Bottle Beach 1 Resort

The beach is beautiful, but beyond that I can't see a reason to stay here, and I would never recommend it. The bathrooms were awful, there was nothing to keep bugs out, and the workers were rude and disrespectful. Getting there was the worst part. The booking sites say you can take a taxi, but a 4x4 is needed. We rented a motorbike and accidentally got onto the road. Once we'd started down it, turning back wasn't possible. We barely made it to the hotel. For the return trip, they charged a lot extra to transport the bike. The workers were careless and said we had to pay or retrieve it ourselves from the mountain road. After I read the resort's response, I want to add that they shouted at us at reception, even after I asked them to be respectful. When I booked, the website only mentioned a taxi, with no information about needing a 4x4. We arrived after sunset, so the warning signs they refer to weren't visible. You ride about 1 km along that terrible road before reaching a sign, and by then there's no turning back. You have to pay. Their claim that they tried to help means they charged us a lot of money. That's a trap for customers, not help. I attached a video of the road and its entrance. You can see there are no warning signs, only taxi prices.

I booked a beachfront villa through Expedia weeks ahead, and it was confirmed and paid for. Then, while I was on the ferry to Koh Phangan and just two hours before check-in, the hotel messaged to say they'd made a booking error and my villa wasn't available. Their proposed compensation was a garden-view room at 50% off what I'd paid. That room already costs almost 50% less, so it didn't make sense. I said no and asked to cancel for a full refund because I'd booked a beachfront bungalow. The person I dealt with immediately got rude and told me not to come, saying the booking had been cancelled and refunded. The money never came back. Expedia had to contact the resort several times, and they kept refusing to honor the refund they'd agreed to. After almost two weeks of repeated calls, the refund was finally issued. They made the booking mistake, treated me rudely, then tried to keep my payment. Avoid this place.

It's a peaceful area, though getting to the resort means taking a boat or driving a jeep along an adventurous road. Because of bad weather, only the jeep was available, and the ride from the pier cost 300 Baht. We had a basic bungalow right on a beautiful beach, although there was a lot of rubbish on the sand. The bungalow was clean. There was no hot water or air conditioning, but at the ocean in the tropics, who needs that? The pool was clean, though we didn't use it since we had the sea. The beach restaurant was pretty standard, nothing special but good. Sometimes we had to wait a while to order because nobody was around.

The location is beautiful, but very remote. The restaurant guys were the best part of the stay. They tried charging my son the adult fare for the taxi ride in, but gave the money back when I challenged them. Trust me, don't go.