Reviews of Phanganburi Resort and Spa in Haad Rin Nai

The Phanganburi Resort and Spa is a tall hotel style place to stay near the entrance to Haad Rin. It has 2 pools - one in a central courtyard and one on the beachfront. The beachfront pool has a towel service and a bar. One of the main advantages of the Phanganburi Resort is that it is near to the Full Moon Party and all the amenities of Haad Rin but far enough away to allow guests to get some sleep during the big party.

Facilities at the Phanganburi Resort and Spa include 2 pools, restaurant serving Thai and Western food, herbal sauna and motorbike hire. 

Reviews of the Phanganburi are mixed. Some people are very happy with the staff, service and rooms. Others complain about the dirty pools, the old sun loungers and the lack of maintenance. One reviewer describes the Phanganburi as a '2 Star resort'. That is probably a fair assessment.

Here are the prices for the Phanganburi for 2011. The prices are in Thai Baht. 's' = single 't' = twin


                      Dec-April  May-June July-Sep15 Sep16-Oct31
Deluxe Room(s)       2700     2500        2850         2500
Deluxe Room(t)       3000     2850        3250        2850
Cottage,single          2900    2750        3150        2750
Cottage,twin            3200    3150        3500        3150
Beach Side Cottage(s)3450   3350       3750        3350
Beach Side Cottage(t)3800   3750       4150        3750
Corner Suite,single     4050   4000       4350        4000
Corner Suite,twin       4350   4350       4750        4350
Beach Front Cottage(s)4050  4000      4350        4000
Beach Front Cottage(t)4350   4350     4750        4350

Click Here For Secure Booking of rooms at the Phanganburi Resort & Spa

Emily Bennett
2010-04-03     
The hotel was great. good location and good set up. The staff speak english well and are very helpful. the prices are reasonable at the resteraunt and the food is excellent. Recommended for anyone who wants to stay somewhere with a great view of the beach, but not the mayhem of the full moon party beach. two thumbs up!
     
Jayne Russell
2010-01-05     
Was a lovely hotel, great location for full moon party.. only a quick stroll to the party and nice and close to coral bungalows for the pool party.. only downer was the restaurant and service. It took ages for food and wasnt that great. and you may have to ask for fresh towels etc as they dont come some days..
 
Mananunt Ahlefeld
2009-12-12     
This hotel could use some TLC. The pool area was messy with dirty dishes and broken glass. The pool furniture was falling apart, the umbrella stands if you were lucky enough to have an umbrella didn t support the umbrella which would fall over with the slightest breeze. The entire place was poorly managed. The rooms were below average, especially for the money being charged. When I requested a comment card to voice these issues I was handed a blank sheet of paper and asked to write my comments.
 
Sagi Ramon
2009-11-29     
dont expect too much, rooms are below mid-level, the pool is very nice and the private beach is realy not recommended. if u lokking to stay in had-rin not many good high class resort. rate is overprice to what u get. we stayed there only couple of nights, will not go back.
   
Roy Michael Atkinson
2009-10-06     
Well situated on the quieter Sunset Beach but easy access to the busy town and sunrise beach. The whole resort was clean and well appointed which gives a 5 star feel to the resort. The staff were very friendly and helpful.
     
Hin Patelio
2009-07-13     
Had a great stay, nice room, helpful staff, ideal for a comfortable stay in koh phangan!!!
 
Sofia Khan
2009-05-13     
Nice Hotel would visit there again. Everything clean and staff very friendly. Nice food. Nice pools. Close to Full moon parties but far away enough to get some sleep.
     
MRS NICOLA PIERCY
2009-04-03     
We stayed here for three nights - our second stay at this hotel following a trip three years earlier. From what we ve seen it is definitely one of the better resorts in Haad Rin - the staff are good, the pool is clean, and most importantly the location is excellent!! On the good side the two pools are lovely - one is located centrally in the hotel and is very quiet - the other is directly on to the beach and has a very good pool bar including a towel service. It is also an amazing place to view SUNSET, which is spectacular!! Our allocated room was on the ground floor, but as mosquitoes love me, we asked for an upper floor and were accommodated without any hassle. The tourist desk also offers a moped hire service and for 200 baht per day (about £4) the bike we hired was in perfect condition and was brilliant for travelling around the island - but be VERY careful - the roads aren t great (bit s missing, big hills getting out from Haad Rin to Thong Sala) and further north east are basically clay, but if you know what you are doing a great way to get around. On the negative, the resort appears to have nothing done in the last three years - I d describe it as a posh way of roughing it - the rooms are good in size, but could do with a bit of a freshen up and the sunloungers have definitely seen better days... Great if you want to party (close enough to walk to SUNRISE), but also far enough out that you ll get a decent nights sleep.
     
Patrik Arvidsson
2009-02-28     
We stayed at Phanganburi in a Corner Suite for a week. All in all the rooms are overpriced. For the same price you will get a much nicer room on Samui. It is a typical 2-star resort. Our suite, room 3217, was ocean facing but had mostly tree-view. The room was ok, but the bathroom was not. Housekeeping was slow and not very good. There are two quit nice pools, but the sun bed mattresses were dreadful (200 years old and mouldy!). The beach had not the best sand and the seafloor is a bit muddy.

Buchanan
2009-01-13     
Most worthwhile just for the pool that overlooks the beach. I think the best resort by far in the Had Rin area. Beautiful deluxe cottages with everything you could possibly want except a bath tub. Staff are friendly, helpful and very polite. Very close to all the action but far enough away to escape. Highly recommend the Phanganburi!

Reviews of Dreamland Resort in Thong Nai Pan Yai

Mixed reviews for Dreamland Resort tucked into the northern corner of Thong Nai Pan Yai beach. For a long time Thong Nai Pan Yai was the other great beach in Koh Phangan, behind its more famous cousin, Thong Nai Pan Noi. Times are changing. the Thong Nai Pan area is still stunning and the road access has improved but the prices have gone up market along with the tourist demographics. Still for all those diehard Thong Nai Pan fans Dreamland is still a great option if you want to lie on a postcard perfect tropical beach and mid-range comforts.

The comforts have improved slightly in Dreamland Resort - they now have a pool and pool dining area. There also some fairly nice air-con bungalows.

Here are the prices for Dreamland Resort for 2011:

                     Jan-March  April-June  July-Aug Sept-Nov Dec
Standard Fan 800 THB    600 THB       800 THB     600 THB   800 THB
Standard A/C1500 THB   1200 THB  1500 THB  1200 THB   1500 THB
Superior       1800 THB   1500 THB   1800 THB 1500 THB  1800 THB
Family          1500 THB   2000 THB   2500 THB 2000 THB  2500 THB
Deluxe          4000 THB   3500 THB   4000 THB  3500 THB 4000 THB
Rates are excl. breakfast

Click Here for secure booking of accommodation at Dreamland Resort

TRONEL

2010-07-30     

Fantastic location without too many tourists. Resort with an human size where you can stay quietly enjoying beach and the fantastic swimming pool. Very kind and efficient personnel always here to help you. A perfect way to end our trip around Thailand. Thanks !

     

Annika Hilmersson

2010-07-25     

Vid vårt besök på Dreamland Resort drabbades vi dessvärre av regn och blåst. Dreamland resort har en underbar pool och är säkert dt bästa boende vi kan tänka oss på denna strand.Svårtillgängligt att ta sig hit med bil det är bättre att åka båt.

     

Kerlir Gwenaelle

2010-01-02     

very good bungalows but 1- the resort is very far off all and the road is very dangerous 2- the resort is very noisy during all the nights, we can t sleep. Lots of people went to sleep without respect for others, they shout, laughted at 4:OO AM.

     

FULGINI Sigrid

2009-08-18     

Les chambres sont bien et l hotel est l un des plus beau de cette magnifique plage de sable. accueil inexistant, on arrive et on se débrouille et aussi pour repartir... il ne faut pas avoir besoin de quelque chose à moins que ce ne soit un verre dans la piscine qui elle est magnifique, surement la plus jolie de la plage (la il y a du monde) je vous invite à éviter le restaurant qui est extrement mauvais (surtout le hamburger qui est cuisiné avec on ne sait trop quoi) au secours... l hotel mériterait un petit changement de direction et de personnel qui a l air de sortir de boite de nuit tout le temps... dommage car hotel est magnifique ..vraiment dommage

     

Hendrik Schneider

2009-08-08     

There are good and bad things about the resort. Good: Located at the very nice beach which is clean and quiet. The resort is well maintained. Clean, green, nothing that disturbes. Bad: The rates are without breakfast (which I have simply overseen). Actually everything seemed to be overprised. A few damages in the bathroom which I simply do not expect when I book superior. Overall we had a good stay there anyway.

Advice For Those Planning to go the Full Moon Party

The Full Moon Party on Haad Rin Nok or Haad Rin Sunrise beach on Koh Phangan is a massive event. The all night (and most of the next day) party regularly attracts up to 30,000 people. The vast majority of these people, young and old, have a great time and nothing bad happens to spoil their evening. However, there are a few for whom the party turns into a nightmare or at least a night they would rather regret. Here are a few simple guidelines to make sure your time at the Full Moon Party is ruined.

1) It is naive to tell people to not take drugs, but those who choose to take drugs should be aware that the party is patrolled by both uniformed and under-cover police who go up and down the beach looking for people smoking joints. Furthermore, you can be guaranteed that any class As that are offered to you on the night of the party are going to be of low quality and possibly cut with unpleasant substances. There is one bar that sells magic mushroom shakes. There have been a number of complaints from people who have felt very sick after imbibing one of these cocktails. Also magic mushrooms are strong hallucinogens that strongly distort reality and can easily lead to paranoia and can trigger more serious psychological events. Being surrounded by 1000s of people might not be the time to experiment with hallucinogens for the first time.

2) Booking your accommodation is a must for the Full Moon Party especially if you want to stay on one of the Haad Rin beaches or nearby at Seekantang or Bantai. The chances are that if you arrive on the day of the party you will be turned away from most places. Also the majority of bungalow operations place a minimum stay requirement (normally 3 or 4 nights) on anyone looking for accommodation over the Full Moon Party period. For more about Full Moon Party accommodation follow the link. Remember that if you book over the internet then there is very little room to negotiate a price reduction later because commissions have to be paid. At the same time, Thais are often open to haggling if they are having a slow month.

3) On the night of the party leave your passport, credit card and the bulk of your money in a safety deposit box back at your bungalow operator. There are many thieves and prostitutes at the party who look for people who have passed out so they can look for money. The less valuables you bring to a party the better. Carrying your money in a bag and then leaving your bag unattended is also a common mistake. Cameras and mobile phones are popular things to steal.

4) You may feel like you are returning to nature but don't let that deter you from wearing flip flops or thongs. The beach gets covered in broken glass as the night wears on.

5) Similarly, over 50% of men (and a fair proportion of women) go to the sea to empty their bladders rather than queue at the toilets (many of which you have to pay for). Be warned that if you go for a swim you are swimming in other people's urine.

6) Again on the subject of swimming: people regularly drown at the Full Moon Party because they are too drunk. During October, November and December the sea is turbulent and dangerous because of the monsoon season.

7) If you fancy a sleep on the beach, then a good spot to choose is the designated resting area. Volunteers are on hand to protect those who pass out and the sand is free of broken glass.

8) Beware of buckets. Because of the coke and red bull in buckets it is often hard to notice how strong the Thai whiskey is. If you want to last the distance than pace yourself. There is no last orders at the Full Moon Party so there is no reason to hurry your drinking.

9) If you meet a Thai woman who seems keen to be your girl friend you might want to find out if she is not a he and if she expects to be paid. Finding these things out in advance saves a lot of embarrassment later on.

10) Don'r ride a motorbike when you are drunk. The road to Haad Rin is steep and dangerous and on the night of the party is full of taxi drivers taking risks to make runs as quickly as possible.

11) Taxis over-charge on the night of the party. There is little that can be done about it. Keep your calm but negotiate. If there is a group of you, you have more power of negotiation. Also there are lots of taxis to choose from so don't worry you will get back eventually to your bungalow.

12) Remember that entry to the party is free but now people taking the Haad Rin express from Koh Samui on the day of the party are charged an extra fee. Also several travel agents add supplemental fees to tickets during the Full Moon period.

13) Lastly, check your dates. The Full Moon Party is often not on the exact day of the full moon. 

14) Finally, be respectful of Thai culture and the Thai king and don't get involved in a fight with local boys. You might win round 1 but they will be back with their mates to make sure you badly lose round two.

Have a great party. Be safe. Be careful