Haadtien Beach Resort

I have travelled extensively in my life—everything from cheap hostels to huts on the beach to the best hotels and resorts. I have travelled to Thailand and Southeast Asia close to 80 times, so just know that I am not some picky or sensitive traveler. Here is an honest review. THE GOOD... The staff were very pleasant, kind, friendly, and the service was good. The food in the restaurant was good... but highly overpriced. The beach and surrounding location are nice... but you will need to rent a motorcycle or pay for taxis all the time if you want to do anything outside the resort. They have a shuttle, but it only runs at three fixed times a day. Good to have in a pinch, I guess. THE BAD... First off, this resort is "nice," but it is really, really far away from anything luxury. Trust me. The prices do not match the expectations. This is a fact. It is way overpriced. My room was okay, but very subpar at best. I have stayed at so many much nicer places in my life that were under *** a night—many in Thailand and many in other countries. In reality, I would not pay above *** a night for this hotel. The maintenance level is more like a mediocre 1- or 2-star property. Nothing remotely like a high-end resort. Sorry. Overall, it's a good place, but it looks a whole lot better in the pictures... especially the rooms. I was very disappointed as soon as I checked into my room and saw it. THE WORST PART... I booked through Agoda. I booked two nights at the (cheaper) ***, and for the last night I decided to stay at the supposedly higher-end "resort." This is listed on Agoda as two different places. It is not. It is all the same place—the same restaurant and the same facilities. I have to say I felt a little scammed by this. It felt like a premium "upsell" that is dishonest and disingenuous. They should just be one property, not two listings that mislead people into thinking one is a higher-tier resort. Basically, one is the main Beach Club building, and the other is the villas next to it. It's all the same! Anyways, I digress. THE HORROR... On my last day, my wife and I were diving and got back late. Our bags had been moved for us to our "premium resort" room. We arrived back around 9:00 p.m., got our keys from the front desk, and were walked to our villa. It was very underwhelming, to say the least. Not to mention, nothing seemed prepared for our arrival. The room was incredibly hot because the air conditioning hadn't been turned on—which is not a huge deal—but again, this is supposed to be "luxury." Lol. But whatever. My wife was exhausted, so she decided to take a shower and get ready for bed. But there was NO WATER. So I called reception, but the phone didn't work or even have power. I had to walk all the way back to reception to tell them. They gladly sent a technician right away to fix it. He came, fixed it, and left. We turned on the water, and immediately a sewage smell filled the entire villa. I'm not talking about a minor smell—I mean pure shit. So once again, I ran all the way back to the front desk to tell them. They said they would send someone, but I finally insisted that we be moved to another room, and thankfully they agreed. A staff member took us to a different room, and when we arrived, the lights were on, the air conditioning was already running, and the room actually looked ready and prepared for guests... exactly how the original room should have been. Anyways, the room was fine, the shower worked, we slept, and we left the next day. Moral of the story: If you stay here, just stay at the Beach Club. Even that is overpriced, but the "resort" rooms are absolutely not worth the premium. If the prices were 50% lower, I would say it's actually pretty good value. But at the current prices... look elsewhere.

Beautiful hotel with friendly staff, clean rooms, and a perfect location. We really enjoyed our stay and would definitely come back. Highly recommended!

It was a positive shock to see the huge improvement in facility and professionally of the stuff from the last year visit. Was the best hotel on the island but now it rises to a full 4 star hotel. Always remember we are totally off grid here and all things have to be brought over a long way by boat. Beach is simply flawless clean nit even one plastic or bottle. We will return back in a few month. Thank you to all the stuff, GRACE, new but already Wow. DAVE, has all under control THONG, food improved from a 1 to a 8 -9 out of 10. Last but not least ANN the shuttle driver and M very very pro active. Thank you all for your hard work while we already struggle with the heat they ram it and did the impossible. Thank you and the whole team. M H

Snorkelling from the hotel to the most beautiful beach of Koh Tao. Turtles and sharks can be found in the area directly in front of the hotel, and you may be able to see them both in the morning and in the afternoon. However, considering the price, I do not think the hotel offers good value for money. The room was very basic. The bed was acceptable, but the air conditioner was noisy. There was no hair towel provided, the television did not work, and the telephone in the room was also broken. The cleanliness was acceptable, and the breakfast was of average quality. The swimming pool was beautiful and very pleasant, but there were not even any pool towels available. This hotel may be worth considering if your priority is staying near a beautiful beach where you can snorkel directly in front of the hotel. However, do not expect much from the quality of the rooms, as they do not match the price you are paying.