Lee Wine Ruk Thai Resort

I loved the contemporary design and the beautiful view, and the hotel was very clean. The internet connection was poor, though, and there weren’t enough electrical outlets, especially near the sink and table.

May 10 2026. The front office staff member handling check-in and check-out was the worst hospitality worker I’ve dealt with. I asked which rooms had a bathub, but she didn’t explain all the options. I needed my Thai friend to ask for me. Later I asked for help getting to my room in the golf cart, which the place has, and even used Google Translate, but she just said, “car park here.” I asked to extend checkout from 1130 to 12 and she refused, despite it being off season and the place being empty. She was so inhospitable. This doesn’t feel like a resort, just fancy backpacker lodging. The staff at the shop on the street had better manners. She didn’t care and spoke horribly.

The bed was probably the most comfortable one we slept on in all of Thailand, and the bungalows look lovely at first. Lee Wine Ruk Resort also sits in a beautiful spot on the slopes of a tea plantation. But our stay was dominated by a strong sewage smell inside Bungalow 9. The raw sewer odor was there the whole time. The bathroom fan ran continuously, but it barely helped. The smell seemed to come through the floor drains and plumbing fixtures. It appeared that the bungalow’s plumbing lacked P-traps or S-traps, which normally hold water to stop sewer gas coming back through the pipes. We had to keep the bathroom door shut to make the room bearable, and the smell still lingered. The bungalow looked appealing, but it was very unpleasant to stay in. There was also a weird sign threatening a 2000-baht fine if guests urinated on the bed or couch. Our bungalow didn’t even have a couch, just another bed. With the whole place already smelling like a septic tank, that warning felt surreal. Afterward, we saw that many Google and Booking.com reviews mention the same foul sewer smell, so it seems to be an ongoing issue. Several bungalows looked empty during the off-season, yet we were given Bungalow 9, where the smell was obvious. Maybe other bungalows have the same plumbing problem, or maybe guests are knowingly put in rooms where it’s already well known. Something else bothered us during the stay. Someone tried the handle on our locked door during an afternoon siesta, then someone tested it again later that night. We never found out who it was, but it upset my partner. Later we noticed other reviewers had described similar incidents. Reception added to the poor experience. The woman there was cold when we arrived, and because we came on rental motorcycles we felt she looked down on us. She demanded a 200-baht key deposit, which we hadn’t encountered anywhere else in Thailand. At checkout we were asked to wait five minutes while the bungalow was inspected. We waited a long time, then learned the inspection had already happened and no one had told us. We had to return to the desk ourselves to get the deposit back. The unfriendly reception left us feeling unwelcome. As Western travellers from Australia on rental motorcycles, the tone felt very different from the warmth we found almost everywhere else in Thailand. We’re posting this after leaving the country because we’d read comments saying management can react strongly to criticism, even involving local police, and didn’t want unnecessary trouble while travelling. For all that, the bed was the most comfortable of our trip, but this was still our most negative accommodation experience in Thailand. The town itself is lovely, and plenty of local businesses deserve your money more.

The view from my room at night was breathtaking, like a field of lights. I stayed on the second-highest row, in a corner room, while my parents were next door. Our rooms were tucked among the tea plantations, which made everything peaceful, though you have to climb a steep slope to get there. It’s romantic for couples, but hard for older people. I felt bad for my parents, while I was having the time of my life. I loved how the place was designed, and it feels very touristy. Some outsiders who had paid to enter the tea plantations and see the sakura trees wandered into the guest area and sat in chairs meant for guests, even though the signs clearly said no entry. Some people really do ignore signs. The staff, especially at reception, weren’t very friendly. I booked through a tour agency, since when I checked the website I couldn’t find availability until a year later. I felt lucky to get a room when others were envious.