After seeing some of the reviews I was a bit dubious about going ahead with my booking - but thank goodness I did. We stayed at the hotel for 15 days and had a fantastic stay. The booking in went very smoothly and efficiently, we were greeted by a cool drink and a member of the reception staff came over to see us. She informed us that the hotel had upgraded us to a "pool entry" room. We were whisked away with our bags on a "golf trolly" to our room, which was only seconds away and we could easily have walked. The hotel is very security concious and there are security guards on all possible entries/exits.
The room was spectacular with as it says personal and direct entry into the free-form pool, the bathroom had a separate shower cubicle and a jacuzzi bath. Wouldn't know about the TV - hell, who goes on hols to watch TV! The room was immaculate and was cleaned every day. The room maid even folded up our clothes when we hadn't bothered.
We were booked bed and breakfast and didn't eat in the restaurant apart from that. There was not a full selection set out each morning, but after all there were only ten of us in the hotel during the fist week. However, there was always cereal, fresh fruit, pastries, breads, any kind of eggs which were cooked for you fresh, bacon, sausage, again cooked to order as there were so few people there, contintental cheese and meats, yoghurts. On one morning there was smoked salmon so I ordered scrambled eggs with smoked salmon. The day after smoked salmon was not on the buffet, but the staff saw me looking and immediately came over and asked what I was looking for, from that day on I was presented with the option of smoked salmon as soon as they saw me. All the staff were very attentive, they led us to our table and immediately offered us coffee or tea and they were always walking round and filling up cups. They always greeted us when we entered the restaurant and walked with us and thanked us and wished us a pleasant day when we left.
The pool areas are lovely areas and the grounds and the pool are very well maintained. The pool was cleaned 3 times while we were there and the gardeners were always working on the grounds. The beach area was closed when the weather was bad but while we were there the tides were good on some days and the red flag was taken down and a "beach open" sign put out and the beach cleaned.
The Spa area is a lovely quiet area and the staff were excellent. I had a very good 90 minute aromatherapy treatment
The hotel also has mountain bikes for hire and we took advantage of this and went out into the local countryside on a couple of days.
All the staff, from the manager down to the gardeners were unfailingly pleasant, helpful and genuinely friendly people.
People should bear in mind when booking out of season that not all facilities in resorts are open and the area can be very quiet. This did not borther us as we went to chill out, but sometimes we were the only 2 people in a restaurant and the streets were very quiet.
The beach is lovely and while we were there were deserted. It was like having our own private island. The only beach bar open on the beach was Tonson which is just to the right of the hotel and did cheap bears and good snacks, and a few of the beach massage huts were open next to the bar as well.
We ate out ever night as we prefer to eat in the local restaurants rather than hotels. Some of the restaurants were much of a muchness - nothing wrong but nothing special. However, we did have a few favs. Paradise Restaurant was good, Ma Ma Ra on the main road next to the 7 eleven, but the best was a small restaurant next to Ma Ma Ra, can't spell the name in Thai, but it transcribes to "sticky rice" - run by a german guy (who speaks perfect english) who runs through the menu with you advising you and explaining. Excellent food at good prices. If you needed to ring the changes you could go into Khao Lak for about £3. And if you're really bored with the quiet of the area Phuket is only an hour away and not expensive. There are also the usual trips on offer.
There's a weekly market to look round and we took mountain bikes to Chong Fah waterfall (definitely worth a look), along the coast to Pakarang Cape and Pakweeb beach (beautiful scenery) and down through Khao Lak to the national park. The beauty of these trips was meeting the locals along the way who all wave and say hello or chat if they get the chance!
I met a guy at the hotel who goes there regularly and he says that in the high season all the hotels are full and the resort is very busy, so if you want full on entertainment and company wait until the high season - but if you want quiet and relaxation and that deserted isle feel then the green season is the time to go to Khao Lak.
I wish I could whisk myself back to my room at La Flora .......... ah memories!
