Sunrise Bungalow

This is an authentic, down-to-earth stay, not a 5-star place. It’s run by a Thai family, and the owner is around and involved herself. She’d stop for a chat, tell us about Thai history, and make us feel at home. We spent 3 nights right at lamai beach, which is one of the best and cleanest beaches, next to grandmother & grandfather rock. Everything was clean. There’s a gym and massage at the beach, with coffees and restaurants just around the corner. If you want a real Thai experience and to support a local business, come here. I recommend it.

The ocean is literally in your back yard, and that location seems to be the main thing the place still has going for it. It feels like somewhere that used to have a lot of beauty and potential, but has lost much of it over time. The garden is beautiful, though the back side needs serious attention. In my room for 3 people, I was alone and had just 1 pillow. There was no teapot or mosquito net. The kinescopic TV made me smile, while the small gym felt like a rusty shell of what it used to be. Bring cash. They charge 4% extra for card payment, which they describe as the Booking_com fee. In my opinion, that’s off. I wish the owner(s) would find a new passion for keeping people’s stays cozy and beautiful, rather than only collecting money. The price was 80Eur/night for a Bungalow for 1 person.

I’d probably stay again because the location is amazing, though the place could use some care and the owner doesn’t seem too concerned about that anymore. There was also a confusing payment issue. I paid 6,080 baht for the room and was sure I’d covered the full amount, but the owner knocked on my door late at night asking for another 1,000 baht. I’d withdrawn 10,000 and had 4,000 left after paying, so I figured she may not have counted the cash properly. If you stay, make sure the money is counted carefully. The “beachside” booking wasn’t actually on the beachside. It was more like the third row.

Pom, the owner, is lovely, and the location is hard to beat: a nice beach nearby, with plenty of places to eat and get a massage. The bungalows are very basic, though. There’s no kettle or duvet, only a sheet, and the mattress is really hard. They aren’t serviced either. I asked for a clean towel halfway through my week and got one, but I took out my own rubbish each day and bought Baygon to spray because the place isn’t insect-proof. It’s a tough one to review. At this one-star price, you get what you pay for.