as the location is good. We ended up...

I stayed in two different types of rooms - the standard bungalow and the superior bungalow. For what you get in terms of comfort and livability, I strongly recommend going with at least the superior. It is night and day difference in improvement from the standard. Standard is dark, old, bare bones, sketchy bathroom that the mosquitoes can get into easily. On the plus, the A/C was solid. The Superior is much more comfortable, lighting is better, you get an upper deck to use, the bathroom is much nicer, etc. Staff are lovely. The pool is not really a swimming pool unless you're a little kid but it is great to dip into if you're hot or just come back from the beach. The stairs up are fine if you're in decent shape but if you question your ability to make it, maybe look elsewhere. Location-wise, it's pretty far east in Railay but there are little convenience stores and restaurants nearby. It's about a 10-15 minute walk to get onto the main street. So, not central...