Lady with older kids
We booked on Asia Rooms and got a good deal (in April) and found Ramayana excellent value. It is a well maintained resort with lovely grounds. My 10 year old and 14 year old enjoyed games of badminton - rackets and grass court are provided. The pool appeared small at the start but proved to be more than adequate for the people swimming. Free bus is offered to a beautiful Hotel (owned by the same person), where Ramayana guests are allowed to use the stylish beach Terrace there free of charge. Last bus back though is 6 pm, and so after that one has to find a songtaew taxi if you want to stay on for a meal somewhere. However, we found a good fish restaurant down the end of a side road - but beware the first night they charged us for a 900g fish, that would have been about 0.4kg! Next night I chose a much bigger fish and had them weigh it in front of me (0.5kg!).
We tried the food at the Ramayana, which was adequate if you have to dine there but it is definitely the weakest part of the hotel. The hotel breakfast was similar - good variety but all only just adequate quality. The staff were great and provided terrific service, and so all in all, I would definitely stay again - but if I can afford the other Hotel(where we also stayed for 4 nights at twice the Ramayana rate) I would choose there first just because it is so beautiful! But if you can bear not being right next to the beach, and want to save money, Ramayana is definitely worth considering.
