Nirvana Resort & Spa

A hotel nicely located in the Bang Bao area, about 10 minutes walk from the village. The poperty itself is beautiful with a well kept garden and nice little bungalows either on the beachfront or a little bit behind. The rooms are nicely decorated, great big bed and daily cleaning, the terrace with the rocking chair is a nice extra. Tantra restaurant is one of the most beautiful I have ever seen in terms of setting and decoration. So everything is there to make a great little resort, but somehow they manage you to feel uneasy and kind of.. yes, dissapointed. I am not really into luxury travelling, was perfectly happy on Ko Kham in a nice little hut for 800 Baht, was basic but clean and most importatntly it did not want to be anything else than a plain and well kept guest house. The rooms in Nirvana are nice, but there is no mosquito net. So despite having a great terrace you can not really enjoy it since the little beasts are eaiting you up. I am not fond of AC but sleeping with open doors is definitely not an option so I had to use it otherwise it was too hot inside. (Means catching a cold) No soap in the bathroom. Would be nice to have. The rooms were made up at around 16:00 in the afternoon. The mini bar was never completely filled up, so it was pretty hard to keep track of what you have to pay at the end. Food at the restaurant was great but overpriced (okay, you pay for the decoration) and sometimes the food was just slumped together - hamburger not fried trough, which in a tropical country is unacceptable. I do not understand why the big hurry since we were almost alone there. And standing next to our table and watching us how we eat, not to mention the fact that as soon as we finished to food the waitress pretty much attacked us and took away the plate is not my definition of good and attentive service. Some poeple like to enjoy and lazy around. They are aiming to be a luxury resort - well, in terms of the price they are there. But for the service and all-around package there is still a long way to go. My advice: a) hire someone who knows how to make the best out of it, or b) go down with the price

We stayed for one night at the Nirvana for an anniversary and it was lovely. Our arrival was slightly inauspicious; if you drive to the hotel it's at the end of a long and mostly unpaved road that a taxi driver will charge comedy money for (an extra 200 baht in our case). Our bags were too heavy for us to argue. You may be able to sort out transport using the hotel's own van which is swisher than it sounds. Once we arrived all our concerns disappeared. It's very remote and beautiful - our room was one of the cheapest but still enormous with the aformentioned rocking chairs on the balcony. I'm guessing they've improved the beds since the earlier report of lice as it was amazing - egyptian cotton sheets and hungarian goose down quilt/pillows. And enormous as well. One of the best beds we've seen in a hotel full stop, not just in Thailand. The only thing missing was a mosquito net... The two pools were both lovely (one freshwater, one saltwater) and although the beach was small you could happily get some quality sunbathing time in. The staff at reception spoke the best English we heard during our holiday and were very helpful. Our favourite bit was the restaurant however. Built on stilts out on the bay it gives a gorgeous view of Bang Bao pier at night time. The food was also excellent and the service was smiley perfection.

This place is a great little private resort in koh chang. The room I’m staying in is huge and beautifully decorated, the staff are very helpful with any requests and speak English very well …I was surprised. There are two great swimming pools one overlooking the fishermans village and one high up in the jungle area. The lower one is salt water and the one in the jungle is fresh water and has this cute rock waterfall….great for a evening dip! They have just added this special restaurant called “Tantra” which sits out over the water, very hard to describe this place as it is just beautiful, throne style chairs, old wood roof tiles, and the backdrop is this amazing carved wall. The food at this place has to be the best that I tried on the island and I think I tried everything that was recommended in all the guide books. Overall this is the perfect place to get away from all the tourist area of white sands beach which is becoming increasingly ugly with all the concrete developments. As we were leaving they had started to build a concrete road to the resort from the main road I have a feeling this will not remain a secret place for long.

Im currently sitting in the Nirvana in a sea front bungalow. The room is nicely decorated and clean with a big bathroom. Restaurant is good and service is quick but there are very few other guests here apart from us. Walk along the pier of the nearby fishermans village and turn right to find the Budda View restaurant and sit at a table with your feet dangling above the water - very cheap and good food. Theres no real beach here but there are 2 pools and a sauna. Air con works well and you need it as its 34c outside. Gardens are great and there is a lovely sundeck to watch the sun set. There is also a jungle walk but you could be eaten alive with bugs (not just mossies). A very peaceful and restful place. I was going to move on but have decided to stay a few days more.

I stayed with my family (husband, one 5-year old and one 2-year old) 12 nights at the Nirvana. A very peaceful and comfortable resort in thoughtthrough balinesean style. The resort is quite small and very tastefully designed. There’s just about a dozen bungalows which suited us perfectlly. Despite the small no of rooms there were two swimmingpools: the larger one with seawater and the smaller one with freshwater. As several others has mentioned in earlier reviews there basically isn’t any beach. There is though a narrow stretch of sand right outside, but the strong tide and the rocky bottom makes it unswimmable. If you want the real thing there’s a sandy beach about 1,5 km east of the village Bang Bao (which is situated about a 5 minutes walk from the resort). We stayed in a beachfront studio bungalow which worked very well for us since the hugh sofa also worked as an extra bed where there was enough room for both of our kids. The water pressure is suprisingly nice and strong and there’s a TV and DVD with surroundsystem of good quality. There are movies for rent in the reception. A part from the tasteful interior design another true highlight is the restaurant. Wonderful food, everything we had was delicious. A little bit pricey but worth its value considering the great taste. The head chef is thai but recently moved back from the U.S. where he lived for 30 years. A mosquitonet over the bed would have been good as the djungel surrounding the premises seems to hold lots of bugs, mosquitos and other bloosucking insects. Except from some minor details as sloppy cleaning and some broken lamps I would rate the resort a 9-pointer. I should also add that the most of the staff speak pretty good English, which of course one should be able to expect at a place of this price range. Tips: Have the steamed crab at the Seabird restaurant at the pier in the village. Very delicious! It costs 200 baht/kilo and you’ll be able to point out which one you’d like to have cooked. Also don’t miss the sundeck on the backside of the hill at Nirvana.

Have just returned from a three week holiday in Thailand which finished with 4 nights at Nirvana. Nirvana is probably best described as a boutique resort - there are only a small number of chalets and we rarely saw another guest during our stay. The chalets are finished to an extremely high standard complete with DVD / TV and are extremely comfortable. We stayed in a 'beachfront' room overlooking the sea and Bang Bao fishing village so the view was great, although there is no real beach as such so if that's your thing you might want to look elsewhere. There are two pools and the food is also very good - but Bang Bao village is just a 10 minute walk away offering a good choice of restaurants. You will need a torch at night! The resort is located just about as far South as you can get on the island, so is very peaceful - away from some of the larger beaches / resort areas. However this makes it a little more difficult to get around - jeeps / cars / bikes can be hired from reception and are a fun way to explore the island. The west side of the island is relatively unspoilt and worth a visit.

We just got back from 2.5 weeks in Thailand and having not seen this review before we went I'm amazed at the reviews.. We travelled with 2 kids aged 11 and 4 and literally just booked a flight into Bangkok. We flew into Trat and then caught the ferry over to Koh Chang. Initially we stayed North on the island and steadily made our way down south before cathing another boat onto 2 neighbouring islands. The entire island is beautiful and there is something for everyone. Bang Bao is the fishing village and main take off point for the dive boats. Yes it can be quite but if thats what you want then this is the place. The hotel is fabulous and the staff were superb. The Head Receptionist was superb, she has only been there a month and her service was second to none. At one point our eldest son had a stomach bug and she hastily attended to him and arranged and escorted us to the local Doctor who gave him some tablets. The rooms were fabulous, everything clean and immaculate with great facilities such as TVs DVDs, WiFi, CD players. It was hugely quite when we were there and we almost had the entire place to ourselves. If you want tranquility then this is the place. It is on the outskirts of the village (which is literally just a wooden pier with restaurants and shops on it) but you can walk it in 10 minutes along a path on the coast which is much quicker than the road way. The access road to the resort is a dirt path and can be avoided. We hired motorbikes (our 11 year old learnt to ride his first moped here, it isnt dangerous). I would recommend this place. Its little known, in fact we only heard about if by chance from a recommendation from the owner of Chilli Garden restaurant in Lonely Beach. I would definitely recommend this place.

It is a mixed bag. We are just back from Nirvana Resort in Ko Chang. The resort itself is nice, but quiet and remote ! If you are looking for activities and fun, don't go there. It is rather a place for individuals and people looking for peace. First, the hotel is located in Ban Dao Bay south of Koh Chang facing fishermen village, 1km walk from main road, so in order to get a taxi, you have to reach this road first dark at night of course (bring your torch lamp !), otherwise rent a motorbike (not recommended at all considering the roads there!). Also, there IS NO BEACH ! Only an artificial strand of sand dirty in the morning (high tides with rubbish from fishermen village). Also the resort does not organize activites or excursions, you have to contact a travel agency in the village... Next, service is a bit disorganized and not regular. The room service is good but in studio bungalow a larger terrace table would be necessary to eat your breakfast properly ! Otherwise our bungalow (studio) was facing the sea, near the pool, confortable, exotic furniture, but we had a problem with our shower (no pressure at all with hot water) which was not solved during our stay despite the maintenance tried to fix it. Their restaurant is good and prices the same as in Ban Dao village. Overall, I don't think I'll go back there, too isolated and no beach which is an essential criteria for me.

My wife and I booked a stay of 7 nights at the Nirvana. We were suprised to be asked to pay 'up front' for the whole stay when we booked through the internet booking agency some months before - never having encountered this before with hotels in SE Asia. We booked a one room bungalow at the advertised rate of 5650 baht a night. Quite expensive, but we hoped it would be worth it. We have been travelling to Thailand for about 12 years and also have visited Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia and Borneo. On arrival on January 13th, 2006,the hotel seemed very impressive - set in a very tranquil location and just what we had hoped for. We thought the hotel charming and in a most beautiful setting. The design was very interesting and the room on first sight appeared excellent. There were a few minor problems, there was no hot water and a bulb burst, but all was repaired/replaced reasonably promptly by the staff. There was a rather odd smell in the room and I did notice that the bed quilt was rather musty but gave it no further thought and we settled in to enjoy our stay. By the third day I noticed an inflamed rash on my body but presumed it was a heat rash or the bites of sea lice (quite harmless) acquired whilst swimming. I gave it no further thought. However, on our return to Bangkok I was horrified to discover that I had body lice. Fortunately, I was able to get the necessary shampoo in the city and through regular treatment and shaving body hair was able to be 'lice-free' in a short while. There is NO possible way that I could have acquired them except from the dirty bed-linen at the Nirvana. My wife and I have travelled all over SE Asia and stayed in all classes of hotels and never experienced anything like this. This is not the standard of cleanliness one should expect from any hotel and certainly not from one charging such high prices. I was less annoyed at acquiring the lice than in thinking of how much we had paid for the privilege! On the subject of price I now see on the Nirvana website that the room we paid 5650 baht a night for, now sells for 4800 baht a night. The change in price being effective for bookings made after 12.01.06. Those unfortunates like us with pre-paid bookings prior to this date, even if arriving later than Jan. 12th will not see a refund. I would advise you to avoid this hotel like the plague. I have included a few photos of the room in which I acquired my little friends....

This island is full of tourists and we were relieved to be 15 minutes south of the chaos at Nirvana Resort. This place is near Bangbao village. Beautiful grounds. Great staff. Two pools and only a 12 or so bungalows. The upper rock pool is secluded at shadier (less hot). Had it to ourselves in peak season. Massages around this pool with trickling waterfall were lovely. Other pool great also with bar/drinks service. Very small beach - don't expect much there, but you don't miss it all. Staff arranged car rental, flights, massages....anything we needed. Movies available at reception. Rooms large with rocking chairs on nice big porch. Breakfast included and can be brought to your porch daily. Small. quiet. Lazy. Secluded. 10 minute walk to village for dinner with many selections. Wander over to the neighbouring cliff cottage bar (hidden) for sunset beer. Really relaxing. Recommended highly if you want to be away for the hoards of sunburnt tourists crammed on "White Sand" or "Kai Bae" beach.