Guest travelerjim Posted August 2, 2013 Posted August 2, 2013 This weeks special from Travelzoo Australia... Spend three nights at Thailand's luxurious JW Marriott Khao Lak Beach Resort & Spa for $319 for two people and receive a host of exclusive value-adds, such as a traditional Thai massage per person, daily breakfast, late checkout and 30% off return airport transfers. This 2012 TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice award-winning property features four kilometres of private beach. Travel includes six weeks of high season. http://www.travelzoo.com/au/local-deals/Outside-Australia/Getaway/64129?utm_source=localdeal_au&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=1533830_html_australia_deal%3a64129&utm_content=1533830&tz_adid=1533830 Highlights Two people can stay at Thailand's 5-star JW Marriott Khao Lak Beach Resort & Spa for just $319 per stay Loaded with exclusive extras and featuring six weeks of high season, this offer is valued at up to $993 Stay in a Deluxe Pool View Room with daily buffet breakfast for two people Enjoy one 45-minute traditional Thai massage per person (reg. $65) at the luxurious Quan Spa (limit two per room, per 3-night voucher) Exclusive 30% off additional a la carte spa treatments Free admission to the Kids' Club and up to two kids per room eat dinner free from the kids' menu with a dining adult Get 30% off return airport transfers (a $54 value) Includes one 'Buy 1, Get 1 Free' cocktail voucher per person and one 'Buy 1, Get 1 Free' buffet dinner voucher per room, per 3-night voucher Kids will also enjoy one complimentary selected craft activity per child, per 3-night voucher (a $22 value) Late checkout to 2pm Free Wi-Fi throughout the resort Private 4km beachfront on palm-lined Khuk Kak Beach Rooms feature 40-inch LCD TVs, DVD players, luxurious bedding and spacious bathrooms with soaking tubs and rain showers Extend your stay for just $106 per night Upgrade to a Deluxe Pool Access Room and pay just $30 extra per night Resort is an hour's drive north of Phuket International Airport Features eight restaurants and bars, a 3km swimming pool, state-of-the-art gym, tennis and squash courts and more Quote
Guest fountainhall Posted August 2, 2013 Posted August 2, 2013 This is virtually the same offer made available via travelzoo last year. I spent 6 nights there in early April and posted photos and my comments in this thread - http://www.gaythailand.com/forums/topic/8039-amazing-travelzoo-offer-khao-lak-jw-marriott-resort/?hl=%2Bjames+%2Bbond&do=findComment&comment=67181 Here are the comments - Despite its looks and its setting, the Resort is not all it’s cracked up to be. I suspect this is one of the reasons there are offers galore on the web for this particular Resort for almost the entire year. There is a lot of choice in and near Khao Lak, and I think both the Marriott and Le Meridien (even further away) are too far from town to be really attractive to most people. And how it gained a tripadviser Award last year certainly beats me! Some of the problems –1. Location. It’s an 80 minutes drive north from Phuket airport. Plus it’s a good bit to the north of Khao Lak town and set 1.9 kms off the main road. The hotel runs a minibus service to town, but slams you with a Bt. 100 each way charge. If you want to get a taxi, you have to walk all that way to the road.2. I had not realized the Resort is 8 years old – and inside, despite appearances, it is really starting to show its age. I checked back on old tripadviser reviews and noticed that two had mentioned rats being found in their rooms!!3. This one is really odd for Thailand where the service in 5-star hotels is usually world-beating. For whatever reason, few of the staff smiled. It was really like most of them were bored with their jobs.4. The restaurants are very pricey. On my first evening, I went to the Mediterranean restaurant. I asked for a glass of wine and some Thai bottled water. The non-smiling waitress explained there was no Thai bottled water – only Evian or tap water! Whoever heard of hotels serving tap water in Thailand? I told her to forget the water. Two minutes later she was at the table about to open a huge bottle of Evian. I said “No”. The young European captain came over. He explained there had been a misunderstanding! The tap water was in fact bottled water which they served out of a carafe. It was not tap water! It seemed pretty clear that the “tap water” advice was merely a ruse to get patrons to cough up for the expensive imported bottled water. Also, when my bill finally came, I found I’d been charged for two desserts, one of which I had not ordered!5. Sad to say, I found the Resort guests about 95% European. There was one Japanese gay couple I spotted, and a couple of Chinese families. Apart from that, they were largely a mix of English, German and Scandinavian families with young kids, many I reckoned on package tours. I found it pretty boring. (But then, it was my fault that I chose the week after Easter when I should have realised a lot of European families would still be on holiday here)!6. The hotel runs a number of excursions to various largely uninhabited islands, great for snorkelling but surprisingly the weather for much of the week was cloudy – it even rained a few times – and so I decided instead to go to Phang-na. The ‘highlight’ is the James Bond island (featured in “Man with the Golden Gun”). The island itself is far smaller than I imagined, but it was fun taking the long tail boat through the mangrove forest and then lunching at a Muslim fishing village built on stilts. Not a cheap day, though! And my summary? Not all that positive. Would I return? Probably not. It’s not a Resort for singles or even a gay couple. But if there was a party of 6 or more, it could be a lot more fun. Quote
