Railay Bay Resort & Spa

The hotel's location is unbeatable. When you exit the East Pier, there are three great hotels on your left, and this one sits right in the middle. The resort's layout allows you to walk straight through from East Railay to West Railay Beach. The front desk is on the east side, while breakfast and the pool are closer to the west side. Truly an unbeatable location—I definitely recommend booking this place if you're staying overnight in Railay. There's a climbing shop in one of the hotel's walkways that offers great prices: 1,000 THB per person for a half-day. You can just walk in and book. Not many people seem to know about it; it was just the owner sitting inside. We stayed in Room 1501, and both the shower and the bathtub were problematic. The shower was either scalding hot or freezing cold, with no way to get a comfortable temperature. The bathtub wouldn't drain, and the water pressure was weak. Everything else in the room was fine. The resort grounds are genuinely relaxing and offer a wonderful holiday vibe. The hotel spa was decent. It has a great location near the beach and pool with one-way glass for privacy. The massage technique was similar to local street shops, but the setting was lovely and quiet with few people around.

Upon check-in, it took three attempts to get someone to help me with my luggage. For over a thousand [currency unit] a night, the room was incredibly run down, with cracked flooring and tap water that tasted salty and fishy. I suspect this is what caused my allergic reaction later on. The walk to West Railay Beach felt anything but a vacation; you had to pass through a long alley lined with noisy air conditioning units. Both mornings, my ordered eggs Benedict either didn't arrive or was wrong. When checking out, the front desk again ignored multiple requests to store my luggage. Finally, as we left, there were four or five staff members at the front desk, all idle, yet not a single one said goodbye – they just pretended not to see us. The only positive is the pool, which faces West Railay Beach directly and has sun loungers. Honestly, it's absolutely not worth over a thousand [currency unit]; it felt more like a basic transit hotel at an airport. Facilities: Run-down Hygiene: Water was salty and fishy Environment: The path to West Railay was lined with air conditioning units Service: Four or five idle staff at checkout, no one said goodbye, and it took 3-4 shouts to get luggage storage help