Krabi - or rather Railay - was every bit as gorgeous as we thought it would be. Breathtaking. And, as expected, the hotel was so so but for the price and the location it was absolutely fine. The room, with 2 extra beds set up for the kids, and breakfast every morning for all 5 of us was about US$100/night smack dab beachfront. And like I say - it's not a $400/night experience, but we are not willing to pay for the $400/night experience assuming that's what it would cost.
Still, maybe we have been watching too much hotel impossible but it seems so easy to improve on service. I mean really. Have enough pool towels. Check the ladies room and make sure there is enough toilet paper. Just be really, really, amazingly nice. Is that so hard?
Probably the best part of the trip was the weather. We were prepared for rain every day and somehow we had blue skies for the whole weekend. Railay is a small stretch of beach - it's not an island but because it's surrounded by limestone 'bluffs', it is only accessible by boat. So to get there you must fly to Krabi (less than 90 minutes from Singapore) and then about 30 minutes ride to a boat, 15 mins on the boat to a small pier on the east side of Railay (not the beach side) then a 5 minute golf cart ride to the hotel. The trip is easy and fun. Granted it was not raining. Rain would put a damper on it for sure.
The Sand Sea Resort was fine - that's it. just fine. We are spoiled in Singapore with a fabulous pool so easily underwhelmed by mediocre pools like the one there. But the kids loved it and that's what matters. Interesting to note that the hotel is Halal so no pork (yay) and no alcohol (whatevs). People brought beer from nearby minimarts. We don't mind or really notice. I mean I would maybe have a drink if it was there but not at all a necessity. The other hotel right on the beach there is the Railay Bay. Probably also fine. I talked to some other visitors and it seems most of the hotels are kind of run down, kind of so-so service, just par for the course at Railay Beach. I would be tempted to try a nicer hotel in Krabi and take a boat over to Railay for the day another time but this was really perfect for what we wanted.
The days are easily spent just on the beach, but if one were so inclined there are also tons of activities you can sign up for and do - the most popular being rock climbing. I guess Krabi and Railay are famous rock climbing destinations. We were even going to do a half-day trip but it did not end up happening. Lesson learned - if you want to do something, just sign up and do it asap. Day one we arrived late in the afternoon and went to the beach. Had dinner at the hotel. Nice day.
Day two we had breakfast buffet (yay) and basically hung out on the beach most of the day. In what is not my best mom moment I admit I forgot to pack sunscreen. Day two - the first whole day there- we were all kind of without it. So on day 3 - Sunday- most of the family had a sunburn. The kids did not want to rock climb with a sunburn so we decided ok, we'll do it tomorrow - Monday- weather-permitting. The weather was beautiful. However.... all the kids and my husband were sick with a bellyache. The 2 little kids (7 and 9) were in bed most of the day. My husband and older son not quite so severe - they even got to sea kayak a little in the morning - but they were not in good shape. I felt fine but just hung around the room most of the day taking care of the rest of the group.
Just for information, a half day rock climbing tour ended up being about SGD30/US$ 20. Seemed like a good deal.
Some basics on Railay beach - you can walk from east to west in less than 10 minutes along a cute, well-lit pedestrian alley. If we came with no kids, we would probably stay on east Railay. East Railay looks over the water and there are lots of hotels - most of them look pretty decent - and also lots of restaurants, bars, massage places, etc. Basically more happening. But there is no beach. The people who stay there just meander over to 'our side' of the place and hit the beach for a while then go back. We had dinner a couple of times at East Railay - again Halal btw - cheaper than the hotel and really good Thai food. I had a massage every day except the last when I was going to spring for a fancy one but ended up keeping an eye on the sick family. oh well - I did enjoy my foot massage and then my oil massage (about $12 for an hour). The fancier places were probably around $30-$40 for an hour and amazing but alas, I can only imagine. Again, do things when you can do them.
a bit of current events, Thai style:
As it turns out, it's a good thing we went to this beautiful beach when we did. One week later - on 7 August, the people of Thailand had an election to accept or reject a draft constitution. You see, Thailand has been ruled by a military government for over 2 years. They took over in a coup in 2014. Anyway - so the people voted and accepted this draft constitution. Well, almost a week later several cities in Thailand were affected by bomb attacks. Total of four people died, many more injured, in an obvious attempt to scare tourists and people. This happened day before yesterday and yesterday. Krabi was not affected but Phuket was, another place that is super popular. we were there last year.
So who knows if that's it or if the 'bad guys' will continue to terrorize the Thais and all the tourists of the world who come to enjoy their beaches. I only know that for the next long weekend from Singapore, I think we will try a different country. Unfortunately. I had been planning to go back to Krabi.
Oh, and I ended up buying sunscreen. A tiny tube for $12. While the huge SPF 50 banana boat tube I still have from target was sitting in my living room right by where the suitcase had been.
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| view looking to the right |
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| view looking to the left |
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| this pic does not do it justice - this is a really cute 'street' 2 min walk from the hotel - full of cafes/smoothie places/shops/offices to arrange rock climbing or diving trips. that's the beach in the back and some random people walking. |
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| transportation to Railay Beach |
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