{"id":752,"date":"2010-08-18T20:40:49","date_gmt":"2010-08-18T13:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/?p=752"},"modified":"2010-08-18T20:40:49","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T13:40:49","slug":"layana-resort-and-spa-koh-lanta-island-thailand-the-best-hotel-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/2010\/08\/18\/layana-resort-and-spa-koh-lanta-island-thailand-the-best-hotel-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Layana Resort and Spa, Koh Lanta Island, Thailand – The Best Hotel Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

Total Miles Traveled:<\/strong> 32,745<\/p>\n

It’s Ramadan now and the Muslim Malays are fasting during the day, so things have slowed down. \u00a0So, we decide to take our chances in southern Thailand during the rainy season when it can rain for days, but hotel rates are over 50% off!<\/p>\n

We were excited to hit the beach, but first we had to get there. \u00a0And this, my friends, turned out to be the most disastrous travel experience we’ve had yet during our journey. \u00a0 Don’t worry, we were safe, it was just annoying and hectic at the time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

From Penang, we chose to take a public minivan to Koh Lanta because it seemed the cheapest. \u00a0The trip was meant to go down like this: \u00a0we take a 4-5 hour bus ride to a mid-way point in Thailand (in a city called Hat Yai) at which point we would transfer to another minivan that would take us another 3-4 hours to Krabi and would then drop us off at the Ferry to Koh Lanta. \u00a0 So not a quick journey, but cheaper than flying. \u00a0We also called our hotel in Koh Lanta and they verified the last ferry to the island was 10pm. \u00a0We were leaving Penang at 8am and so would get there in the afternoon. \u00a0Easy peasy. \u00a0Not!<\/p>\n

During our layover in Hat Yai, we got picked up and dropped off at different offices. \u00a0But we were given the ticket for the ferry so we thought all was progressing smoothly. \u00a0Things took an odd turn on our second bus leg. \u00a0We were forced to sit through a bunch of random pickups and dropoffs of supplies on the way to Krabi. \u00a0Yes, like a UPS\/Super Shuttle hybrid.<\/p>\n

Here’s where it got shady. \u00a0 Instead of dropping us off at the ferry, the driver took us to a travel agency in Krabi town (which we learned was 2 hours away from Koh Lanta). \u00a0When we show our ferry ticket to the agent, he says he has no idea who we are, what agency sold the ticket, and that there’s no way to get to Lanta because the ferry is closed. \u00a0Wait, WHAT?!?<\/p>\n

That’s when we knew something was shady. \u00a0By now, it’s 7PM, 11 hours after we started. \u00a0We’re tired, hungry and not happy. \u00a0Lisa and I (well, mostly Lisa) start dealing out some verbal pain. \u00a0How could they not know where we came from? \u00a0How could there be no way to get to Koh Lanta because the ferries are closed. \u00a0The agent told us we would have to buy a hotel room – which he could give us a great deal on – and then he would take us in the morning. \u00a0At this point, Lisa started yelling “KOH LANTAAAAAAA”. (Ask her to tell you the story – at least she was able to laugh about it a few hours – and a glass of wine – later.). \u00a0We called the hotel and found out that there indeed was a ferry to Koh Lanta – two, in fact. \u00a0But, here’s the thing, THEY’RE CAR FERRIES. \u00a0The passenger ferries were closed in the low season after all, but you could still ride a car to Koh Lanta via ferry.<\/p>\n

Then, the agent changed his tune and tried to sell us a taxi $120 one-way. \u00a0We called the hotel again, and he then dropped his price to $70. \u00a0WTF? (Insert profane name calling here). \u00a0By now, it was dark, 8PM, and the ferry was going to close soon. \u00a0So we took him up on the offer, but he wouldn’t give us the receipt, and only gave us a card written in Thai with a phone number. \u00a0SHADY.<\/p>\n

In the end, we got to our hotel in Koh Lanta 14 hours later – 5 hours after what we were told, and $70 extra to get to where we were going. \u00a0But, in the whole scheme of things, snafus like this happen all of the time and we were glad we made it with pretty minor issues and that – most importantly – we were safe. \u00a0We also were reminder of several valuable lessons (1) Do your homework! \u00a0in this case, the hotel gave us incorrect \/ incomplete info. \u00a0Especially when dealing with non-native English speakers, ask the question different ways and multiple times. \u00a0Repeat the answer that the clerk gives you. \u00a0Talk to muliple clerks. \u00a0 (2) Always have important numbers on you – like the # of the travel agencies, hotels, etc.) and (3) don’t believe what you are told by shady agents :). \u00a0Ok enough lessons …<\/p>\n

Now back to happy, positive storytelling – look guys and girls, a beach!<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

Our hotel, Layana Resort and Spa, has almost exclusively 5 star ratings on Tripadvisor (250+ top ratings). \u00a0We had not seen anything like that in our months of traveling, so we had to give it a try. \u00a0And the nightly rate was heavily discounted on Agoda.com. \u00a0Win!<\/p>\n

It turned out to be one of the best (if not the best) hotel experiences we’ve ever had, and worth the debacle we endured to get there.<\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

During our stay, it only rained a couple of days, and we were OK with that because it was nice to stay in, read, and listen to the pouring rain.<\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

After rainstorms, a lot of debris would wash up on shore, and here’s where started to see why the hotel was so good. \u00a0The whole staff from the kitchen and waiters to the owner himself (pictured below on the left) were on the beach cleaning up. \u00a0Now that’s pride of ownership!<\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

The pool experience was great. \u00a0There were call buttons on every umbrella that buzzed the waitstaff so they’d come over and take your order. \u00a0They brought you complimentary water, cold lemongrass scented towels, and fresh fruits on skewers. \u00a0There’s even wifi poolside (which Lisa used to do her consulting work).<\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

And, you’d finish the day with 50% off happy hour drinks in the pool watching the sunset over Koh Phi Phi island.<\/p>\n

\"Layana<\/a><\/p>\n

That’s it for now. \u00a0Next we’ll show and tell about a few things we did while we were at Layana, including cooking class, fruit carving, visiting the town, and scuba diving.<\/p>\n

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Total Miles Traveled: 32,745 It’s Ramadan now and the Muslim Malays are fasting during the day, so things have slowed down. \u00a0So, we decide to take our chances in southern Thailand during the rainy season when it can rain for days, but hotel rates are over 50% off! We were excited to hit the beach, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lisaandtony.com\/travelblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}