Aonang Villa Resort Hotel

We stayed at Ao Nang for 2 nights after our wonderful experience in Phuket. The hotel was clean and the room was spacious (we upgraded to a superior room with pool view). Generally our stay was wonderful but the cats and kittens (outside rooms of Block 4) and everywhere in the restaurant really got in our way. I love animals but imagine having at least 5 to 6 hungry cats eyeing on your food while you are dining really puts us off. Other than that, I would say the location is good as it is just next to the beach (just a few steps to the beach). There are many massage parlours, restaurants and 7 Eleven and McDonalds are all nearby. I would go back again.

We've just got back from 6 days at Ao Nang Villa's and I must admit after looking at this site in the week before we left, I was starting to think this trip could turn into a nightmare. Nothing could be further from the truth. We arrived at the hotel at 10am and were expecting to have to hang around until check in time at 2pm but we were shown were to change so we could jump in the pool and the room was ready 30mins later. The front desk staff did not speak the best English, but I certainly did not find them rude. We had a superior room and got twin beds instead of a double, but I expected that, and it turned out OK as the singles are kingsize and the two of us could sleep in the one bed anyway. Breakfast each morning was great, especially the freshly made omlettes. Exactly the same as we'd get in a 3/4 star hotel in Australia. Maybe it was just because it was so quiet, but the service was always friendly and prompt, coffee served as soon as we sat down. The showers - it took me a couple of days but I worked it out. Left and right do not control the temperature, up and down does. You get the same water pressure regardless, so if you just lift the lever a little, you will get a pleasent warm shower instead of a scolding one. Our second day there, we wanted to get to Phuket, but were told the ferries were not running in the low season, however the buget car rental at the hotel, took about 15mins to fix us up with a clean and comfy car for $50AUD, so we got to drive around to Phuket (once you understand there are no road rules, it all works quite smoothly). We did not spend a huge amount of time at the hotel as there are just so many things to do (rock climbing, elephant riding, whitewater rafting, tour of Phi Phi Islands) but it was a great place to be based and beautifully presented, everything was close, the tours were easy to organise and the whole trip went off with out a hitch. Low season is cheap and relaxing

Everything bout this hotel is excellent. I really love this hotel that everytime i'm at khabi or aonang, i'll make sure i'll go back there even if i'm not staying there, i'll go there specially for their delicious breakfast buffet. Location- very good, just next to the shore. very near shops also. Food- very yummy a lot of choices. just the cornflakes, they have like 5 diff ones. went there for breakfast even when i'm staying at the other end of aonang. Service- they don't speak good english but can see they try very very hard to communicate with us. Rooms- very spacious and clean neat look. love the little window in the toilet that opens to see the room perfect for couples. looks romantic. Lobby- love the lobby outlook very comfortable seats and very cossy and classy look and feel. Price- kinda high but i think its worth it just for the breakfast itself i think its very worth it...

We did not get off to a good start with this hotel. Having flown in from Bangkok we waited in the airport arrivals area for the pre-arranged transport that the hotel had laid on: and waited, and waited, and waited. Eventually, when there was nobody left in the airport, except us, we took a cab. The surly hotel receptionist told us it was our fault, as we had not confirmed the transfer reservation. Rubbish. Our deluxe room was good and spacious, but with supremely uncomfortable beds. The batteries in the in-room safe were so low that it would have been dangerous to have used it and risked not being able to get at our money and travel documents: the same surly receptionist was so unhelpful about getting the batteries replaced, that in the end I used some of my own (and swapped them back with the nearly dead ones before we left - so apologies to the next occupants of the room if they got caught out). The room was on the ground floor overlooking the gardens, with an obscured view of the sea. We had a decked veranda with two slatted "steamer" chairs - with no cushions, which made them so uncomfortable that they could not be used for more than 10 minutes at a time. The local cat population seemed to live underneath the decking, which consequently stank to high heaven. Breakfast in the hotel's main restaurant was as you would expect, but an apparent lack of staff meant that it was very difficult to get served with tea and coffee. Lack of staff meant that our one other meal in the hotel - lunch at the poolside restaurant - became very frustrating. The two members of staff that were on duty were far more interested in chatting to each other, rather than serving us. This hotel needs to pull itself up quite dramatically: the staff in reception are incredibly rude; the waiting staff are lacking in motivation - and numbers. The hotel has an enviable position right on Ao Nang beach:- sad to say, but at the end of our week, we were not sorry to leave. Ao Nang is a great little place: we found a few good restaurants, the best of which was the thatched Phra Nang Kitchen, right next to the hotel - never more than 600BHT for two including beer. The best part of the day was sitting on the sea wall with a couple of cold beers watching the staggering sunsets: we were often joined by locals winding down at the end of the day - and while there may have been no common language there was a great deal of welcoming camraderie. We had many outings - snorkelling trips, elephant trekking in the rain forest, a day on Phi Phi, longtail trip to Railey Bay. There are any number of tour operators who will book these outings for you - but do make sure you do some research before handing over any money: there are bargains to be had - as well as the odd rip-off. I would definitely go back to Ao Nang - but not until I find a much better hotel than the Ao Nang Villa

Read this before you embark on your journey... The holiday with the family ended this morning with mixed relief and disappointments. To be fair, this is a low-season... so the hotel understandably had to operate at minimal costs. Overall, the hotel was decent for a 3-star, comparing with most Asian resorts . It seemed the expectations were a lot higher with the sleek web site and well taken photos. The reality was something else. While we loved the pools and the colonial architecture set against the scenic cliff, those were about it. The room was nothing to rave about. The hotel's service and the human touch could be much improved. Spoken English was generally below most Asian destinations. Our suspect was that because of our language barrier, the staff (front desk, concierge and bell boy) generally put on a smile, but was not very enthusiastic and not very helpful... Since we were there during the low season, Krabi had little to offer to travellers apart from the beaches, the diving and the treking - which we all enjoyed, we think the hotel can do a lot more to help guests with activities and things-to-do. It was nothing of that, you are expected to pick your own brochures from the concierge's desk. PS : By the way, do bring along your own laundry bags, because they expect you to pay for them if you wish to take them along with your used laundry, during check-out. You may be embarassed with clearing your laundry at the front desk if you don't intend to pay for the laundry bags. True story. ................ Sunracer

Just got back from five nights at Aonang Villa Resort. We had a lovely time in Krabi, and the hotel is basically clean and comfortable, but there were a few issues. First it took almost an hour to check in because there had been a miscommunication between the agency we booked with and the hotel (the hotel, with v unfriendly reception staff) wanted us to pay an extra 700 baht per night, the agency finally said that for an extra 245 baht total they'd clear it). We didn't feel terribly welcome. The room was fine, though we couldn't control the shower temperature (too hot!). Breakfast was okay. Staff are a bit slow, but then hassle you to clear out by 10.30 and there's not much left if you're a late riser, and my husband regretted trying the squid which was on offer ... We didn't eat there apart from breakfast, as there are so many options in Ao Nang - also, they don't let you charge items from the pool bar to your room, so that discouraged us. But how can you complain at such a low price?! I wouldn't want to spend any more time in the hotel itself, but as a base for exploring it's perfect.

Excellent location, beach is in front of the hotel. Many resturants and travel agents around, and also supermarket. Don't need to worry about transportation too, many taxi is outside the hotel. Comfortable rooms, but services just so so. Staff are friendly, but when we complain the water temperature of the shower no one came to fix it. Another incident was, as I cannot reach my travel agency in Krabi and try to phone their head office in Phuket, we went to front desk to ask for help. Staff there made a phone call for us, I reached my Phuket agent and she asked me to go back to my room and she will ask Krabi agent to phone me immediately. Therefore I need to rush back to my room to pick the call. Front desk staff did not allow us to go and ask us to pay the phone call immediately! Why can't they debt it to my room bill? Also, beware of flies when having your breakfast, we need to finished our breakfast very quick every morning to avoid those flies touch our meal. But, to be honest, their food is really excellent.

Excellent location in a pleasant and fairly lively resort. Good breakfast, large room. Staff fine. The main pool's great at dusk. During the day it could be short of loungers but so what - we always went off on longtails to the beautiful beaches at Railey, Ao Phra Nang or Poda. In the evening there's loads of choice of restaurants and they are very good value if you walk up the hill, eg the bamboo ones on the right past the McDonalds.

I booked a 10 night stay for March 06 at the Ao Nang Villa back in September 2005 after doing lots of research. I wanted somewhere close to the beach as we were planning to dive a lot and also wanted to be close to the restaurants and shops. Trips and excursions had been booked using the Ao Nang Villa as our base. We arrived on 9th March to be told in a very abrupt manner that there was no room for us at the hotel and we were to be transferred to another hotel on the other side of Ao Nang that was away from the beach. We were told that this was due to a "water problem" at the hotel. This was clearly unacceptable and we asked to speak to a manager. After raised eyebrows and hard stares, a manager was sent for - he took twenty-five minutes to come to see us. He then explained that the hotel was "over booked" and there was no room for us - despite booking 6 months in advance. "Overbooked? Your colleague just told us there was a problem with the water?". Apparently, we were mistaken and there was in fact no problem with the water but the hotel was overbooked and they were now trying to free up some space by moving people out. Us. But we could have a room on the 15th March. We explained that we had specifically picked the Ao Nang Villa for its location and rating. Another manager was summoned. He then said that we could have a room on the 12th. Which then moved to the 11th. After over a hour and a half of hand wringing and "negotiation", it was clear that there really wasn't a room available until the 11th (which would mean that someone arriving that day would be getting the "water problem" story too - sorry if you ever read this). So, where to stay for 2 days? We were offered a room at the Golden Beach resort next door, as this would fulfil our location requirements. I asked whether it was the same standard at the Ao Nang Villa and was told that it was, so we agreed to go there for 2 days and move back to the Ao Nang Villa for 8 days. When we arrived at the Golden Beach, it was very clear that it was not the same standard as its neighbour - more 2/3 star compared to the Ao Nang 4 star but we figured we were stuck with it for two days. We moved into the Ao Nang villa two days later. No disrespect intended towards the Golden Beach as the room was fine and the staff kind - it just wasn't what we booked. Maybe it is because the management of the hotel lied to us (the water problem and the rating of Golden Beach), the fact that I had to keep packing up my stuff, the greed of the Ao Nang Villa management in overbooking and then treating customers like expendable commodities that I feel aggrieved by this hotel. Maybe I then began to nitpick but I found several areas lacking in this hotel which means I don't think it is a four star establishment. - surly front desk staff who treat every question with disdain and in some cases downright rudeness. - understaffed - the restaurant and pool areas in particular. At breakfast you are asked by the server whether you would like tea or coffee. And then it never appears, so 20 minutes later you go to the coffee point to pour your own and a server appears and asks you to sit down as it is there job to pour the hot drinks. Grrr. One poor guy seems to have to staff both pool bars so your sandwich arrives stone cold. Grrr. He is nice and doesn't snap at you so you are grateful for small mercies. - lack of equipment. In a hotel of 157 bedrooms (so potentially over 300 guests), there are 40 sun loungers. This means Operation Stealth Towel at 7am or you're lying on the concrete around the pool. And don't get me started about people who put towels over pool beds at 7am and then don't use them until 2pm. A diplomatic incident was narrowly avoided... - drab rooms. We were in a Lamai deluxe and the room was OK but plain white walls with no pictures, soft decor etc made me feel a little institutionalised. - mean attitude - the first page in the Room Directory was a price list of all the items in the room (soap dish, water tumbler etc) and the charge if you broke something or had sheet kleptomania. "Additional teabags will be charged at 50 baht". I kid you not. Steamer chairs were provided on the deck/balcony but with no cushions so to sit in them for more than 10 minutes was painful, and that's without sunburn. - poor management. As well as our difficulty checking-in, we arrived back to our room one day to find the door wide open. Nothing was taken and I assume a housekeeping error. No harm done but hardly comforting. Management never followed up our complaint. In summary, I got the overall impression that this hotel is a victim of its own success; it is one of the few mid-priced resorts in Ao Nang so demand is high so they can offer a substandard product and get away with it. Customer service is nil (certainly amongst management and supervisors - the regular staff were lovely) and the hotel has the aura of being done on the cheap - all the little thoughtful touches that make a hotel good were missing. There are some plusses: - the kittens by the pool were cute (please feed them, they will be meowing outside room 4103), the breakfast was OK (but the plinky plonk music on repeat drove bloke mad, and therefore his moaning drove me mad...), the location is excellent; close to the beach and the town but is not noisy. So, all in all not a happy customer. I will be writing to Trailfinders who I booked with but I'm not sure how much good this will do. If anyone wants to know more about the hotel, Ao Nang or diving in the area, please post me a question in the forum and I'll try to help.

First trip to Thailand. Wonderful base for Krabi Province and the surrounding island via scooter or local boatmen. We were upgraded to a deluxe room with direct access to the one of the two pools. Pool monitor would be good as various sad guests decided towels on sun loungers at 10.30pm the previous night would give them God like (or sunburnt) status for the next day!! Anyway - their loss as Krabi province as a whole is stunning. Breakfast was good with good Thai choice (maybe too much western food). The room large and adequate, (no need for television) - air-con was good. Wonderful friendly staff. Would stay again, probaly as a gateway to the south.