Coral View Resort Hotel

We loved how quiet and secluded it was, right on a beautiful private beach. The views are stunning, the common areas and beach bar are lovely, and the staff were wonderful: always smiling, helpful, and quick to respond. Snorkeling just a few meters from shore was incredible, with loads of marine life. The rooms felt basic for the price, and a huge gecko, almost a foot long, lived in our roof for a couple of nights and made it hard to sleep. Wi-Fi was unreliable enough to make remote work difficult. It’s isolated, so you’ll need a scooter or taxi to get around. A good choice if you want to disconnect and enjoy nature, especially if you love snorkeling, but not ideal for digital nomads or anyone after modern comfort.

We booked at the last minute over NYE, when there weren’t many options left on Koh Tao, and worried it might be too isolated. It wasn’t. The beach is beautiful and never crowded, and the rooms are great. Breakfast comes with a lovely view. You can rent a scooter at reception and get around the island easily. I highly recommend this hotel.

My husband and I stayed at Coral View for two weeks in late Jan-early Feb. We’d go back, but would ask for a different room, maybe a Hillside Cabin, so we didn’t have to deal with noise at night. The main issue was our Seaview Cabin. It has two rooms back to back, divided by a wall that’s thin at the top, so you’re hoping for considerate neighbors. It was fine for half our stay, but in the last week the people next door came in around midnight, slamming doors and arguing loudly. It was really uncomfortable. The resort is built into a hillside, so expect a lot of walking up and down between your room, breakfast, and the beach. That didn’t bother me, but you should have good mobility. The road down is incredibly steep, too. It’s manageable if you want a workout or take a taxi or the shuttle into town, but I wouldn’t want to drive a scooter up and down often, especially in the rain. Some guests smoked while sitting in the restaurant after dinner, sometimes for an hour to watch sunset, so we eventually ate next door at Uncle Soon’s. It cost a little more but had a great menu and service. There was plenty to like. The resort and restaurant staff were wonderful and accommodating, and we enjoyed their company. The quieter location made for a much more peaceful stay than the main town. The beach has nice sand and enough sun beds for a relaxing break away from crowds. Thai dishes were really good, and the lemon and coconut shakes were great in the afternoon sun. Breakfast was excellent, with juice, tea, coffee, lots of fruit, yogurt, made-to-order eggs, waffles, toast, muffins, and four hot food stations with Thai dishes like rice and curries, as well as bacon and other meats. Our beds were very comfortable, with one soft and one firm pillow per guest. The space was clean and comfortable, and there was a drying rack on our balcony. Snorkeling from the beach, we saw black tip sharks, turtles, and lots of other marine life. At times there were tiny nipping sea lice, like mosquitos of the sea, so a rash guard is a good idea.

The restaurant experience was a nightmare, which is a shame because the resort itself is beautiful. We stayed at Coral View Resort, Koh Tao for a week, and the restaurant let us down every time we tried it, five times in all. The food was cold, tasteless, and overpriced, the service was even worse, and the kitchen and management had an unacceptable attitude. For what people spend to get to this island, it’s simply not fair to treat guests that way. Management needs to replace the chef, kitchen staff, and manager. They’re damaging the reputation of what could be a perfect resort, and I hope this review gets management’s attention before more guests are disappointed. Everything else was wonderful. The location feels like paradise, quiet and private, and ideal for anyone who loves snorkeling and marine life. The beach is stunning, the water crystal clear, and the rooms spotless. The resort staff, apart from those in the restaurant, were kind, polite, and hardworking.