The Naka Island Resort & Spa

I was blown away by the magical beauty of Naka Island, the joyful kindness of the staff and the luxuriousness of the property. You must absolutely book time at Spa Naka, and take time to kayak to the mangrove forest. They took great care of me at all of the restaurants, special shout out to Maan and Noom at Rum Chapel who surprised me every night with a new masterfully crafted cocktail (or 3), and all of the staff that made me feel so welcome and at home on the island for four days (3 nights).

We stayed at Naka Island for five nights during our honeymoon trip. We had a pool jungle villa, including breakfast. We encountered some severe failures during our stay, and before we complained to the general manager, it was one of our most chaotic stays at a luxury hotel both in Thailand and worldwide. In all regards, including the facilities and service, the hotel fell short of our expectations and was much weaker than the sister hotel in Koh Samui (Vana Belle Luxury Collection). I must say that the general manager realized how many failures we encountered and genuinely tried to make up for them as much as was still possible (however, we only wrote a formal complaint the day before departure). We appreciated the goodwill and the compensation offered, but for us, this will be a one-time visit for a number of reasons. The strengths: - The location is good in terms of relaxation. For Phuket, I'd argue the quality of any location really depends on what you want to do. The Naka Island is totally isolated, but for relaxing in the pool and resort, it’s wonderful. If you want to do stuff outside the hotel or take trips to places on Phuket island, this is not the ideal spot. As we were here for relaxation, we did not mind. - We enjoyed the possibility to order room service at no extra cost. Really, this was a great options for us to spend more time in the room and private pool area. Food was always pretty good, too. - The Z bar really is a gem of a spot to have a drink in the evening. For sundowners, this is the perfect spot. - The hotel offers some nice smaller activities and treats (complimentary) that we enjoyed. - The “safari” style of the hotel is unique and certainly something cool to mention. - Our pool villa was incredibly large, especially including the garden and pool. To hang out just on your own (e.g., for a romantic honeymoon), this was perfect. We did not even bother going to the main pool because our own pool was too nice. The negatives: - Chaos started already upon checking. We were told that we had booked two rooms (which we had not), and although we were emailed prior to our arrival that we were updated to a higher category, we were told that this was not possible when we checked in (despite Marriott Gold status and the prior notice). By the way, we were told that the hotel’s upgrade policy basically is that an “upgrade” is simply having a nice room within the same room category. Sorry, but that is not an upgrade. - The entire property is outdated and needs an overhaul. Although the “safari” style kind of hides the age of the hotel in a way, the hotel property is simply too old. Everywhere you look (from the room to restaurants to gym), it is worn out. Just as example: To turn out all lights in the room, you will need to manually use like 20 individual switches. If having an up-to-date resort is important to you, this hotel is not for you. - There were multiple service failures, some of which were not even fixed after pointing them out and complaining. To just name a few: Our TV was not working, the lights were broken (and not fixed). It took the hotel several notices and days to fix it. We also often had trouble ordering a club cart to go around, for example, because no car came to pick us up even after ordering one several times. Often, we simply decided to walk instead of waiting for half an hour. - The hotel does not even bother making smaller investments into refurbishment. Just two examples to name a few: The pool/billiard table was totally uneven (did really no one from the staff ever notice this?). The bikes that you can rent for two hours per day were total rubbish and the gears were not working (again, did no one notice this before us?). We ended up right in the mud because one of the bikes jammed during our short trip around the island. - Once you leave the resort, the island has really nothing to see or do. We rented the rubbish bikes from the resort, but it's better to save your time and do something else. On the island, there's a ton of mosquitoes and the way is in extremely bad shape. There’s also not much to see, except for a mini village and a touristy beach where all excursion boats stop by. - Breakfast was good in terms of quality, but we were disappointed that it was 100% buffet with no à la carte options. The other Luxury Collection property we stayed at had almost everything à la carte. We are really not fans of large buffets, and given the room price and the costs for service in Thailand, the Naka Island could well opt to go with more service here.

Excellent location and room. Super friendly staffs. They will accommodate anything to your requests. Expecially staffs from Rum Chapel restaurant, Bank, Noom and Mona. 10/10 would recommend. Foods are great, plenty of choices for the kids too, they loved it here.

We were only here for one night transitioning back to Phuket from some other islands, but it was a fantastic experience. Service at the Rum Chapel Restaurant and Z Bar was exceptional. We also really appreciated the room upgrade given for my Marriott Platinum status. We would definitely stay again. That said, our only negative experience was that I made the mistake of leaving a personal item in the room. While it was customary at every hotel we stayed at in Thailand for housekeeping to check the rooms at departure for any left items, it's unfortunate that Naka was the one place we stayed that didn't do this. I contacted the hotel as soon as I realized my mistake to make arrangements to retrieve it while we were still in Thailand, but they didn't respond until 1.5 days later at which point we were no longer in the area. That was disappointing and frustrating as I will now have to pay $150 in shipping to get my item back, which could have been avoided with a more timely response.

This was our second time on Naka Island and definitely not our last! I doubt I have enough good words for this place. Having travelled quite a bit, this hotel is definitely in our top three. This time we stayed for five nights in a sea view villa. Naka villas are very authentic, private, comfortable and have a good layout. The kids club (open from 8:30am to 9pm!) is large, over two floors and with a wonderful view, offering all kinds of different games and programs throughout the day. The babysitters are very nice and dedicated to the well-being of the child. For gym addicts there is a very authentic gym, with new Technogym cardio machines ,enough dumbbells and other machines to keep yourself in shape during your holiday. Water ,snacks, fresh towels - everything is provided . Breakfast is a great pleasure, from the quality of the food, its presentation to the service absolutely top. Enough choice and everything delicious. In the peace, quiet and view that Naka offers, you could enjoy it for hours. The prices in the restaurants are not expensive for such a hotel. The beach is very beautiful and clean, always enough free chairs. The entire resort is very nice and well maintained. Special thanks to the manager David and to the chef Andrew, who were always there and very attentive to everything. To the babysitters who took care of our son Patrick and of course to the restaurant, reception and cleaning staff. You all made our holiday especially enjoyable. The peace that Naka Island offers is special, rare and unforgettable. Until next time!