Apsara Beachfront Resort and Villa

Just returned from 2 week holiday. The hotel is idyllic, beautifully maintained and extremely clean. The staff go above and beyond to ensure you have a great holiday. Everyone is full of smiles. The hotel is very low key, no entertainment so if you want a place with day and night activities then thiis may not be the place for you. However, if you want to relax and unwind, make new friends, sit and play cards, make your own entertainment each day/evening then this is the hotel for you. The villa side appeared very quiet and isolated and many guests came to the hotel side day and night to seek company as it is so quiet. Big thank you to Ko - kinerree bartender. Works extremely hard to ensure your drinks are always topped up. Always cheerful and chatty made you feel relaxed whilst sipping one of the many cocktails available. Another thank you to John & Hanns bartenders. Again, excellent service received and friendly chats. A big thank you to all the staff at the hotel as everyone clearly works hard to provide a service to all guests so your holiday runs smoothly and hassle free. We had a swim up room with fantastic views each morning when opening the curtains. My only disappointment is you do not have a key for the patio door, therefore if you spent the day by the beach and wanted to swim back to your room, one person would have to go by foot to unlock the front door to then unlock the patio door. This is a minor feeling on my behalf and in no way did it spoil anything. We were alll inclusive. We and many others did find it very strange that the Zeus beach bar is for paying guests only. Uncertain why that bar could not provide the alll inclusive drinks as the other 2 bars do. But again, this did not spoil the holiday as Its a quick walk from the beach or pool area to the bars. We had 2 complimentary vouchers to dine in the al a cart restaurants. We ate in Zeus on recommendation. The food was outstanding. The portion sizes are huge. We had baked mussels which are twice the size we have in the UK and chicken skewers with a delicious satay dip. Mains we had steak, cooked to perfection and sea bass that was full of flavour. Well worth a visit. The beach is amazing. Kept clean each day by the wonderful garden staff. The sand stretches for several Km to stroll along. Completely unspoilt - not built up with other hotels or sun loungers all over the place. The sea is very tidal but provides great fun jumping the waves. We visited memories bar which is a short stroll along the beach. A quirky bar with great views of the ocean whilst watching the many surfers tackle the waves. Outside of the resort we visited the local market in Bang Niang- here you will find many a repetitive stalls selling souvenirs but a great atmosphere mingling with the locals selling various street foods and small bars tempting you in for a very cheap cocktail or local beer. The tsunami museum can be found in this town. We also visited a fantastic restaurant where 6 of us enjoyed delicious authentic Thai food and drinks and the total bill was around £70. Moo Moos ladyboy cabaret show can also be found in this town. A must to experience another part of the Thai culture. Free entry. Highly recommend the full day trip to khan lak. We rode an elephant, travelled down a river on a bamboo raft, visited the sea turtle nursery run by the Thai navy. We also visited one of the badly hit tsunami towns near khan lak. Our tour guide “Moo Moo” was fantastic. We spent the entire day with him learning first hand stories from the day the tsunami Swept in. He took us to the memorial site which has been created beautifully to remember lost loved ones. I could write so much more about our 2 week holiday, but instead I would recommend you try it for yourself and visit the beautiful county of smiles.

Simply amazing! We opted to stay in one of the pool villas full board at the end of August and wow was it worth the extra! The villa and the pool outside is just perfect and as such meant we made much more use of the pool being just outside of the door. Weather was a wet for the first couple of days but wall to wall sunshine for the remainder of the 10 days. With the pool just there it was great to chill around and cool off. The Napalai Restaurant on the villa sides food is to sensational! All dishes were incredible and real authentic flavours. Credit must go to Bec and the team for giving such brilliant service every time. Whilst the full board villas may seem more expensive, it is easily worth it when we were eating three meals a day, plus sometimes afternoon tea and all inclusive drinks every day - it was perfect! Thank you will definitely be returning.