Remember your Dioralyte !!
from w.n.scott
My husband and I stayed at this Hotel for 3 weeks in April. We travelled with Saga so had 3 weeks for the price of two. The rooms were excellent with all the luxuries you could possibly want, and certainly deserved the 5 star rating. We had a very efficient fridge, mini-bar, TV, telephone, dressing gowns, slippers and tea & coffee making facilities. With regard to the latter though - it is advisable to bring your own because the one complaint we had was the kettle was horrendous; it was a sort of catering-style creation and we found it impossible to boil the water; we got used to the lukewarm tea in the morning! Also, the domestic department were very strict with the tea-bags and coffee-mate only 2 of each per day it seemed, so we bought our own there anyway. it was easy enough to obtain the sugar at the various meals and outlets we went to. I phoned home via the telephone in our room and used my BT chargecard. I was charged for actually using it though, but I suppose that is fair enough and that may not apply to an outside telephone. Because we were with Saga (and this company seemed to be important to the Hotel industry here) we had the comfort of an air-conditioned room solely for Saga customers; there were tea, coffee, biscuits and cold drinking water provided free together with chairs, reading material and up to date newspapers. The Saga rooms were all in the Regency Wing and seemed to be superior to the others - together with a swimming pool again dedicated to this area - although other visitors used it because there was no control. This didn't pose a problem though. There were about 5 Restaurants all serving different dishes - Italian, French, Thai and each one was of a slightly different standard - for instance, in the posh French restaurant, clothing had to be rather more formal than all the rest. However - whichever one you visited - the food still remained largely Thai - there were no egg & chips for instance! The local beer, Singh, differed enormously in price and was sky high in the Hotel where along the beach about 100 yards was a little establishment where the beer was much cheaper and just as cold; also, the chips were more English whereas they all were of the McDonald type in the Hotel. We had our "fix" about 12 o'clock each day - a bowl of chips and 2 large beers and it came to about 200 Baht whereas in the Hotel it would cost more than that for the one beer! Our bedroom was continually provided with free drinking water, fruit and orchids which were absolutely beautiful.The beach is utterly superb with the tide in or out; it is a shell-lovers paradise as you could walk in either direction for miles - literally. The sea was incredibly warm, even more so than the Caribbean or Indian Ocean. The swimming pool, by the way, was one of 3 and was even warmer than the sea - pure Heaven! The weather at this time of the year was fiercely hot and didn't drop below 90 degrees at any time. The Hotel was set in acres of explorable grounds together with a collection of shops - mini-mart selling most things, tailors and quite good class souvenir shops. In the village - a few minutes walk from the Hotel, there were similar shops - cheaper of course, and quite a few Restaurants which we didn't use although many other guests would have recommended. It is imperative to take rehydration salts to balance your blood chemistry or you will end up quite ill like I did for the first week before I realised what was wrong! There is very little to do in Cha-Am as regards night life etc. so you may want to go to the next town South by the shuttle bus or taxi for that - it only takes about 15 minutes. It is good to go there to explore during the day as well - loads of shops of all standards, market stalls and such like. The people are extremely friendly and eager to please; I think this is their natural characters even before they tried to attract the Tourists. I would be more than happy to answer any questions regarding anything I may have forgotten to mention. Please leave a message with this website - Trip Advisor and I'll get back to you.
This Hotel is the Real Deal.
from CruiserBracknell
Having read all the recent reports on the 'Regent' before we went, we had mixed feelings about what we would find, as we were going for two and a half weeks, We went as a family, My Wife and I, our youngest daughter, her husband and four sons, aged 16, 15, 12, and 8. forewarned is forarmed, so to avoid any threat from Cockroaches we asked for rooms on a higher floor, and were given 3 adjoining rooms on the 4th floor facing the mountains, in the main body of the hotel(we requested the mountain view, knowing that the sun would be on the balconies 'til it went down. The rooms were very well furnished, and had excellent Aircon', I was pleasantly surprised to find the bathrooms had both bath and shower first impressions were very promising of a good holiday to come! We had armed ourselves with Mosquito spray, having read they were a menace, we managed to get a few bites in the first couple of days, but after that they looked for fresh meat and left us alone. The hotel has a beach front of about half a mile long, and is very impressive, they appear to be adding bits all the time, and the work being carried out on the ground floor below us got a bit annoying for a few days. but they always finished by 4 o'clock. Having arrived midmorning, the boys were keen to try out the pool, so were soon enjoying the warm waters of the large pool in the main hotel complex, we did venture to the other pools later in the holiday but found the main pool to be the best. Now eating... this is the stumbling block of the hotel. the restaurants are lovely, BUT with 4 boys, they are not into spicy foods. what you dont want to be doing is ordering food, that is overpriced only to have it left on the plate!. All the hotel restaurants were overpriced and undersubscribed, there were never more than half a dozen people eating in any of them. despite the hotel telling you there were no other places to eat, there are some nice little local restaurants and bars You quickly learn where to go for the best food. a hundred yards to the left of the centre of the hotel is a nice little beach bar/cafe, called RIM HAAD, The two lovely young girls, Mon, and Kung, serve you with excellent food, and the owner Pui, fusses over you like a mother hen, we always had ice cold flannels as soon as we sat down, and after eating our meals we were treated to a large plate of mixed fruit. the prices at this Beach Bar, were almost as cheap as buying drinks in the supermarket. needless to say with temperatures reaching 42 degrees, we made regular visits to the bar, where we sat at the edge of the beach, watching the tide go in and out. of course being there on a daily basis, we were visited at regular intervals by the beach sellers, if you want cheap souvenirs, beautiful large tablecloths, sarongs, teashirts, lighters, I could go on...but the Horses, now thats something else, the boys loved the horseriding, especially the eight year old, who appeared to be a natural, and on the biggest horse too! and at just 200bhts for half an hour, of course if you went on the beach, which had a daily washed up delivery of fresh seashells, you had to be aware, and avoid the large jellyfish. The other annoying thing on the beach is the drone of the jetskis, mind you they are so old, the're more like motorcycle skis. Eating out in the evening, meant walking out of the hotel, turning left and going about 500 yards to a small area of shops and restaurants. having read previous reports, we started with the Bamboo Resaurant, the food was good, but all the dishes seemed to look the same, but with different meat, we struggled to satisfy the boys, so the second night we went to Tom Yung Gung, it was the most popular, and had the best menu selection. so we ate there most nights. There are a lot of Tailors shops, all hoping for your custom, I thing there is some kind of price cartel, so shop around if you want something made, I had three suits and a couple of dress shirts and it cost me £220. two of my grandsons had suits made at just £42 each.There is a sad lack of evening entertainment at the hotel, all the facilities are there, but they do not appear to be aware of family holiday needs. they have a 'fun pub' with lovely soft animal toys around the inside, but no one under 18 is allowed in. A 15 minute taxi ride, obtained near the local shops, which cost us between 4-500 bhts (8 in the car!) took us to HUA-HIN where there are lots of shops and restaurants, including a nightly market which was ideal for presents for the folks back home, Caps Shirts, Wooden carvings DVD's lots of strange food, fruit, and so on, despite other reports, negotiating a price for the items you wish to buy is essential, if you want a bargain, were got the prices down every time. The Taxi driver that takes you there waits for you to take you home, which is amazing, and they dont ask for the money until you get back, obviously if its just two people it is cheaper. There is also another market at Cha-am on a wednesday, which is a real eye opener, and a must to see, they were cooking all sorts of weird things including giant grasshoppers( or were they locusts) big grubs, cockroaches, and other things I couldn't describe. you could buy anything from secondhand shoes to live fish, tools, fruits, cakes, clothes, and puppies, real ones! Back at the hotel, as everyone has said previously, the staff are excellent, there are security guards on most floors, and around the grounds, always ready to salute you as you pass them, To sum up, we had a fantastic holiday, the hotel was very good and well furnished, especially around the reception area, we stayed at Kata Beach in Phuket last year, and thought the Orchidacia, was a good hotel, but the 'Regent' was 5 times better, I would say definitely 4 star, if they get their act together with the restaurants, it would be a wonderful hotel. but I would thoroughly recommend it to anyone going with a family
1 reader found this review helpful
This was our 6th visit .. we tried the chalets and the hotel love them both. The relaxed atmosphere is wonderful.The staff are great. This year 2008 we are returning after the hotel has had a re furb.. We hope nothing has changed.. We recommend it but will let you know what we think after October.