Cha Wan resort was a welcome oasis from the gaudy touristy hustle and bustle from the Main Street and only 5 minutes walk to the beach. Great place for us as a couple as we were happy to get away from the town. Staff extremely friendly and package deal very good value

When the mini van arrived at the resort porch, we thought it was a mistake as it was almost un-hotel like. It looked small and almost unnoticeable.

Check in was a breeze and the lady brought us to room 10, and gave a short brief of the facilities etc to us. She was polite and helpful. The room is quite big and it comes with a veranda. The bathroom is huge and the toilet is in a separate 'room' just beside it.

Breakfast was good I must say, and you get to choose from 3 menus. I opted for the local menu which included fruits, phad Thai, coffee, porridge and juice. You can also choose from american and continental menu which I thought was straight forward, with toasts and cereals etc.

The only gripe i had was the heater. The hot water was pretty erratic and you need constant adjusting to get the temperature constant. So if you go there, do test the heater and change the room if it ain't working too well. We were too lazy to make changes and thus didn't bother.

It is quite a walk to the amenities but i dont mind walking. From Cha Wan you get to walk past Ley lei Grill and Carnivore Grill and Steak, which were highly acclaimed. The hotel is quiet and clean and during my stay, there wasn't many other dwellers, so i did enjoy the exclusivity. But as it is rather close to vegetation, mosquitoes are a plenty.

I wont mind staying there again. Its a good choice if you do not want a typical hotel kinda lodging.

In some respects we have to agree with the previous reviewer.

To be fair to this hotel, the room was nice, large and clean (we stayed in room 6 on top floor). There is not much around the hotel so you could say the surrounds are very peaceful and well suited for a couple wanting a romantic, quiet break. Although the occupancy was low during our visit so this may have accounted for the peace and quiet.

We travelled with small children, so we found the 20 minute walk each way to the shops and the beach quite difficult, especially as it was monsoon-raining every day. Tuk tuk is THB20 per person each way. The hotel did have a courtesy shuttle which wasn't mentioned. However once we asked, the manager said they could take us to the shops but only if the driver was available.

As it was low season, management said they could not deliver our breakfast to our room as they were low on staff. Also the restaurant was supposed to close at 9pm but on our first night closed at 8pm.

The breakfast was quite OK. Only three choices - American, Continental or Local.

Overall the large room was wonderful. The tranquility would have been perfect had we been a couple with no children wanting a chill out. But having small children, next time we would stay closer to Krabi beach and the shops.

Based on the number of positive reviews, I had high expectations for Cha Wan, but it inevitably, fell short. Cha Wan is a small hotel with 10 units. Odd numbered units are on the ground floor; even numbered, on the 2nd. We stayed in Unit #7. If possible, ask for an even numbered room.

First the pros: Large room and a bathroom w/ a shower and a separate tub-for-two. There's even a private patio where a delicious breakfast is delivered every morning at a time of your choice (try the Pad Thai). And they threw in a free dinner for two with our booking.

Now the cons: The room smelt a little musty and felt rundown. TV was sad with spotty reception and limited channels in English. Internet was also iffy (both of these wouldn't have mattered if we weren't there during the the rainy season). The hotel is about a 15-20 min walk from the beach. Also, hot water didn't work the first night and the a/c kept on freezing.

After learning about the idiosyncrasies of the a/c from the staff, we learnt to 1) turn it off whenever it froze, 2) blast it at 30 degrees centigrade for half an hour, before 3) turning it back down to 20 degrees centigrade. While this system worked, it really wasn't something we wanted to deal with on our holiday.

Also, if your balcony is on the ground floor, you might get amazing views of barb wire to accompany your daily breakfast (which may sometimes arrive cold).

For a hotel this small, the level of customer service should be high but it was sorely lacking. Noor (sp?) was lovely but I can't say the same for the other front desk lady. She always had this grumpy look on her face and didn't take a lot of initiative. One morning, a friend came by to take us to the Tiger Cave. He mentioned to the front desk we were staying in Unit #7. But instead of calling us and telling us he was here, the grumpy front desk didn't mention anything. We ended up missing him and only found out later that he was waiting for us!