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Cheaper
Average
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About
4.0
#8 of 33 ranches in Ko Pha-Ngan
Location
4.4
Rooms
4.0
Value
4.4
Cleanliness
3.8
Service
4.0
Sleep Quality
3.9
Welcome to Mai Pen Rai Bungalows, one of the oldest resorts on Koh Phangan - the place of pleasure for nature lovers and Artists. For an experience of the old Koh Phangan, this is the place to come away and forget all the stresses of the outside world. Mai Pen Rai is situated in a paradise infringed with swaying palms, and green turquoise waters. Here at Than Sadet the bungalows are built in harmony with the nature around with prices to suit travellers and back packers.
Well, you have some options here: go to Than Sadet on day trip, and sleep elsewhere. It’s pretty, but can also be rough and windy at times. The Mai Pen Rai Bungalows on the rocks are truely spectacular, but worn and need refurbishing. They got the basics you need though. Some of Plaa’s bungalows seemed better off. The bar at the beach is overpriced and you get tired of reggae. The two other retaurants have better food. Don’t forget to buy the homemade banana chips at the Silver Cliff Restaurant! And do some hiking. Go see the waterfalls or hike to Thang Noi Pan and visit the cool Hide on High bar for a great view of the coast and sea on the way.
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Date of stay: February 2020
Value
Location
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
If you want to be a castaway and escape the rat race this could be the place for you, but it’s basic as that’s part of its appeal. We had a beach bungalow and got up to see the dawn at 5,30 it was beautiful. The location is amazing and if you are searching for THE beach this is probably it. You are close to nature so you may have a lizard visit but there are mosquito nets around the beds. There is a little bar and restaurant and in the evening you get the place to your self when all the day trippers leave. The staff lit a fire pit in the evening so you can kick back under the stars. We did love it but it is basic so it’s not for everyone.
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Date of stay: June 2022Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
We spent 6 days in a hut high above the small beach - a wonderful spot, right in nature, with a river and waterfall nearby. Lovely family run place, restaurant right on the beach, quiet, individualistic, to be remembered well. A pet pig is a beloved member of the house! Simple life though, you need to like it.
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Date of stay: February 2020Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Response from ThanSadet, Owner at Mai Pen Rai Bungalows
Responded Feb 23, 2020
Thank you for your comments on Mai Pen Rai. I hope we can welcome you back another time.
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This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.
People were saying, it is worth a day trip to the beach. So rode my motorbike to the national park, expecting a place in paradise. The frustration was high. Entering the park, driving to the beach you see left and right tons of trash in the middle of the nature; plastics, old boats, anything you can imagine. From my point of you a catastrophe for the nature. The restaurant itself was ok, the food eatable but not outstanding. The restrooms were shocking - dirty - can’t find the right wording for that. Don’t visit the place.
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Date of stay: August 2022Trip type: Traveled solo
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
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Very nice place, simple bungalows (no air conditioning, no soap, no cleaning service during our 5 day stay). Family atmosphere, you must be transported to visit the rest of the island. Scooter rental on site possible. The restaurant is slightly more expensive than elsewhere, but the food is good. Another restaurant is located upstairs (neighboring hotel). Pleasant beach, little paradise between beach and forest.
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Date of stay: August 2023
Value
Location
Service
Trip type: Traveled with family
Room Tip:Plage visitée en journée. Vous aurez l’impression d’avoir l’endroit rien que pour vous le matin...
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
• Bad location (expensive taxi) • 2 star beach • Dirty, smelly, filthy rooms • very rude and unhelpful staff (The lady manager is the worst person I have ever met) • Getting around the resort is dangerous.
Most of the cons are an easy fix and it would probably be a nice place to stay but the staff just doesn't care.
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Date of stay: July 2015Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Having stayed in many one star hostels up to 5 star hotels we are very open minded and are not normally people to complain. However, this place was a joke. From the minute we got there we were dissapointed, the beach wasn't white sand like we were led to believe, it was shingle. When checking in, the manager couldn't find our booking and was very rude making out like this was our fault. Eventually she found it and we were given a beach view bungalow. This is where the fun began... The room we were given was absolutely disgusting, the smell was horrendous, the bathroom was actually like something out of a horror movie. Of all the many places we have stayed, this was BY FAR the worst. Never have we ever asked to move room before but I could not stay somewhere so vile that I couldn't even have a shower. We were then reluctantly moved to the bungalow next door which was only marginally better but we felt too polite to complain again. Once it got dark, we noticed that our light wouldn't come on (the place was pitch black) so we went to the reception again about the problem. The women looked very disgruntled. She walked us over to an identical bungalow on the other side to move us there but the light didn't work there either. After noticing this, she basically just shrugged her shoulders. When we said again we were not happy having no light, we were taken to the manger. The RUDEST, unhelpful, snarling woman we've ever had the displeasure of meeting. She looked absolutely disgusted that we had complained and again did not want to help. Eventually after leaving us standing There for about an hour with no communication, she tells us the light is fixed and sends us off back to that dump without any apology. All of the staff here are incredibly rude, very reluctant to help any of the guests and I don't think I saw one member of staff crack a smile once. The places made us feel very unwelcome and very uncomfortable, we had no other choice than to leave two days early. Horrible experience. DO NOT GO HERE!!!!
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Date of stay: August 2015Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
The views from the bungalows are amazing. Your directly on the beach. The food is great and cheap. There's a lot of down sides. Theres no hot water. You cant eat food without being infested with flies. The bed sheets were stained which was a real turn off. When we arrived there were plenty of people to help check us in yet to get to our hut we had to climb over rocks. Not one of the male members of staff offered to take our bags. I wouldn't usually mind this but it's incredibly slippy and difficult to walk on the shingle sand and climb through small rock holes with a 85 litre rucksack. The electric was supposed to be on at 11 each morning but I felt you had to hassle them constantly to get them to turn it on. They switch it off at 1 in the morning so you wake up in a sweat as the fan's are off. The mosquito net in the room was full of rips and tears so you woke bitten to death. It's a way off the beaten track down the worst road on the island. A taxi is 200 baht each to get into town but only leaves at 10am which makes you feel very isolated. The wifi is expensive and they turn it off when they feel like it. If you use their computers it's $1.50 for every 2 minutes! The beach isn't cleared of rubbish and there's no sun loungers so you have to bathe among it all. Bring a head torch if you do stay as after 6 there's no way across the rocks without one! Oh and lastly you should tell your daughter with the red lipstick not to beat the dogs for fun. It's a disgusting thing to do. You should be ashamed of yourself!
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Date of stay: August 2012
Value
Rooms
Location
Cleanliness
Service
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
This a great place for someone who wants to just relax, paint a portrait or write a book and so on. We were at Koh Phangan primarily for the full moon party and to relax a bit after a hectic tour in Phuket and Phi Phi. Since most of the other accommodations were booked we picked up the available rooms at Mai Pen Rai Bungalows. Arriving in the late evening ferry, a bungalow staff picked us up near the pier. The drive to the the bungalow was long but very scenic with many steep climbs. The bungalows are located in the forest and by the beach. It is quite isolated. Walking to the reception area was a hard task ask we could not drag our bags on the sand.We were given our welcome drink and allotted our rooms. The walk from the reception was even harder. The rooms are all built on rocks. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the rooms which includes walking on the beach, a lot of steps and crawl under a rock.The rooms though are very ordinary and the age of this property is clearly noted with the condition of the bathroom and furniture in the room. But all this is forgotten by the fantastic views. The sound of the waves crashing into the rocks is always pleasant to the ears. The restaurant serves good food too, but doing that 15-20 minute walk for every meal can get really tiring. The bungalows do have scheduled power cuts in the morning and evening as they do not have a good electricity supply. The rooms do not have an AC but only a small table fan. Being in the forest there will be many insects all around. Using the mosquito net provided does help though. Pah, the lady at the reception was very friendly and helpful. Overall a great and well priced resort. But very far and getting around is expensive. Moving around within the property is a task too and not recommended for the old and people who are not very mobile.Would visit again for the excellent views and good food.
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Date of stay: February 2016
Location
Cleanliness
Service
Trip type: Traveled with friends
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
+ location (directly at the beach, not crowded) + two restaurants with good prices + nice view from the other restaurant on top of the rocks
- no shuttle-service from the pier and extremely expensive taxi prices - very unfriendly personal at the reception (only one fluent english-speaking person) - bungalows were really old, no hot water and dirty (bed linen and bathroom), need renovation - we told the staff on the reception to fix our hammock and only recieved an annoyed reaction. They didn't repair it.
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Date of stay: July 2015Trip type: Traveled as a couple
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
There are more places to choose from in the Ko Pha-Ngan area.
PRICE RANGE
$19 - $36 (Based on Average Rates for a Standard Room)
ALSO KNOWN AS
mai pen rai bungalows hotel koh phangan
LOCATION
ThailandSurat Thani ProvinceKo Pha-Ngan
NUMBER OF ROOMS
50
Prices are the average nightly price provided by our partners and may not include all taxes and fees. Taxes and fees that are shown are estimates only. Please see our partners for more details.
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