Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort

We stayed at the hotel before our boat tour down the Mekong River. We were impressed with the facility, the room was outstanding, the bed was very comfortable. The setting at the Golden Triangle was amazing. We were in a 3- country view room and could Thailand, Laos, and Myanmar from our balcony. Our package included a deep tissue massage and it was fantastic as well. Wish we could have stayed more than the one night, as it was by far the best hotel on our trip. Tour booked through Odessey travel for Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia over 18 days. October is great, right after rainy season but before high season starts in November.

Stayed here three nights while on honeymoon. Hotel is set in the golden triangle, with a beautiful view of Laos and Myanmar from our room, the main building / restaurants, and a huge infinity pool and hot tub. We did the all inclusive package, which included three activities. 1. Mahout experience where we learned elephant commands and rode the elephants in a safe and caring manner, which included heading into the water and getting wet! 2. Golden triangle tour into Myanmar and Laos, which included a longtail boat ride on the Mekong river. Our tour guide (Anan) was super friendly and knowledgeable. He took us to the local markets, had us try local food and rode around in a Tuk Tuk. 3. 90 min massage - spa staff were amazing. The best part of all was the hotel's "Dining by Design". This was extra but 100% worth it. They took us in a Vietnam war-era US Army Jeep to a hilltop (5 min ride) where they set up a private dinner for my wife and I. I was able to choose one of many menus in advance. They gathered two of the elephants that live there so we could feed and spend time with them before the dinner. Then we climbed the steps into a raised open air type of hut where dinner was served as we watched the sunset over the golden triangle (I believe it was called the sunset sala). If you go here this IS A MUST. It was an experience like no other. At the end of the dinner our dedicated waiter brought out a thai floating lantern that he designed with a "happy honeymoon" message that my wife and I lit and sent into the sky. The service here was all around amazing, and they also gave us both brief massages while we checked in. The only small issue is that there are occasionally bugs/mosquitos but you are in the jungle, so it is expected.

I booked this resort as surprise for my husband, who is an animal lover, for a special occasion. We booked the 3 night Golden triangle discovery package, inclusive of spa-date, Thai cooking class, 1 day tour of 3 countries and an elephant adventure (we picked walking with giants. 1. The property The property is lovely,and the staff (especially customer relations manager Tuk)are kind, considerate and utmost professional and I cannot thank them enough. We were upgraded to suite(206) looking over the mighty Mekong to Myanmar and Laos. There are lovely touches such as fresh fruit, and staff went an extra mile, baking us gluten-free cookies (my husband & i are gluten intolerant) of their own prerogative which we really appreciated. 2. Food: We enjoyed breakfast in our room and in the main dining room. The kitchen catered quite well to our collective gluten and dairy allergies, the chef even made me gluten free pancakes! what a treat! For dinner we stuck to Thai cuisine, making most of local delights and the exec chef delighted us with impromptu off the menu, traditional chicken & rice cooked in bamboo. The wine list felt a tad lacklustre to both us wine drinkers, but that's a minor issue on overall fabulous experience. 3. Now for the activities : a) Day 1: We drove over across the border to Myanmar, for thoroughly enjoyable morning, visiting local market, the working monastery with young monks residence, appreciating economic and cultural variations across 5km of landstrip in democratic Myanmar. Instead of going to Laos, we decided instead, to visit the Princess Mother's palace, with its utterly delightful garden in the hills, followed by visit to local tea gardens. Our guide Anant was engaging, knowledgeable, clearly proud of his heritage with flawless English. We ended up requesting his company for another outing to white temple and Karen longneck people's camp (his suggestion) on another day, taking in more cultural diversity of the region. Thanks Anan b) Day 2: Thai cooking class: started with early morning visit to local fresh produce market with chef Pari, a mini-adventure in itself for any foodie.The cooking class takes place in outdoor (covered) kitchenette in paddy field, and we learnt how to make our favourite - thai pawpaw salad & steamed fish & sticky rice. You then enjoy the fruits of your labour in romantic outdoor pavilion a few meters away with vino and nature. Chef Pari was very patient with hubby's limited knife skills and gave us few tips & tricks along the way. c) Day 2: Spa- date: We both had massages which were good, despite the construction works with drills and hammers. Spa staff, like elsewhere are very obliging and try hard to ensure your relaxation, offering earplugs etc. d) Day 3: Elephant adventure: Ah! the grand finale! After the fantastic time we had had thus far, we we very excited for the main attraction to learn more about the GTAEF (Golden Triangle Asian Elephant Foundation )activities and how this resort is trying to make a difference. We opted for trekking with the elephants as both my husband & I abhor elephant 'joyrides', an unfortunate activity on offer at this resort. We first met the 6 yo female Yingluck with her Mahout at breakfast, interacting with guests feeding her bananas. She is a delightful typical 6 year old; curious, playful, easily distracted with food and utterly lovable with her gorgeous long eyelashes. We also met a 10 year old who's mahout was less understanding, and was wounded on her ear by his bullhook when she did not obey his command quick enough as i was washing her! I witnessed this barbaric practice consistently, with numerous older elephants bearing pink fresh wounds behind their ears from bullhooks as they walked past or swam in the lake with tourists on their back. This is the downside of obliging Thai hospitality !! The mahouts Want/Need the elephants to be on their perfect behaviour for the tourists instead of just being elephants!! Our guide ( an animal behaviour biologist) could see how distressed i was after the events and explained more about challenging the mahout's centuries old beliefs and culture of subjugating animals to human will. I subsequently had a meeting with the camp manager, wanting to know why activities such as elephants swimming in the lake with tourists on their backs without life-jackets were allowed in the first place? The elephants want to submerge, which petrifies the tourists, and the mahout sitting on the back uses bull-hook like madman, needing to prevent the elephant's natural instinct to submerge! The mahouts may be uneducated, but camp-manager and multiple other 'experts' responsible for offering and advertising these activities should and do know better! As far as i could tell, the mahout's feel obliged to keep the tourists 'safe' putting the well-being of elephants penultimate to foreigners wanting a joy ride. The camp manager (young marketing graduate from SA-Zimbabwe, whose name i cant recall), gave us some excuses promising to look into the activities on offer, suggested to have the mahout in question talk to us directly to gain the view of a tourist. He also promised to send me a study about how elephants do not feel distressed whilst being ridden. None of these have eventuated, making me seriously uneasy about the ethical nature of activities offered by elephant camp at this property. I do understand the need to cater to tourism to funds to care for these animals, but exploitation of these gentle creatures is all too easy in name of rehabilitation. The camp is supposed to educate mahouts to avoid propagation of captive elephants, given their limited habitat. Yet there has been a recent birth in herd of 24 female and 2 male elephants. I dread to think of the fate that awaits the newborn female calf with lifespan of around 80 years. Other than the disappointing and deeply distressing encounter with elephants, we had an amazing time. I truly wish and hope the elephants' plight does improve. We also visited the opium museum (free tix from reception at Ananatara) which is not advertised much, but is very well presented with interactive history of opium trade in the region. Give yourself a minimum of 1 hour or more. We made a mad dash on our way to airport,

All the hotel staffs are very nice, specially Natty and the writer who served us at Sala Mae Nam (forgot to ask his name but he has been working in the hotel for 12 years long), they are both very friendly and helpful. And Natty always recommended us the super delicious desserts. They all did a great job!

We stop here to have lunch in the main restaurant and wow! it was really really good and my partner and i felt so welcomed. I had the chance to see the rooms as well which we are already planning for 2018.