GrandBlue Resort & Beachclub — Hotel in Rayong Province

The Grand Blue describes itself as a “4 star” hotel. Having stayed in many 4 star hotels in Thailand elsewhere, the Grand Blue is nowhere near 4 star, rather a 2.5 star, Tourist Class hotel.

The hotel occupies a narrow strip on the outskirts of Mae Pim, perhaps 1.5 kms from the town. The hotel is overlooked at the rear by a condo block, built by the operators of the hotel and on either side by more condo blocks. The beach is across the main coast road from the hotel.

The rooms are functional and clean enough, with only average, tourist class hotel fixtures and fittings. The rooms themselves give an indication that the hotel is not run by leisure professionals. A notice tells guests that towels are only changed every 3 days “as you do at home”; every hotel I’ve stayed in invites guests to re-use towels and bedding, it does not order them. A towel is provided for use at the pool, with a charge made if a second towel is required. Outside, orders are given to “keep off the grass”. The hotel is thus far from welcoming.

Breakfast is taken in an open sided restaurant and is buffet style. The breakfast is very average – the ticket one must collect from reception each morning and then hand to the waiting staff extravagantly describes breakfast as “delicious”. The restaurant itself is less than clean, and the ceiling fans caked in dirt and dust. The restaurant lavatory was far from clean, a fact adversely commented upon by several members of our party.

There is a swimming pool and fitness centre available to guests, though whether guests may use the on-site sauna is uncertain.

Dinner is available in either the on-site restaurant or the “western themed” restaurant, also owned by the hotel, though we did not try this. Other restaurants are available in Mae Phim.

The clientele when we stayed appeared to be largely Swedish package holiday makers. Indeed, the supermarket close by stocked Swedish snacks and even had a Swedish internet domain.

The low point of our stay came on Christmas Eve. A rather subdued, Swedish-style buffet was offered to guests, who after the meal, appeared to migrate to the next door supermarket, where alcohol was considerably cheaper. By late evening, any “party” had long since broken up and no guests were left. Around 11 p.m. the “music” at the long since empty restaurant was turned up to a deafening pitch, causing guests in nearby condos to look for the source of the noise, and awakening and upsetting my grand-daughter who was looking forward to the arrival that night of Santa. Another of our party stated the noise was so loud they could feel their bed shaking.

A request to reception that the noise be turned down was ignored; if there had been guests enjoying themselves, no such request would have been made. I thus approached the restaurant “manager” and requested in fairly strong terms that the music be turned down. This he refused to do and then, after accusing me of provoking him – the provocation of loud music and ignoring a request to turn the noise down did not occur to him – threatened me with physical violence. He then followed me into the hotel lobby shouting and swearing viciously at me. A complaint next morning to the hotel “manager” resulted in not only threats of physical violence being repeated to me, and very disrespectful language being used to my highly educated Thai daughter in law, but the said hotel “manager” saying it was nothing to do with him.

This hotel has very little to commend it and there is no reason to stay here. There is adequate accommodation elsewhere on this coast and I recommend others to give this place...

We began our 6 weeks trip around Thailand a week at this hotel in Mae Phim. We arrived at around 8.30pm after an almost 24 hour journey from the UK.

Our initial greeting was surely, to say the least! Just one word - Passport! We were also told that the restaurant was closed and nearby restaurants would also be closed so our o ly option would be the 7-11. ( We did manage to get food from the Speakeasy across the road).

Fortunately things improved dramatically from that first impression.

The room was lovely - spacious and clean. The bed was comfortable, almost too comfortable! The shower was good with plenty of hot water and good pressure

Breakfast every morning was fine - mix of a couple of Thai dishes and western food including croissants, toast and freshly made omelette. Staff at breakfast always lovely and smiling.

The swimming pool is awesome, really clean and big. Enjoyed doing a 30 minute swim most days. Plenty of sunbeds and umbrellas for everyone.

Beach across the road is nice, very quiet during the week but lots of Thai visitors at the weekend. The beach is clean and sandy, just no sunbeds or umbrellas.

If you go for a walk along the beach be careful if you turn right - there are some nasty dogs. Other people also experienced issues with these dogs as well! Go left instead!!!

We ate in the hotel once - food was OK, nothing special and was relatively expensive compared to restaurants nearby. Our waiter was also very surly, felt like he was exasperated by us!

There is a lovely little bar across the road- the Speakeasy. Nice food, friendly service and reasonably priced drinks, including wine!

We really did enjoy our stay at this hotel. I think the couple of issues we had could be easily resolved with some customer service training. It's a great place to stay if you are looking for a...

Booked the Grand Blue Resort & Beach Club on Mea Phim beach for a short weekend getaway. Firstly, was pleasantly surprised that it was only just over a 2-hour drive to Laem Mae Phim from the centre of Bangkok. Arrived in pouring rain, the first impression of the car park is a bit baren and likewise the Reception area somewhat cavernous. However, the lovely smile and warm welcome from the receptionist soon had us relaxed and ready to enjoy.||||We had a room on the ground floor (so very easy access for disabled if needed), you enter the room from the terrace door and are immediately welcomed but the lovely, mellow colour scheme of ochre and blue. The room is good sized and has full amenities with equipped bathroom with rain shower. Room facilities include A/C, TV, telephone, small fridge, umbrella (much appreciated), bath robes and tea making facilities.||||The hotel is built around it’s oversized pool, there are plenty of loungers, kids area and places to sit by the pool with refreshments. The restaurant is very good with a wide variety of dishes for all tastes. Prices are reasonable and staff very friendly and efficient. There is also a sauna and fitness room.||||Mae Phim beach is just opposite the hotel. This is a vast stretch of white sandy beach stretching in both directions. Beach towels are supplied by the hotel.||||It rained almost continuously during our 3 days there (actually quite unusual for Thailand) but the ambience of the hotel and the friendliness of the staff meant that we enjoyed...