The Sixteenth Naiyang Beach Hotel

There are plenty of massage spas nearby, which was handy while waiting for my flight. The room was small but decent for the price, and the hotel provides toiletries, though not a toothbrush or toothpaste. The air conditioning was a little loud, but it didn’t bother me, though light sleepers might mind it. I paid an extra 500 baht to check in around 6:45am instead of the usual 2pm, then another 500 baht for checkout as late as 4pm. The free airport shuttle is a nice part of the deal. I wouldn’t bother with the buffet breakfast. It costs 250 baht, and there are nicer cafes nearby. The food was standard small hotel buffet fare, though I loved the massaman curry. Naiyang cafe is right beside the building, and you’ll probably eat better for less there, if you don’t need the buffet.

Naiyang beach is close, and the airport is only 600m away, an easy walk. The hotel also has a free shuttle. We were comfortable here before our flight, with no complaints about the facilities. The rooftop pool was good, and the breakfast buffet had lots of vegetarian and non vegetarian choices, all good quality. I’d recommend it for a stopover.

We booked the room by mistake a year ahead, but they wouldn’t cancel it or refund us. They had plenty of time to fill the space again. It looks like a nice hotel, which makes the refusal to return our money disappointing.

Checkout was when things became especially upsetting. The front-desk woman was pleasant to the couple ahead of us, then spoke to us rudely and hostilely. I had accidentally broken a small saucer and accepted responsibility, paying for a replacement, but she gave me no receipt. When I asked why she was speaking to me that way, she escalated and used a racial slur. I was rushing to catch my flight back to England, otherwise I would have called the police. Racial abuse is an offence, especially toward a paying customer. My wife and I had spent one night here before our early flight. Several days earlier I’d called to say we were celebrating her birthday and asked whether a nice room might be available. At arrival, the woman at the desk, who wore glasses and had a dark brown mole on the left side of her chin, was dismissive. She didn’t acknowledge the birthday, and instead of a nice room, put us in a small room with two single beds, not even a standard room. We felt she treated us differently from other guests throughout our interactions. The incident cast a shadow over what had otherwise been a wonderful trip. We had just come from an excellent five-star hotel in Phuket, where we were treated with kindness and respect. This staff member’s conduct tarnished our final night. I don’t recommend the hotel. I hope management takes the complaint seriously instead of sugar coating it or claiming she didn’t treat us differently because of our race. Her words and actions were racist, and no one should have to face discrimination because of their skin colour. It took me two weeks to write this because the experience was so upsetting. My wife wrote her review much earlier. Please take mine seriously. It was truly awful, and I wouldn’t want anyone else to be treated that way.