Dan's Koyao Retreat

Amazing. Surely the best stay on the island

Before I start - the outside areas and location of the accommodation was great, with exceptional views and exceptional Hosting from SIN but there was some areas that I felt required attention if Jetset are charging £808 (which Im sure the owner didnt receive, so needs to be priced accordingly) for 4 nights - I also understand the star rating on the property is 3 but some of the areas are more to do with basics and safety. The host SIN was really great, view was exceptional – where it was located was Ok but not for people with walking or mobility issues - The accommodation we were placed in (which I understand is the owners, when he is on site) was lacking many things Our actual accommodation was the owners so the oldest of the 3 rooms/spaces with a partial outside bathroom and toilet area – which was different, but not great coming from very good aircon to the sweaty hot area. The sun room area was unusable as the jacuzzi/hot tub was not working and was partly full of stagnant water with wildlife living in it, this room was dirty and in need of serious repair. We kept the door shut. The sink in the bathroom area started to leak the evening before we left (which we told SIN about on checking out) under the sink was full of rubbish and water (from the leak) not great for Mossies. The shower head required serious descaling as wasn’t great and we both got an electric shock when turning the tap on and on touching the shower head/shower lever (which we reported to SIN, and he got an electrician out to fix it. Also, an old hair-filled hair band was left hnging in the shower area. The mat that was left by the shower was dirty and old, and we put a towel on it to step on when leaving the shower. The taps were scaled up and in need of a descale and good clean. The main bedroom – the bed was massive & comfortable, the linen was clean - but the mosi netting around the bed was knackered and falling to bits and didn’t reach the floor and had dead mossies in parts of it, areas of the room had old rubbish in draws and bits left from previous occupants –. (or the owner) there were various mossie contraptions in the room, but I am not sure what they all did. The room needed a good spring clean, as dust was everywhere. The separate bunkbed room was damp which had the warddrobes and smelled of damp - so didn’t hang any of our clothes, so this would again have been unusable if bringing children. The outside space was well kept, apart from the handrail down to our room which was unstable and wobbly, so didn’t hold on to this but a definite hazard and should be fixed. The pool was quite cloudy, people did swim in this but we didn’t venture in as wasn't sure if this was supposed to be cloudy, around the pool areas were clean and Tidy, the sunbeds were very comfortable with clean towels every day and the view is fantastic. There is a pond where you can feed the carp that runs the length of the deck where you have breakfast The toilets upstairs were clean

This is NOT a 5 star resort if you know and have stayed in one before! The only true 5 star things about this place is the location (which is absolutely gorgeous being high up and among the trees) and the staff (who are beyond nice and hospitable). The common areas are ok but bedrooms and bathrooms are very basic (The bedroom furniture is old and bathroom finishes are pretty ugly). The room that we stayed in had a strong smell of sulphurs or sewers at night, not pleasant at all. Also some bathrooms are open and the place is in the middle of the forest so finding big spiders and geckos among other things is very common (a big black hairy spider under the toilet seat of our bathroom greater us upon our arrival!) The pool is beautiful but only good for one or two people (if you like to swim ) so if another guests wants to use it, you can’t. This place has great potential for being a 5 star accommodation had it been designed professionally and with attention to details. As of now I give it 2.5 to 3 star. As I said the staff and location is fantastic. I hope this review helps you set your expectations accordingly. We enjoyed our stay regardless as we were staying with our friends and had the villa to ourselves and mostly enjoying the common areas but sleeping at night was with one eye open!