North Hill City Resort

The staff were friendly and the room was spacious, but service felt only okay to me. For nearly 4,000 baht a night at a five-star hotel, I expected more. The grounds are nice, the pool is large, and golfers have access to the course, but if golf isn't your reason for staying, there isn't much else to recommend it. It's very remote, and traffic can make the trip into town take 50 minutes. There are no scooters or rental bikes through the hotel or a nearby partner. The shuttle runs only a couple of times a day, and when we tried to reserve a seat, we were told it was full. The free boat ride on the small lake sounded nice, but the boat was broken. The bathroom was frustrating too. The sink splashed water everywhere, and the shower was so fancy that it was complicated to use without being functional. The gym was one of the worst I've seen: just treadmills and cross trainers, dumbbells only up to 5 kg, and two useless machines. We had to use Grab to get to a proper gym 15 minutes away. Everything costs a lot. We paid 168 baht for an iced cappuccino and 550 baht per person for breakfast, which wasn't good value from a European perspective, though it may be enough for Chinese or Thai guests. The hotel looks stylish, but felt soulless to us. Its bar was black, cold, and freezing, and the Italian restaurant was overpriced for the food. Even though it's next to a golf club, hotel guests don't seem to get any golf discount or useful information.

The gardens are open and lovely, with a farm and a lake nearby, and the pool is beautiful too. The hotel has a distinctive boutique feel with a touch of luxury, especially around the golf course. I needed to get some work done and they let me use the meeting room at no extra charge, which helped a lot. Breakfast was served from a limited menu rather than as a buffet while we were there, perhaps because the hotel had few guests. A large group arrived on our last day, and we finally got to try the buffet. I preferred that to ordering from the small menu. The shower temperature also kept changing.

The bar is cozy and fun, and the main restaurant at the golf club has a great range of food. There is also an Italian restaurant on site, while the other restaurants are at the golf club. This is a fairly basic hotel and seems better suited to golfers than holidaymakers. The pool is great, though there aren't enough loungers for sunbathing. With the hotel's low capacity, breakfast is quite basic and ordered from a menu, with no buffet.

New, the operations manager, was especially helpful, as were the reception staff. Bell and the trainees Pat and Kim also gave us excellent service. My husband and I enjoyed the free breakfast and the wide range of dishes at the on-site Italian restaurant. The resort team were friendly and helpful throughout, and we were very happy with our stay. We'll definitely come back.