Villa Israel Eco Park by Cocotel

What made us want to come back was largely the staff. Jia at reception is professional, helpful, and always smiling. JiJi (jeng), the supervisor, is caring and helpful, and Alex is competent, helpful, and cheerful too. They all clearly care. We really appreciated their response to problems in two rooms at check-in, even though it was late. The toilets and electrical outlets weren’t working, but the staff handled it that night and again the next day, making up for it. We don’t expect perfection, just for issues to be taken care of, and they did more than that. The team have great respect for their supervisor. The hotel is a good budget option, and the staff are among the best we’ve met in all our travels. They’re accommodating and go above and beyond. There’s complimentary coffee, tea, and hot and cold water available 24/7. The pool area is lovely and the pool was open. The gym is okay, with no air conditioning, though a good sweat can be welcome. Room renovations are underway, and the mangroves and eco park area are being updated too. The location suited us because it’s quiet and just a little away from the downtown bustle. We rented a scooter from the hotel to get around.

The rooms are great and have WiFi, and the staff are friendly and easy to approach. There’s no hot shower, though. Towels can be changed free every two days, but an extra change costs 150 each. The location is good, but it’s about 600 metres short of McDo, where tricabs pick up and gather.

The receptionist called a tricycle for us to get to Vanilla Beach, which was helpful. The location is good if you want to be away from the crowds, and there’s a big gym. I didn’t find the pool very clean, though maybe I just didn’t see them clean it. Having separate shower and bathroom rooms made things easier as a couple, with less waiting. I wish they’d provided facial tissues and added proper ventilation to the shower room. The parking area is large, but construction during our stay made things noisy for a few hours.

We booked five days split across two rooms, apparently because of an automatic Agoda booking arrangement. They cancelled our four-day room and kept only the one-day booking, which was non-refundable, even though the room was still available at a price over $100 higher. I had to find another apartment while stuck with the remaining non-refundable night. Shame.