We travel for many years and use TripAdvisor as a reliable source of information. It has almost never turned us down and we wrote many positive reviews for places we liked.

This time we feel we must share our experience with you since the positive reviews of this resort do not reflect the true image.

We planned to stay 5 nights in this resort, but eventually we left after 3 nights. You can read our story below and understand why.

We arrived Blue Ocean Garden Beach resort in the afternoon. It is located just a few steps from the beautiful beach of Haad Chao Pao. The room was clean (even though we found a large cockroach in the bathroom once), it has all the necessary equipment (AC, private bathroom, TV, closet, etc...) and it has a nice view of the garden. However, the room is not isolated enough - we could easily hear the kitchen behind it and the bass from a near pub almost all night.

The resort itself is very pleasant and isolated. There are very few scattered bars and restaurants in a walking distance from the resort. If you want get out to a more crowded area you must rent a motorbike or use a taxi. Renting a motorbike can be problematic since you have to leave your passport (not sure it's legal, but that's the way it was wherever we checked). Moreover, taxis are pretty expensive in Koh Phangan, even by western standards. If you don't plan to rent a motorbike and don't plan to spend most of your vacation in the resort, look for other areas (maybe Thong Nai Pai Noi).

Right after our arrival we were hungry and asked the woman at the reception (she looked one of the seniors) to recommend a restaurant around the area. Her answer was very clear: since they own the restaurant in the resort she won't recommend any other restaurant. We were surprised by that answer... We then walked 15 minutes south and found Peppercorn which is a great steak and Italian restaurant we found using TripAdvisor (recommended!).

On our 2nd day we asked Andy (the owner) about the laundry service they offer. He immediately said we can bring him our laundry and it will take no more than 24 hours so we'll get our laundry tomorrow afternoon top. When we came back at 8pm the next day and asked for our laundry he dismissed us saying it will be ready only tomorrow because we "sent it in the evening". He then said "if you really need it I can call the laundry service", like he is doing us a favor. He could easily apologized by saying it is not ready yet and we would have accepted it. We were disappointed again.

The day after, we asked Andy to arrange us a taxi for Thong Nai Pai Noi. Andy said it costs 1200 baht. We were surprised again since yesterday we asked the same thing from another woman at the reception and she said it's 1000 baht. So Andy checked again with the driver and the price became 1000 again. Andy then commented that the price on the way back will probably be much more expensive and can reach 1600 baht, to justify his previous price of 1200 baht. Should i mention that the taxi on the way back costed 800 baht with air conditioning? Never mind, we moved on.

We decided to shorten our stay at Koh Phangan so we approached the reception 3 nights before we were supposed to check out and asked nicely if it is okay with them if we leave a day earlier. The lady looked at the papers and said they are okay with that. We were happy and changed our trip accordingly. The next morning, during our breakfast on the beach, Andy came to us to "clarify" that even though we check out a day before, we still have to pay for it and that the lady at the reception (which also looked one of the seniors) thought we are only informing her about our plans (like we need her approval for that). It was very clear that the lady made a "mistake" and Andy was trying to get the extra 1700 baht (price for one night). At the end of an argument during our breakfast, in front the guests and his staff he called me a "scammer"...
This time we weren't disappointed. We were offended. We left the resort a few hours later, paying for the two extra nights left (including the one in question). Again, the whole situation could be handled much more elegantly, but the owner could not hide its true face in critical times.

Conclusion: the management is horrible, but the place is pleasant. The restaurant is convenient but the prices are way too high for this part of Thailand and the "thai food" is far from authentic (go to the Beach Lounge in Thong Sala for real thai food).

Cool place with excellent management and good service. The bungalows are nicely decorated and located on the beautiful and quite beach. Sea view and garden view are both very cozy. The restaurant in the property I believe one of the best places to dine on this island. If you like beer - walk for 10 meters and in the neighbor place you have a belgian beer bar with about 15 labels of belgian beer and friendly owners.
Overall - the place I would recommend to a friend and would like to return back for couple of nights just to lay on the beach, see the sunset and chill out.

I booked this place based on previous reviews and was really happy with our stay.
The owners greeted us even though we arrived at 10 PM and arranged for us to do a tour the next day (which was one of the highlights of our trip).

Pros:
Great food
Beautiful stretch of beach (amazing to sit at the restaurant and watch the sunset)
Personable staff and owners
Very good value (especially considering that this place has all the important amenities like WiFi, A/C, safety deposit boxes, warm water)

The only potential negative is that this place is not close to hat rin (the party scene, which was a positive for us actually).

The owners went way beyond my expectations. My wife and I had been exerting ourselves every day and were nearing the end of our trip when we reached koh phangan. We went on the tour they arranged and swam/hiked during one of the hottest days. When we got back to Blue Ocean, my wife felt really sick and went straight to the room. One of the owners prepared a salty rice soup for her (without me asking, or charging us) and it really helped. I know it wasn't a huge effort for them to do that but that was a really nice gesture that shows the character of these guys and their resort.

We stayed at the Blue Ocean Resort for one week in July. Our Garden Deluxe Bungalow was very comfortable and clean and the location is just incredibly awesome. We enjoyed every minute of our stay, especially because of the friendly and helpfull owner and the wonderful staff who do really care about their guests, they even arranged a birthday cake for my husband. What is also worth mentioning is that the other guests where all very relaxed and friendly and that the atmosphere is so much better than in a big hotel. There are so many positive things to say about this place, of course one should not the tasty food. Thank you Andi, Kung and your wonderful staff for a great time. We are looking forward to come back. Sabine and Sven