Varana krabi Hotel — Hotel in Krabi Province

Experience Did Not Reflect Five-Star Standards

We recently stayed at this newly built property, booking two rooms for four nights each. While the hotel is visually modern and well-maintained, several aspects of the service did not reflect the level of hospitality typically expected from a five-star resort.

One of the rooms we booked was listed as suitable for three guests. We requested two beds and clearly stated that we did not require an extra bed for the child. Despite this, we were advised that an additional bed was mandatory and would incur an extra charge. The bed was added to the room, significantly reducing usable space and affecting comfort. We offered to simply pay for the third breakfast — a common practice at many premium hotels — but were informed that this was not possible under the property’s policy.

On arrival, we were noticeably hot and perspiring due to the weather, yet no welcome towel or refreshments were offered. When we asked, we were told that welcome drinks were placed in the in-room refrigerator. However, there was no signage to indicate that they were complimentary, and we had to clarify this with staff. The feedback was acknowledged by the manager, who noted it for future improvement.

While the resort presents itself as a wellness destination, staffing at reception was limited, and when we requested to speak to a manager, we were told it would take some time as she was in a conference — she eventually arrived after about 30 minutes. In general, we found the environment somewhat inflexible, with strict rules and timings. For example, the gym is only open from 7 am to 7 pm, which may not suit many guests on holiday.

We also requested a late checkout for one room due to a late-night flight. Initially, we were informed the cost would be 500 baht per hour. When we expressed slight disappointment, the charge was reduced to a flat 500 baht. However, we were then contacted multiple times by phone in the hours following, which created a sense of urgency and pressure to vacate — even though the hotel did not appear particularly busy. Given that we spent approximately 60,000 baht (around AUD $2,400) during our stay, this handling of a simple late checkout request felt disproportionate and lacking in guest consideration.

The in-house restaurant served food that we found to be basic in taste and relatively high in price. The space was often empty during meal periods, and we chose to dine at the Pullman hotel next door, which offered superior quality and service.

It’s worth noting that the staff at breakfast and in-room dining were courteous, warm, and consistently tried their best. Their hospitality was a highlight in an otherwise mixed experience.

Overall, while the hotel has potential due to its facilities, the service delivery and approach to guest experience did not meet the expectations typically associated with a five-star property. We hope this feedback is helpful for the hotel’s ongoing improvement.

Reply to manager comments

we never begged for discount. the manager came up with upselling offer to give us 12500 baht where we purchase upfront and we did.

Upgraded room was a part of offer where we book directly with hotel for more than 2 nights which we did and you did not have room available in same building and hence you gave us a ground floor one which anyways we did not like but were obliged to stay.

Regarding calls, 4 calls in matter of 30 minutes for check out??

last minute request- yes, it was as it was a last minute change of plan and most five star hotel understand the flexibility of being on holidays.

Welcome drinks - Yes they were only shown when we asked for water. if we can spend on five star hotel stays, service is more important than a free...

First, most reviews are either bots or through compensated influencers. This is a real review from a real/paying guest!

This hotel has great curb appeal, beautifully decorated and spacious. That’s where the compliments stop. The Varana is a “wellness” hotel, but everything comes at a cost! Your room rate does not include many of the wellness activities nor any access to their beach club across the street. At every opportunity this hotel will charge you for everything they can. Their sustainability efforts are a mask for their frugality and poor customer service. I fully support wellness and sustainability, but it should not be a veil for greed and opportunistic profiting. A few things that went wrong and / or we took issue with (for which no apology or courtesy was provided): We paid for an Ocean View room and could only see trees. Any room on the 1st or 2nd floor will not have ocean views The rooms are quite poorly insulted and thus you can hear everything… from people walking, birds chirping or the 5:30am call to prayer from the mosque next door. You will need ear plugs! Rooms are largely in the back of the hotel: 500-600 meters from the front desk - and the carts to take you there are often unavailable. While well decorated, lots of flaws - water pressure is so hard that faucets spew water everywhere, water leaks out of shower all over the floor, mattress is thin and you can hear the springs when you move. Common areas don’t make sense - adult pool is only the Olympic size pool with no bar or pool area to “chill” in. It’s 3 meters deep at the shallowest point. Only meant for lap swimming. Happy hour scam: Singha beer is 120 Bhat during regular hours. During happy hour they increase price to 180 and offer a “buy 2 get one free offer” (do the math…) They charge for everything! From the moment you check-in you are told about the many fees and fines (for example 1000 Bhat fine if you hang towels from your balcony railing). Included in the room is a list of penalties you will have if you take anything. Some things don’t need to be said, they are understood. Check in and check out are about 30 minutes each. Slow. Manual and infficient. They told us we had 2 complimentary beers and sodas daily in our fridge, then charged us on check out. They offered us a 6am boxed breakfast for our early morning day trip, but for some reason called us at 4am to confirm, and woke us up unnecessarily. Breakfast - “wellness” portions are absurdly / comically small and appear as cheap. Quality though was good. Staff are unwilling to offer suggestions on any activity that is not endorsed by the hotel. They are not allowed to comment on amenities outside of their resort. They are always offering THEIR tour, THEIR car service, THEIR laundry. Constantly selling! When you ask about outside amenities their response: “I have no idea”. Our cleaning service was at 5pm, despite having “make up room” sign on since 6am. Then turn down survive was an hour later! The hotel is 10 km / 15 min drive from town; it is in a very quiet village. To summarize, I would never recommend this hotel to anyone. It is a rip off!!! Complete waste of money. While the staff (excluding management) are friendly, the hotel is poorly managed. A simple acknowledgement and apology goes a long way. However when confronted with these issues, management simply said they’d raise it at their next meeting. If you like the quiet and serenity of the area, there are other options...

Varana has a conflict of identity as a result of the exaggerated “wellness” segmentation which doesn’t align with the demographic of the majority of the people staying at the hotel.

The reception area is small and lack the visual impact of a 5-star establishment.

Check in procedures are mediocre, not the best thing to face after arriving from abroad. Reception staff are untrained and don’t have the competence or etiquette to provide the correct welcome / hospitality in what is supposed to be a luxury hotel.

No doubt the rooms are the best part of Varana: spacious, clean, tastefully decorated and with good amenities.

The restaurants and bars are poorly executed, offering the same “all-day” menu in 4 outlets is a very lazy approach that jeopardises the 5-star experience and highlights the operational issues behind the scenes.

There is lack of attention to detail and inconsistencies in service delivery from breakfast to dinner and evident lack of management presence.

We didn’t encounter a Manager supervising any of the areas in our 5 night stay, that speaks volume about this place.

Staff appeared to be left at their own devices and it was painful to see them disorientated walking around with food (whilst dishes were getting cold) as they clearly didn’t practice a table number system. Good luck if you order different dishes as they will be made at different locations (including pizza being transported on tuk tuk from the beachfront) and served at different times!

There is no Michelin Chef involvement in this chaotic catering operation. The hotel owners clearly profit from the glory of culinary partnerships that existed at some point in the past and mislead guests making them pay for a food and beverage experience that doesn’t exist.

No wonder you see most of the guests leaving Varana in the evening to eat and spend their money somewhere else leaving soulless restaurants behind. There is no dedicated bar onsite for an evening drink / night cup. 5-star?

The Beach club is an odd place, frequented by some artificial people or Instagram girls, and shown as being a separate entity but many staff commented on the owners’ family involvement in managing the place. One wonders what the reason is for not allowing room charges in this outlet. The club is generally half-full so the DJ uses his music volume as a tool to attract some people (and annoy others).

It was very sad to see the ugly sport equipment dominating prominent locations being unused.

The environmental and sustainability ethos were admirable until we saw ITALIAN mineral water on the menu!

Check out was as lousy as the check in, including wrong credit card charges, make sure you allow plenty of time to deal with the inefficient departure procedures.

Varana’s location is good, away from the Ao Nang madness and surrounded by many nice family restaurants (Gina’s Italian is a must). 7 Eleven was only a 5-minute walk.

Overall, we had a disappointing time. A nice room is not all you need for a good stay, you also need adequate service to create the experiences and memories people are paying for. Sadly, Varana didn’t deliver and we...