Environment is great. Staffs are kind. View is perfect. I had a very nice proposal ceremony here. Thanks the activities plan adviser Pinanong. The check in and check out process is good, you need not to think just fellow the arrangements. The resort had thinking everything for you.

Without a doubt the most incredible resort I’ve ever stayed in. The location was second to none, with a variety of beaches with plenty of areas for lounging and cocktails. The grounds are very well maintained, with a more wild aesthetic that suits the location perfectly. It was fun to see the cute dusky leaf monkeys and their babies swinging in the trees in the evenings around our pavilion and alongside the pool. Our pavilion was lovely. The furnishings and attention to detail really makes you feel like you’re somewhere special. No review of Rayavadee can be complete without mentioning the staff. Nothing is too much trouble. Everyone has a greeting and a warm smile - from the restaurant staff to the activity coordinators to the groundkeepers. Rayavadee is a special place that I hope to return to again some day.

Fantastic in all respects. Staff were amazing. Landscaping top notch. Only suggestion is that a resort of this size needs 2-3 swimming pools. Make one for families and the others adults only. We did notice septic tank smells outside our room.

The fact that this was our twelfth visit is probably a clue to how we feel about this beautiful beach resort. The resort is sounded by three beaches and has amazing views of the ocean and the cliffs. The boat transfers provide an exciting start / finish to your stays at this wonderful resort. We have stayed in pool pavilions for the most part and enjoy the additional privacy that goes with these villas. I read a review that pointed out the pools can be cold. We'd agree with that, though some of the villas do catch enough sunlight to warm up the pools, so I guess it can be a case of luck. That said, every pavilion is within a short walk of the ocean and the resort's main pool is great - surrounded by absolutely beautiful scenery. We always enjoy the resort's restaurants. Railtalay Terrace (a mix of Asian flavours) and Krua Phranang (Thai) never disappoint. Raya Dining has recently re-opened and provides a nice alternative to Asian food should you want. The Grotto has a great setting, is always packed though the need to pre-order your food at the time of booking isn't ideal. That said, the food in all the locations is very good and you'll have amazing sunset views at the Grotto, Krua Phranang and Raitalay Terrace. So don't despair if you cannot get a reservation at the Grotto. All restaurants have access to the resorts fairly extensive wine list. It's easy to forget that you are in Thailand and not at the George V. The Thai wines are worth a try. The spa is excellent and I absolutely recommend the massages and facials. The staff are highly experienced, friendly and intuitive. The Hot Stone, Signature and Detoxifying massages are my personal favourites. We highly recommend hiring one of the boats and taking excursions to the nearby islands. The boats take groups that you can join but they can also be booked for private tours. The boat teams are great and quick to anticipate one's needs, be it a cold drink, a towel or lunch on the beach. Otherwise, chilling but the resort's pool is another way to enjoy this paradise. We do love the breakfast experience. There's a vast selection to choose from and several items rotate every few days, so there will always be something new on offer. There's a choice of western, Asian and Thai options. So whether you like congee, dim sum, Pad Thai or Rayavadee's awesome pancakes (you should order a minimum of two as they're small!), you will not go hungry. And the breakfast team are just so lovely. Their smiles and attentive service provide the perfect start to the day. The pavilions are lovely and comfortable. The bathrooms have luscious amenities that you will want to take home (and thankfully you can buy more in the gift shop). If you are expecting a Mandarin Oriental experience with everything being perfect and state of the art, then this is not the place for you. This is however, an amazing resort that is eco friendly, surrounded by lush vegetation, imposing and colourful cliffs, warm seas and cheeky little monkeys that will appear when you least expect. The resort sits in harmony with nature and provides an eco-luxury experience. Not perfect but certainly not far off it. The staff here are amazing and without a doubt the key reason for our numerous visits. They are friendly and take a genuine interest in ensuring that guests have the best possible time. Visit number 13 is inevitable 😜

FIRSTLY, THE GOOD POINTS The staff at the hotel are undoubtedly the best we have experienced anywhere in the world, pleasant, courteous and thoroughly professional, nothing was too much trouble and the smiles appeared genuine. The scenery is spectacular with the hotel positioned between towering limestone rock formations hundreds of feet high. Three beaches surround the hotel, Nammao Beach, the drop off and pick up point for accessing the hotel on arrival and departure, this beach is not good for swimming or sun bathing. West Railay, very busy, and to the south Phra Nang beach, which is the most stunning. Remember all beaches in Thailand are public so you are unlikely to find a quiet spot, fortunately the hotel has a massive free form swimming pool and an abundance of sun beds, so you can get away from the crowds. NOW THE DISAPPOINTING ASPECTS We arrived late on the Friday night and feeling quite tired decided to simply go to our room 109, which on first sight looked very good with the private pool lit up and looking very inviting. We had purposely chosen a room with its own pool, having experienced this previously at other hotels and decided that it is very convenient being so close to your room, allowing you to be by yourselves and totally private if you wish. Upon waking up on Saturday morning and looking out of the upstairs bedroom window we were slightly disappointed to see that despite facing due south, the pool was in complete shade but as it was only 9am we expected this would soon change. What we hadn’t realised when booking, and no one had pointed this out, is that all of the rooms with private pools are positioned in a narrow strip of land between 750ft high limestone outcrops, this meant that with our room, the sun didn’t appear until 11.45am and was gone again one and a half hours later. Also due to the extent of the trees surrounding the villas any sun getting through was only dappled. Breakfast at the hotel was extremely disappointing for what is supposed to be a leading hotel of the world, the bacon was as hard as bullets and the fresh orange juice was in fact manufactured and artificially sweetened. If you wanted smoked salmon, it was there but not on display, as was also the case with mango and pomelo. One morning I ordered boiled eggs, both were under cooked watery and cold, I left them. As Saturday 17th was our first full day, having spent the day by the main pool, which incidentally is by Railay Beach about a 15min walk from the rooms with private pools, we decided that we would eat out and explore the local restaurants. There are dozens to choose from offering a wide variety of dishes including great sea food, all at extremely reasonable prices. Upon returning to the hotel at 9.15pm we noticed that the band in the main restaurant were playing to no one, sadly, this continued to be the case for most nights during our stay. The Rayavadee has four restaurants, Raitalay Terrace at Railay Beach, Raya Dining at Nammao Beach and Krua Phranang and The Grotto both at Phranang Beach. During our 14-night stay there were 10 closures for private functions affecting one or more of these restaurants, this is disgraceful and it very soon becomes apparent that the management and owners of the hotel are putting any chance to make money before any thought about the guests. If you do eat dinner at the hotel, we would recommend Krua Phranang the Thai restaurant, the food is very good, but including a couple of drinks each will cost approximately £100 per head. When you receive the bills for food or drinks in the hotel, there are 4 lines to complete, Tip, Room Number, Name, Signature (notice that Tip is top of the list) if you do decide to leave a tip bear in mind this does not get distributed to the staff. On the second day we decided we would book a table for dinner in the hotel at Raya Dining, this also being the main restaurant for serving breakfast. Both my wife and I ordered pork belly as our main dish, after attempting a couple bites of this I called the waitress over to complain that it was chewy and I could not eat it. I sent it away and this having put me off I did not order anything else; my wife was slightly luckier with hers, or perhaps her teeth are better anyway she finished her meal but also said it was not good. After the meal the head chef came to talk to us, apologised about my experience saying that this was most unusual and thanking me for bringing it to his attention, he added that he would be taking this up with his team. When we received the bill, we noticed that they had not removed my meal, so once again we had to complain, at which point it was removed. Before we left the dining room, we were advised by a couple of members of staff that they often receive complaints about the pork belly being too tough to eat. The food in the hotel generally was not good apart from the Krua Phranang restaurant. TO SUM UP Read into this what you will, but I assure you we are not the type of people to complain without very good reason. I would strongly suggest you save your money and go somewhere else, for what this costs you can go to the Maldives and eat really good food, in the knowledge that you are very important to the management and hotels owners. If you still decide to visit the Rayavadee, don’t say you haven’t been warned. Grahame & Alyson UK