everything was nice in this place,nice staff,good service, good food and setting .
the pool was very clean and right on the beach.
nice place to stay very relaxing,just internet was not free but the connection was good , the restaurant serve good breakfast buffet.
Everything was great in this Resort.
Rooms are nice and new, friendly and helpful staff (especially Miss Manager, who helps me a lot).
Our bungalows was very far to the water front, and the internet is not free.
The restaurant served good food (You can order to the beach), good breakfast buffet, and Spa.
It is not too far from the White Sands Beach
Koh Chang Paradise Resort is set on a private beach with bungalows set in lush gardens. The first thing that hits you about the resort is the humidity due to thick garden vegetation, which unfortunately really helps to attract the mosquitoes which are already abundant on Koh Chang. As you board the ferry to go over to Koh Chang, you are warned in the shops to buy insect repellent. Be warned, they are not telling you to sell you something, it really is required.
Now onto the hotel: Having read reviews I had the feeling that this hotel was really keen on enforcing rules. Reviews complaining that management 'stopped people from taking food from the restaurant' didn't really bother me. After all, you pay for ABF, not half or full board! As with 'towels will not be put out before breakfast'. Well said, I don't want to get up early to get into a sun bed fight.This said, from the moment you walk into the hotel, everywhere you look, whether it be in the hotel lobby, restaurant, gardens, room, pool or beach, there is an abundance of signs stating 'the rules' along with the consequent 'fines' if the rules are not obeyed at all times. A little over the top in some cases but that's the way the hotel runs.
We were led to our room by someone from reception. The lady was very 'matter of fact' about everything and really lacked any sort of warmness towards us as customers. The reception has an attitude along the lines of 'you are here, this is the way it works, take it or leave it'. We stayed in one of the garden bungalows, which despite being tiny, was very comfortable and has everything you require for a comfortable stay.
The pool is one of the best features of the hotel. Well maintained and right besides the beach. Unfortunately the pool bar and pool BBQ were shut with a sign saying 'open between November and May', which clearly gave the message that the hotel was only half open due to being out of season.
Internet is extremely expensive at the hotel and as with most hotels I really fail to understand why it does not come free in this day and age. If Starbucks can give free wi-fi access whilst I drink a coffee, then why can’t a hotel resort where I spend considerably more money? Until enquiring I wasn't aware internet wasn't free. Upon returning back to our rooms late one evening, I wanted to check emails, asked for a code for the internet which the night porter gave me which subsequently didn’t work. I enquired at reception the next day to be told that I was staying in a 'cheap room' and that free internet was only available to guests who were paying considerably more than me in one of the pool villas. Well that put me in my place.. If I wanted to purchase internet access it would cost 200 baht for 2 hrs. A little expensive....
Only real issue was at check-out. We had a taxi waiting to take us to catch a ferry to Koh Samet and needed to leave on-time because the last ferry left at 13:30. Instead of the speedy check-out we would have appreciated, instead we were told to sit down for 15 minutes whilst they checked the room for breakages and items taken from the mini bar. 15 minutes turned into 25 minutes, then they returned and said I had to pay for beer taken from the mini bar, which I had not had. Upon telling them I had not had the beer, they told me to wait whilst housekeeping checked again. At this I mentioned I had a taxi waiting and was told 'your taxi will just have to wait'. Once again, an attitude problem by a receptionist, If there is one thing which I will never tolerate from a hotel, it is rudeness, which I promptly explained to the lady. Eventually everything was cleared up and I was allowed to leave and fortunately made my ferry to Koh Samet with 1 minute to spare only through my driver having to drive at 140km/h for the last 20 minutes of my journey. Thanks for the stress Koh Chang Paradise Resort!
All in all, a very nice hotel, great location, however receptionists attitude absolutely stinks!! Would I stay there again? Only if I didn’t feel I'd had my fair share of stress at home and work over the last year and needed a little more stress from my holiday. It just isn’t worth the trouble...
Excellent 10 night stay in August, the resort really does live up to its name. We had a private villa with private pool, the rooms are very spacious, tasteful and comfortable. The pool was a real bonus and we were right on the beach. Great service throughout from all members of staff including the staff in the spa.
Great quality and selection at breakfast, a real mix of western and eastern foods.
Excellent location very close to local attractions and walking distance to a number of restaurants, bars, shops. The hotel organised a number of days out for us making it really easy and simple.
Would definatly return.
We, a family of two adults and two children of 6 and 3, stayed 5 nights at the hotel. The good part of the stay was the great location at the beach and the pool was good too. The rooms are nice and clean and with big beds. We got a room rather far from the reception, and as others has mentioned it takes some time to find your way around the paths. We had lunch three times, and it was good value, served at the pool.
The following lead to the bad review. First, we had to pay B150 per day, for breakfast for our oldest child. This may not seem as much, but the fact that he hardly eats anything, at least far from B150 of value, it seems rather expensive. Regarding the breakfast, we had a terrible experience one morning. Our boy took, according to one staff member, too many buns (small pieces of bread), as he stacked them on the plate. She was very angry, especially when he went for more. As we walked out, taking the remaining buns with us (5 pcs), she was even more angry, and demanded that we return the buns. We replied, he is just six years old, he gets hungry in an hour, what is the problem? She then replied, you're not allowed to take food outside the restaurant, which is okay, but the point is that we did not take vast amount of food, it was just a snack for our children. At that point, we just walked out, simply ignoring them. It was a very unpleasant experience.
Another day, our child accidentally knocked down a ceramics soap dispenser, causing it to break. We reported and where told that had to pay for it. I initially refused to pay, but finally did, as the management explained that if I did not pay, the cleaning staff would have to pay it. I regard this as very poor management, and completely unfair to the low payed staff
Finally, the have signs posted all over the hotel, regarding the fines you will receive if you violate their rules. The fines nails the attitude towards its guest, you are only welcome if you follow our strict rules and spend a lot of money at the hotel.
Thank you for the feedback. Regarding the above comments we would like to explian as below:
1. We charge ABF for child at Baht 150, half price of adult if child 4 - 8 years old. Therefore, we charged only one child for this booking, the other child free of charge. The charge had been accepted by the clients at the time when they checked in and it was not our concern if child could eat much or not. But the main point is we do not allow to bring food out of the restaurant in the breakfast time. Clients can enjoy their buffet breakfast as much as they can but only in the restaurant area, but this case the clients did not even care what the restaurant staff had informed them. Finally, we let the clients brought the buns out as they wanted due to the lady client very angry and started to cry from the interruption.
2. As usual, when some thing was broken by the client we will inform him or her to be charged for the broken item and the Front Desk Manager is authorized to consider if they have to pay or not, depend on cost of the items. Eventually, we considered to charged for the broken soap dispenser due to the children of the clients very naughty and it was possible that they were not under supervised of the parents.
Anyway, we will strictly train the staff's manners and behavior to avoid any misunderstanding in the informing guest process at our best.
