Welcome to our new home in Koh Phagnan for the next 4 days, and first impression are that it is absolutely amazing. We were a little concerned during the journey here as the roads could quite easily have been part of a 4×4 offload adventure experience. Also getting off the ferry we were not sure if we had booked the transfer to the resort in Bangkok, so was glad to see a mini bus with Santhiya written on it even though it was just starting to drive off. Luckily managed to run up to it and tap on the window before it went too far. He even had our name on his list so put our bags in the back and we got in. 2 minutes later a general manager of some department got on welcomed us and explained that the road there was I little rough and that they put this mini bus on “complimentary” for us! So maybe this wasn’t what we had booked, but hey ho it will get us there for free….or so we though, later turns out that this cost 300 baht per person which isn’t that bad but would have been nice for someone to mention this fact! And I may actually have paid for a separate transfer that I left at the pier when I got I this bus.. Oh well you live a learn!
We got to the resort and sat down in the reception/lobby area, they then brought us a really nice water melon crush drink while we filled in the check-in forms. Then as I was getting up they got me to sign a small piece of paper, all I caught was “sign so can put on your room”, without thinking too much I just assumed it was so I could charge things to my room, turns out this was to put the bus transfer charge on my room which at this point I still did not know I was paying for. Suppose it was my own fault for not reading what’s was signing but based on what she said I had no reason to think anything else;( So be warned if you intend to go to this resort.
Anyway I digress after the ride in we were feeling very happy about being at this resort especially once we to our room and was told that we had a free upgrade to a pool villa. The room we got was absolutely amazing, was a self contained apartment type thing with it’s own private pool big enough to swim in. Think it will be all down hill from here though! That camper van we will be staying in when we reach Oz is not looking all that attractive at the moment, especially as it will not work out much cheaper than this place per day.
After the initial euphoria of our room we did start to think that we would have to settle for staying around the resort rather than exploring the island which for us wasn’t too bad. Having said that the hotel does run a scheduled shuttle bus at 9:30 to Thong sala pier for 300 baht per person which isn’t too bad considering the journey but dont think id want to be paying that everyday.
9:30 – Santhiya to Thong sala pier
2:15 – Return
3:00 – Santhiya to Thong sala pier
6:15 – Return
Food
Food in the resort was fantastic, breakfast which was included had pretty much everything you could think off and was very nice. Also slightly differnet every day to give you something different to try. Be carefully you have a proper look around though, our first day we missed the egg station which was cooking fresh fried, scrambled, poached eggs and omelettes to order.
Evening meals are really nice too and they do an all you can eat themed night, seafood, BBQ, Thai food… Plus salad, soup etc.. This is a set price and works out reasonable value if you make the most of it. You can just eat of the normal menu at the other restaurant if you prefer. You also have the option of taking a 2 minute walk to the next beach, where there are a few more restaurants on the beach and a bit further there is a little town with more restaurants. We only tried the ones on the beach but they were all very nice and cheaper than hotel.
The first one you come is called something like beach love and literally is the other side of the rocks. Looks much nicer at night time with the tables on the beach and all the lights creating a nice atmosphere. This is basically Thai food and BBQ which is priced per 100g depending in what you have, steak, prawns, calamari etc!
The next one is a little pizzeria called happy house which does really nice pizzas which seem to be made from fresh dough! It does other things too but only tried the pizzas.
The third is called the beach club and is part of the buri rasa village complex, this is a really nice place and does thai and various other types of food!
All these offer good food at a similar price so just depends what you fancy and which place you like the look of! Also to be fair although the resort is a little more it isn’t too bad price wise for food, it’s really drinks that make the resort seem more expensive. On the adjacent beach you can get a large beer for 90 baht where you are paying 120+ for a small in the resort! There is also a few mini markets in the town where you can get a large beer for about 50 baht and take it back to your room or on the beach etc. Basically you have got all the options available to up you at santhiya resort so you can do what ever suits you or mix it up a bit each night.
Trips
One thing I would say without question is that the trips from the resort are very expensive. Just as an example take the trip we had in koh samui which was a trip to angthong national park, including kayak, snorkelling, food and elephant riding for 2000 baht, santhiya where doing a similar trip without the kayak, snorkelling or elephant riding…so just a trip to the park for 4000 baht! But this is not a big problem as you can book these elsewhere, you can even do it on the adjacent beach and the little town and are much cheaper. There is also a boat ferry available here which sets of every morning at 9 to various places on the island! See image to the right but here is a few places and there cost. Again notice the various different way places get written down even think Koh Pangan could be Ko Pan-gan!!-
Than/Thong sala (150 baht)
Pier on south west cost -
Haad Tain/Thain/Thien (250 baht)
Thing this is actually on the island of Ko Tao /Koh Tao -
Haad Rin (250 baht)
South east tip of Koh Pangan
Health and beaty Spa
Today the other half decided to go for a deep cleansing facial at the spa, i don’t think the prices are cheap but there no too bad especially for what you get, the following treatment cost about 1100 baht, anyway I’ll hand over for her to explain how it went…When I first got there I had to leave my shoes outside (this was the case all round the hotel) and sat down to wait for my facial. While I was waiting they brought me a drink and then came to give me a foot scrub before taking me into the treatment room. When I got into the room the beauty therapist asked me to remove my top and then bra, so I’m thinking wtf?!!! I only came for a facial!!! But I did as she asked and laid on the bed and to my relief she covered the area I didn’t particularly want on show! Then she started the facial which was very relaxing! She put a face mask on me about half way through and while that was on I got a mini massage on my neck and shoulders, she also did some pressure stuff on my legs and arms, which was nice! It was then time to take the mask off and she sat me up and gave me a little back massage, amazing!!! When It had finished and I got dressed, they had tea and cookies waiting for me outside! Overall it was amazing and definitely didn’t feel like I had been in there an hour, I wanted to go back in for another turn!!!!
Conclusion
This resort was amazing and our room was beautiful, good spa, free kayak, free snorkel, food was nice with plenty of other options just outside the resort if required. But I would not recommend this resort if you are wanting to tour the island alot. One reason is that you will probably want to make the most of the resort and relax, no point paying for the facilities this resort has to offer and then spend most of your time elsewhere. The the other is that it would not be that easy to do and would cost quite a bit if you were paying 300 baht pp each way just to get to Thong sala pier and back!
There was also the negative regarding the transfer fee in which I wasn’t really made aware I was being charged for and when I checked out the manager was unavailable to discuses. I was promised that he would look into it and email his thoughts, I never received this email!
