Phuwanalee Resort Khaoyai — Hotel in Nakhon Ratchasima Province

It is an older hotel in a reasonably good shape. It has its charm but most amazing part about it is the garden which includes couple coffee shops/restaurants inside meticulously restored buildings and if you are staying on weekends they might be actually open. Hotel location is not bad if you have your own transport. It is located in quiet area yet close to town that gives you easy access to some restaurants and crucially 7/11😉. As the hotel is somewhat secluded hotel garden is a perfect place for a stroll or to unwind. The hotel provides some bicycles that you can use to snoop around the garden grounds. Now back to accommodation itself. The hotel sign is covered by overgrown tree branches what makes it a bit hard to spot from the main road but google map will direct you without any problem. Right after the entry you will be greeted by what looks like an abandoned guard house and disused parking lot and parking sign that will actually point you towards the lobby instead. I could not locate a hotel designated parking but was informed to park anywhere around the runabout in from of the lobby. The hotel is huge and aside from rooms in the main building has a few Thai style villas and bungalow style suites. The main building does not have an elevator something to keep in mind if this is your requirement. The room itself (superior on the second floor) was spacious and sufficiently furnished. The bathroom despite the age was in surprisingly good shape. The beds were comfortable. The room itself was clean but fairly dark and lighting fixtures were not sufficient to change that. The website showed two night table lamps but my room had just one. The room had small balcony overlooking swimming pool. Unfortunately due to excessive uncleaned bird poop it was not usable for me. The bathroom was sporting a bathtub instead of a classic shower which I would have preferred but not a big deal except the shower head was a tad low and the cord was not long enough to adjust it to my height 5.11, so I had to bend my knees a little to use it. I opted for a higher rate to cover breakfast. Pro tip - don’t get breakfast there - it is not worth it the additional money paid. In general the hotel restaurant was not up to my expectations and providing you have your own transport I would recommend dinning elsewhere. Going back to the pool. There are some sun beds there but unfortunately no umbrellas so no place to hide from the sun. As for the staff it was nice and service oriented, especially the manager. I accidentally forgot my phone charger and the manager personally mailed it back to me. The hotel undoubtedly could benefit from some TLC here and there, as the age is showing, also the hotel fountain could shine again if only unappealing green algae inside was removed. I wish more powerful light bulbs have been installed in the rooms to reduce eye strain at evenings. The question remains if would I stay there again and the answer is yes as the drawbacks appear minor and...

This is a bit older property, but well maintained and the grounds are beautiful and park-like (and located next to a stream). Some of the staff do speak English, but having some basic Thai will help out. Though we didn't need the space, we stayed in a 2 bedroom Pool Villa since everything else was sold out. The place was so nice I would spend the extra amount if I go back. The unit was huge and had a large dining area and separate area with couches for relaxing. They even had some board games in a cabinet. There is also a large patio area and easy access to the pool, which you share with only one other unit - the other guests use the main pool, not this one.||||The bedrooms were very nice and the bed comfortable. The only thing that seemed a bit strange was lack of closets for hanging up clothes (though there was storage room). The bathrooms were partly open to the sky - so be sure to keep the door closed at night to avoid mosquitoes.||||The restaurant had basic food, but it was quite good. They had Thai dishes and also offered an American style breakfast in the morning.||||The only downside is the location. It is in a quiet area (good), but also a little bit away from the main road - too far to walk easily, so you would need to have transportation to get around. In general it is close to Palio and other restaurants (and to the park entrance), just not close enough to walk. The hotel sign is also in Thai only - so if you are trying to find the place on your own you might have difficulty.||||They have a few different tours of the national park that you can book through the hotel.||||If you are looking for a "full service" resort with access to golf, fitness center, etc. - this may not be the place for you, but if you want a park-like and secluded setting where you can relax in comfort, I would recommend this place highly - just be sure you have transportation available (I am sure a taxi/tuktuk can be arranged by hotel - I was lucky enough to have a...

My score would be lower if not for the incredible landscaping. It's a truly beautiful place with great potential.

Positives:

Quiet Rooms are spacious Beautiful well maintained outside

Negatives:

Overall maintenance is lacking. Some examples: cracks in room walls, a small dead cockroach on my bed right after check in, mold in the shower, water drainage problems in the shower... Some of the service providers aren't very welcoming and friendly (though I did have a positive experience with some workers outside of the receptionists). Breakfast is very expensive and the quality is very lacking. This was true for all the guests in my group, but specifically for my experience I requested a vegan breakfast and got fried rice(no tofu or any protein, just rice with some tiny vegetables) and some small soup (and access to the rest of the buffet items such as 2 types of fruit and cereal). This is for 300 baht. We made the request for a vegan breakfast the night before. Transportation is almost non existent. The resort is 10-15 minutes walk from 7-11 and some restaurants, but it's a dark walk at night. They have bycicle you can rent for 50 baht but you aren't allowed to ride them outside the premises. The only solution they provide is some private ride for 400 baht (it's a minute or two ride). I tried all the taxi apps and no driver would take the ride at evening time.

There are a few more points I could mention but in general I feel like this place could probably be an easy 5 star resort with a more enthusiastic management and proper...