Koh Mak Resort

The beach here was the cleanest we found around the island, and the reef made for nice snorkeling. The resort feels a bit worn, though it still has a lot of beach charm. We especially loved the restaurant and bar, with some of the best food and service we had in Thailand. The cleaning staff were great too. I left my glasses out and got a very funny surprise. My wife and I had a much-needed week away and loved our stay.

The beach and setting are what we'd come back for. The water has fewer rocks than at the other places we visited, and the beach bungalows have a prettier location. Koh Mak is a small, quiet island that's easy to get around, and we looked at most of its other resorts during our stay. Some of them had better restaurants and reception areas, but this is still our favorite. One thing to know: the family villa or bungalow is two separate regular bungalows, with no connecting interior door.

We won't be back after an unpleasant stay. The chalet had a sea view and sat on KM's best beach, but it was very basic, old, and tired. Staff weren't helpful or friendly, and didn't speak English. The breakfast was simple and the restaurant food wasn't good. The German lady at the Information point centre was abrupt and unfriendly. A large spider crawled around our room one morning, and lizards kept waking me at night. We weren't told there was a pool at the far end of the resort, and only discovered it on our last day. It looked old and uninviting. Seavana resort next door had very good food, friendly staff, and reasonable prices.

We ended up here on a whim from Koh Kood, and I'm so glad we did. The beach was an empty, peaceful stretch on one of Thailand's least developed islands, just right for relaxing. They even let us check out late so we could stay in the room until our ferry was due. Service was excellent, and breakfast was okay. I'd come back someday.