The Houben - Adult Only

Nice hotel with beautiful sunset view.

We’ve stayed in the past at a 5-star hotel in Kantiang bay part of Lanta, and this time decided to try out The Houben, which is equidistant from the village down below. It is a beautiful hotel, adults-only, perfectly situated above a gorgeous little bay. The rooms are beautiful (we stayed in one of the two private suites), all facing the sea, and the special red pool blends wonderfully with the lush greenery all around. Breakfast at the restaurant was perfect, and a number of excellent local restaurants in the village are just a 5-10 mins walk away. The atmosphere in the hotel is that of peace and quiet, which is exactly what we were looking for. Definitely recommended!

Our expectations were high for this hotel and I'm delighted to say they were exceeded. This is a fabulous option on the island and we would be back in the blink of an eye. This visit was for three nights and it simply wasn't long enough to enjoy the luxury and attention to detail that is everywhere. Location - very good indeed. Although not on the beach the stunning views and pool area more of this later make up for it. You are a five minute walk down to the beach, restaurants and 7-Eleven. It is on a hill but is manageable for most people and you do some climbing in the hotel if you want the best views from the third floor rooms. All the taxi drivers on the island we used knew where it was and it is 20 seconds off the main road round the island. Rooms – we went for the top floor corner room and it was fantastic. The air-conditioning was excellent the view is amazing and they thought of just about everything. There is a mini bar which was very cold and we used it to cool our own drinks. There is hot and cold drinks making facility with a top class coffee machine and the usual things such as robes, a safe, umbrellas and so on. The bathroom has a Jacuzzi bath with superb views out over the bay and there is a dual shower With a rain shower option. Wi-Fi – free for unlimited devices and very reliable in our experience. I was able to stream video quite successfully and it is more than adequate for emails, web browsing and so on. It's great that it's stretched down to the pool area as well. Pool – a lovely area. This was one of our main concerns as we wondered about not being on the beach and maybe the lack of sun loungers. We need to have worried as at times we had to place to ourselves and people were very thoughtful in terms of not selfishly hogging the beds as most places have And if they stayed for a short time took there stuff away with them. The views are simply amazing and it really is a special feature to cool down in. One suggested improvement here is to put better umbrella bases down. The umbrella themselves were great and tilt so you can keep the shade without moving the unit but unfortunately if the breeze was a little strong it kept blowing the whole thing over which wasn't great. Food – we were bed and breakfast and the food was amazing. There is a limited buffet selection but then you get to order from the tick box menu. We had eggs Benedict, local rice and chicken porridge which was fantastic and you can get full English cooked breakfast if you want. The juice is amazing and the coffee very good indeed. They do fine dining as well and have an excellent wine list but we prefer to eat in the village and have some Authentic and cheap local Thai food. Staff – fantastic! They are extremely professional and nothing is too much trouble for them. Unlike many of the places we have been to whilst on holiday this hotel is very well managed indeed. The manager was always visible and available should you need any help. The room