Baan Khun Yui

I stayed in late November. The room was clean and cool, and the bed was comfortable. The pool was kept clean too. It’s not unusual to have a drink by the pool with other guests in the early hours. For what I paid, I’d definitely stay again.

The room you get makes a lot of difference. I stayed in B4, on the ground floor by the pool, while my two friends had first-floor rooms above reception. We found the rooms very clean, with no mould in any of them, despite a previous review mentioning it. For Muay Thai, the location works perfectly, with Top team and Tiger within walking distance. The price was very reasonable, about 500 baht a night. The hotel runs its own taxi to Patong for 600 Baht per car, and they’re happy to take guests to or from the airport pretty much 24/7. Very good stay, I’ll be back.

It’s sad to have to write this. I stayed here on and off for years, tipped the staff well, and used to be satisfied with the rooms and service, even though I never felt they treated me kindly. I thought the owner was a friend, and I met some of my best friends here. The rooms have tiny windows and no ventilation, but that didn’t bother me. They were kept fairly clean, and the women cleaning them generally did a decent job. Then I heard reports of widespread mold. A close friend and professional fighter lost ten pounds and became very ill after staying in a room with a serious mold problem. I avoided that poolside room and thought it was limited to that one. I was wrong. I moved into another room recently, in late 2016, and it had a horrible, musty mold smell. Mold can affect your lungs, brain, and other people, and it can be very dangerous. I moved out after an hour and told the owner, whom I’d thought was a friend. She didn’t speak to me directly. Instead, she showed my text to other guests and took my criticism and warning about the mold as a personal attack (GFI). The way she responded felt like a severe culture clash and a major failure in hospitality and customer service. I believe any responsible professional would tell the owner about a danger like this, as I did. I found the behavior brazenly mean, classless, and unprofessional. The owner didn’t clean the moldy items that had made my friend so ill and affected his life, career, and health. Instead, she moved the dusty, mold-covered, bad-smelling items into other rooms. The owner needs to spend three minutes researching mold. Exposing staff and guests to a serious health hazard is contemptible. Some people won’t apologize or admit they were wrong, even when health is at stake. A business should at least care about guests’ health and safety. On another, unrelated occasion, I saw a guest put in serious danger because of staff neglect. I’m writing about the mold because I care about people’s health, even people I don’t know. Sadly, I can’t say the same about the hotel owner, whom I once thought was caring. Boy, was I wrong. Christ bless her little heart.

When you're in Chalong for training, this is a great place to stay. The rooms are clean and the staff are lovely. I'll book with Yui again.