We stayed one night at Bans diving resort and had a horrible stay.

We chose the accommodation because the rooms seemed clean, modern, spacious, with TV, fridge, a/c. The gardens were well designed and manicured, the pool clean and big. Location in the heart of Sairee was good.

When we went to bed we noticed a few small brown beetles in the bed and around the room. We removed as many as we could find and weren't too concerned.

When i woke up i noticed a tiny red beetle on my pillow, i went to kill it and it exploded with blood. I slowly sat up and noticed my pillow and sheets were covered in blood explosions where i had rolled over them in the night, as well as plenty of living red beetles in the bed. I was absolutely horrified.

We packed immediately and complained at the front desk.

They accused us of making it up so as not to pay for the room, and accused us of doing this with other resorts. Disgusted we walked out and did not pay.

We noticed the beetles were in our suitcase and clothes, so we had to wash everything, and disinfect our suitcases, this ultimately broke my suitcase.

Later that day the thousands of blood sucking bites started to welt up over my whole body. It was horrible. We only had 3 days in Koh Tao and it was utterly ruined.

This experience was very traumatic, i hope no body else stays here and has the same experience. I noticed after that the bed linen had quite a few old blood spots on it that hadn't washed out, so i dont think i was the first to have suffered the blood sucking parasites.

I stayed on Ko Tao in April and found it be a beautiful and tranquil place - definatly my favourite island vrs the other 2. Though not a diver I choose Bans DR based on a good write up in Lonely Planet. I paid extra for one of the deluxe rooms with balcony.

+ve
Nice comfortable, airey room with balcony
Great loaction, stones throw from the beatiful beach and bars / restaurants
Great food in the onsite resturant

-ve
Not great value - stayed in better rooms for similar price in Thailand - tho non divers do pay more
Staff - not that helpful or friendly
Bad Service in the restuarant, given they live in one of the most beautiful places in the world youd think they smile more!

Its was Ok but Id defo try somewhere else on my next visit to KT

My wife and I stayed in this hotel, because my wife was taking the open water course at the Ban's diving shop. Since she was a student, we could get a room (with air condition, TV and shower) for 500 baht only (10 Euros). 2 dive cost only 1800 baht (35 Euros), and only 1400 for ex student (30 Euros).

The room was very simple, but very clean, and we were just 2 minutes from the beach. This hotel is right in the middle of Sairee beach, and close to all restaurants and shops. For this price, don't expect luxury and hight standard service.

During our stay, we found that the service was so so, one day I asked to have my towels changed 4 times! Everytime, they say they will change it, but when I was back in the evening, it was not! I complained to the boss, she said that it was too late to change and that they were very busy that day, which I understood, because it was right during Songkran (national holiday in Thailand).

The hotel's restaurant is right on the beach, with very nice view to the ocean. The staffs were not so friendly, and did not like to smile. It was like were bothering them whenever we asked them something.

In conclusion, it's a very good value! Simple, clean and right on the beach, even though the service is not very good, I would go back to this hotel, because of the price, the location and the diving shop.

We stayed at this hotel for several nights on our August 2005 trip to Thailand. The rooms were adequate and clean. I don't think we ever got the hot water to work in our room (our friends in the room next door had better luck with theirs though, so we just used their shower while we were there). The service was also not so great (not really very friendly). But, the location was good, and the hotel bar/restaurant overlooks the water and was always pretty full. They also offer laundry service, which is nice if you're on a long trip (as we were).

This hotel is definitely not going to be the nicest place you ever stay, but that being said, I don't know that there is anywhere else on the island that I would have prefered to stay. This just isn't a luxury hotel type of place; it's much more for the backpackers and diving enthusiasts, the kind of place where you don't need shoes to go in anywhere (actually I think you have to leave your shoes outside of all the local establishments).

I don't dive, but my friends who did (beginners and more advanced divers) had mixed reviews, but all seemed to really like the instructors from the hotel.

If I ever go back to Koh Tao, I may try another hotel, but I wouldn't advise anyone not to stay here either because it was perfectly fine.