During our babymoon in Krabi, we stayed in Ao Nang Phu Pi Maan Resort & Spa for 6 days 5 nights and made our booking through booking.com. We have a delighted stay in this hotel, thus we want to share our experience.
Why do we choose this hotel
- It’s a resort that has every facility you need in it. It’s a perfect place to relax and enjoy our stay without leaving the hotel.
- It’s a Muslim owned hotel. All the food served in this resort are halal, which gives peace of mind for us as Muslim couple.
The Location
The hotel location is 100 meter from the main road, behind Ao Nang mosque. It’s not close to the beach, but walking distances to shops and restaurants. Being away from the crowded beach area means being away from noises too. It’s calm and relaxing.
The Room
The room where we stay has complete amenities: slippers, bathrobe, TV, fridge, safe deposit box, toiletries, day bed, beach towel, beach slippers, bathtub, balcony, fan in the balcony, towel rack.
The minor downside is there is no elevator in the building where we stay, and we stayed on the third floor. So, prego wifey has to climb the stairs every time. But, the view from our room is amazing. The view would’ve been blocked if we didn’t stay at the top floor. Well, at least wifey got to exercise her core strength for a fit pregnancy 😀
What we love:
- The view from our balcony
- free snack bar! the hotel will refill the fridge and snacks every day free of charge.
- rain shower
What we think can be improved:
The room service is good but doesn’t really pay attention to details.
- Some of the toiletries were not changed or topped up every day, like bath foam, shower cap, and hand soap.
- The room was cleaned everytime we asked for it, but it wasn’t tidied up like the way we checked-in. The pillows on the daybed were not well-arranged. Slippers, hair dryer, beach towel, bed runner were not put on at its original place.
- The replaced bedsheet got stains and a bit dirty.
The Pool
The hotel has 2 pools. One located on the hillside (new building), and one located near the main reception area. Pool in the new building can be accessible from rooms. They do have room option with private access to the pool, just opt for it upon booking if you want this.
What we love:
- the jacuzzi at the pool
- the view from the pool at the new building
The Food
As this is a Muslim accommodation, all the food served are halal, and they don’t serve alcohol.
Breakfast
Our room rate includes breakfast. So, we are entitled to complimentary breakfast every day during our stay. The breakfast spread is plenty. There are some sections in the restaurant: bread & croissant, fruit & salad, milk & cereals, coffee & tea, water & fruit juice, ham & sausages, noodle & boiled rice. They’re good. And, the mountain view over the restaurants is amazing!
Room in dining
During our stay, we often order room-in dining menu. As the weather in the afternoon is very hot, or simply the prego wifey needs rest. For us, the foods are yummy and the price is not too expensive. I mean, there are restaurants outside the hotel with more expensive meal prices.
Room in dining menu that we tried:
- Tom Yam Goong: famous Thai spicy soup with prawns, lemongrass, galangal and chili paste
- Phad Thai Goong: traditional Thai rice noodle in tamarind sauce with prawns, egg, and dry shrimps served with bean sprout and ground peanuts
- Satay Gai: grilled marinated chicken skewers served with spicy peanut sauce
- Khao Phad Talay: fried rice with seafood
- Kao Niaw Ma Muang: fresh mango with sticky rice and coconut ice cream
- Apple crumble: apple cake with toffee sauce and strawberry ice cream
Restaurant Dinner
Besides room in dining, we also tried their welcome dinner at the restaurant. You can read our experience of having a 3-course dinner in this post.
What we love:
- The mountain view from the restaurant! it’s just amazing and priceless
- Basically, we love all the food that we ordered, especially: the special chili that comes with Khao Phad Talay (it’s a salty sauce with garlic and chopped chili paddy) and the sweet sticky rice with its sprinkle in Kao Niaw Ma Muang
The Staff
The staffs are super friendly and accommodating. They always greet us in anywhere we are at the resort. They also answer all of our inquiries regarding what to do in Ao Nang. At the end of our stay, we asked for a small box as we are over baggage. One of the staffs is very kind to find one for us and deliver it to our room. Excellent service.
The Ambience
The ambiance of the resort is calming as it is surrounded by greeneries. We feel like we are in the middle of nature, instead of a hotel. It’s very nice to hear birds chirping from your room.
What we love: The resort has so many trees and greeneries that makes it relaxing to stay
The hotel transfer
Beach shuttle
Although the resort is not located at the seaside, it’s is very easy to go to the beach. The resort has hourly shuttle service that will take you to Ao Nang beach area. It’s only about 5 minutes drive. The shuttle will also take you along if you want to go back to the hotel from the beach. The pickup point is the fish statue of Ao Nang beach.
What we love: The shuttle driver is very accommodating. One day we went for a massage that is located between the hotel and the beach and asked whether the shuttle can take us in and drop us half way. And yes, they can! Another day, we missed the pickup timing at the fish statue, as we just finished with our lunch and pregnant wifey cannot walk fast. Luckily, we spot the shuttle already go to our direction. We just spontaneously hail from the side of the road, and the driver was very kind to stop and take us in.
Buggy service
The terrain of the resort is hilly. The main reception is in the lower area, and the new building that has new rooms, restaurants, gym etc is on the hillside. The distance from lower side to the hillside is actually not far. But they have buggy service to transfer us to any part of the resort. Just let the staff know that you need one, and they will call the buggy for you. It feels like having a private driver within the resort 😀
What we love: one buggy can take up to 5 persons. But, there is no minimum passenger for buggy service. They will give you a ride whenever you need without having to wait for another guest to fill up the buggy.
Other facilities/ services
Aside from all the facilities that we mentioned above, the resort has several more facilities/services. I will go through them one by one.
Discovery desk
Discovery desk is an information counter regarding what to do during your stay in Krabi. They have a special desk for it, with lots of tourist flyers and brochures that you can take. It is located just beside the main reception. Although the desk is not attended every time, you can always ask the staff at the reception. They will gladly answer all of your inquiries. Or you can find tourism packages from the brochures yourselves. They are very informative.
Gym
The gym is located on the hillside of the resort. We tried the gym couple of times, as pregnant wife needs to exercise minimum 30 minutes a day. The gym has basic fitness types of equipment, like a treadmill, indoor cycling, dumbells, gym ball, etc. In addition, they also have feet massage machine, drinking water, cold towels, and weight scale. Treadmill view is facing the mountain, it is very nice to walk on the treadmill with an amazing view.
Spa
They have a 1-free-1 promotion during our stay. But, we didn’t manage to try it. Price wise, it is still quite pricey compared to local spas, even though including the promotion.
Kids club
The resort does have one cute little corner for kids to play, filled up with kids toys. It’s located in the new building on the hillside of the resort, just beside the gym.
To see what other fun activities you can do in Krabi, please see this post.