Mayalay Resort-Green Hotel

Mr.AJ, the hotel manager, was attentive and genuinely hospitable, making us feel like friends and family. The hotel also deserves credit for being green: it provides the essentials while adding thoughtful eco-friendly touches and reminders that we all share responsibility for protecting the marine environment. The setting is a quiet, stunning beach with a direct view of Koh Ma, and the water is strikingly clear, an 'emerald jelly' color. Don't miss the wood-fired pizza or the deep-sea fishing daytrip. We'll recommend the place to friends and hope to return.

The sea fishing trip is especially worth recommending, and the price is very reasonable. The hotel can arrange for a staff member to go along and help with any language barriers. Complimentary snorkeling gear and kayaks are available too. We stayed in a standalone villa right by the beach. It was simply decorated but very clean. The manager and restaurant staff were friendly and spoke excellent English. The restaurant's pizza is made in-house and comes highly recommended.

Our bungalow was clean, with air conditioning that worked perfectly, and the beach was just 20 meters away. The staff were wonderful, always smiling and remembering our names. We felt truly welcome. Highly recommend it!

We loved the food here. The Thai chef, whom we affectionately called “Italian at heart”, cooked simple dishes with loads of skill and flavor. The Margherita pizza was excellent, the lasagna was grandma-level, and the spaghetti with cherry tomatoes was pure joy. For Italians, good food matters, and this was outstanding. Breakfast was thoughtful too, with a small sweet and savory buffet and the main dishes cooked fresh. Room cleaning was spotless every day, and the laundry service was quick: we handed it in during the morning and got it back fresh and neat that afternoon. What really made the stay was the staff, who made us feel at home and pampered us like grandma at Christmas. Toiy, the Food & Beverage Manager, was attentive and professional, and arranged everything from transfers to excursions. The Chef was talented and humble. Yan took great care of breakfast and espresso, Oscar was hardworking and positive, and Abu made excellent drinks. Elmar, the island's singer, brought songs and jokes to the afternoons and evenings, and sometimes even did a small fire show. The small massage center felt authentic. Special thanks to the male masseur, whose strong, precise, skillful hands fixed my girlfriend's blocked shoulder with a single morning massage. We spent 8 nights at Mayalai Resort in Koh Ngai, and the clear zero-waste, respect-for-nature approach runs through the place. There's wood, bamboo, and recycled material everywhere, including lamps made from old fishing lines. The rooms have refillable water bottles, which you can fill at the bar anytime, so there's no need for plastic. We were barefoot in the sand all over the resort, from bungalow to restaurant, beach, and massage area. The location is the best on the island: at either end of Koh Ngai, low tide exposes rocks and makes swimming impossible, but from Mayalai you can still swim by walking a little farther out. The sunshine was with us every day, too. The bungalows could use renovation. With that improvement, the place would be unbeatable. Mayalai Resort is a little paradise that stays with you, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.