Lanta Sea House Resort, Koh Lanta

Independant Review

Not the most stylish of resorts, the shared areas of this 24 year-old resort are formed of a large and charm-less chunk of concrete. The resort is located on a prime spot on Klong Dao beach and looks its age, but is full every high season due to its relative proximity to the ferry pier. It appears that this popularity has made the resort complacent about maintenance, décor and service standards, and there are now many much better places to stay than this establishment, which is emphatically not recommended.

There are some attractive shady salas (open-sided huts) in front of the resort on the beach, but these are inadequate in number to meet demand from guests who want to dine in a pleasant spot, rather than the block house-like concrete restaurant. The resort’s grounds are unkempt and uncared-for – many blue plastic drainage pipes are on display. Judging from the weeds everywhere, the gardeners all appear to have been sacked to enhance profits - the view maybe being that there is no point in making the place look nice when it will be full anyway. The pool is too small to accommodate all the resort’s guests in high season.

Accommodation

Deluxe Beach-front  Bungalow - Downstairs

These rooms are not on the beach-front, are dark and dinghy, and are very unattractive on the eye.

Deluxe Beach-front  Bungalow - Upstairs

These are a slight improvement over the previous rooms, but not much of one - whilst they are not beach-front rooms, it is at least possible to see the sea from them. The rooms are clean and well-maintained, but still gloomy despite being upstairs, due to a lack of windows. 

Superior Bungalow

Very basically furnished and equipped, the exteriors of these bungalows are painted in alternating pink and aquamarine hues, forming a real eye-sore. No fledgling nation will ever choose this colour combination for its new national flag. The bungalows are so cheaply finished that the doors to their barren bathrooms are made of aluminium. No effort at all appears to have been made to make these bungalows attractive.

Deluxe Room

These rooms are only 4 years old, and are a significant improvement over the resort’s atrocious bungalows. They are lighter and inoffensively decorated, and have a connecting room options for families. If desperate, book one or a pair of these rooms, but don’t stay long. 

Superior Connecting

The décor is as uninspiring as is that in the rest of the resort’s rooms, but these rooms do represent a decent option for couples and families, but only for a short stay, where visitors will be on day-trips during the day and so not fighting it out for spots in and around the pool. 

www.lantaseahouseresort.com

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Andaman Sky, Co., Ltd, 23/8 Moo 2, Ao Nang, Thailand