Golden Beach Resort (Review) @ Ao Nang, Krabi (Thailand)

People who have travelled with me or attempted to plan an overseas trip with me will jolly well know i am not very picky when it comes to accommodation and so long there is air-conditioning, a private shower and a bed, i am good to go.

What i am more particular with, is the location. Near to the shopping belt? Tick. Directly across a food street? Double ticks. Ten meters away from the white, sandy beach? Tripe ticks.

For this trip to Krabi, i decided a more luxurious hotel is needed to pamper my tired self and after some navigation on Agoda.com, i chose a 4-star establishment named Golden Beach Resort.

265 reviews that gave an average point of 8.2 upon 10.0 were no doubt, one major deciding factor. Nothing beats seeing what fellow travellers have to say.

Honestly, i wasn't too impressed when i stepped into the lobby; an apparent lack of warmth and creativity in the overall design. Well, i figure i won't be SLEEPING in the lobby anyway.

Room wise, it was comfortably big with a spacious balcony overlooking the pool that we did not even use. A fake pool of chlorinated water versus natural salty water that takes up 70% of earth's surface? I would have chosen the latter anytime.

Having said that, the pool overlooked a majestic block of beautiful limestone rock. Dad would have enjoyed sitting by the poolside every day.

Breakfast was served in a standalone building besides the main lobby. Typical of Thailand hotels, the variety was not great although i did enjoy the cheesy omelette very much.

We have touched on facilities so far. Let's concentrate on service next; two incidents that i am going to be sharing in the next few paragraphs.

The first morning of our stay at 7.00am, we were flabbergasted to find no hot water for bathing! To me, i find bathing in cold water to be very refreshing but pampered Alex will not hear of it! The best thing? He did not wash up the previous night!

I made a call to the reception who promised to send someone up. No knock on the door was heard for the next 10 minutes. Another courteous call was made; "they are on the way, sir" was the reply.

To make full use of time, i bathed in freezing cold water in the meantime. Two ladies eventually appeared, checked the bathroom and notified me, in halting English, that they will inform the reception to call me back. 

No one did for the next 10-15 minutes and only when i checked with the reception after my breakfast that i realised one of the generators is spolit and an engineer will come only after 8am. A simple sentence that could have been said out in ten seconds instead of wasting over 30 minutes of my time.

The second incident was my fault. We were rushing for time for our tour to Phi Phi Islands, i assumed Alex had the room key and breakfast vouchers and with a 'bang', i closed the door.

Running to the lobby to seek help, the receptionist made a call and said someone will be there shortly. We waited for 10 minutes (that's always my guide for waiting) and surprise surprise, no one came!

I rushed to the lobby again and was assured that someone will be with me shortly. 5 minutes passed and i could count less than 10 minutes to have a quick breakfast before the tour van came to pick us up.

As a desperate measure, i went one floor up, caught the bellboy, told him my situation and the situation was finally diffused after he sought the help of two colleagues who were cleaning the hotel rooms and have key access to all rooms.

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Would i be back again? With so many similar establishments in the area, i would say HELL NO! Unless the price is irresistibly low!

Location

It's a few hundred meters away from the main beach road but the beach is really a stone throw away.

Price

S$211.56 for three nights, inclusive of breakfast for two.