Costa Lanta, Koh Lanta Island  

My wife likes modern and clean hotels, I like small basic bungalows with lots of nature. Costa Lanta is a brilliant balance between them both keeping us both extremely happy. I was worried about that the industrial design would be too harsh for a beach environment but it was very well integrated into the surroundings and really does work. The bedroom's two walls are actually massive sliding doors which you can open completely up. The bathrooms is roofed, with slated wooden walls that are basically open to the outside. Under the roof is a white sail, which catches the sun and creates the most amazing natural lighting in the bathroom. The shower has a rain shower head, which of course is gentle and natural. We were upgraded to a seaview villa, which is closer to the restaurant and pool. Not really a sea view, but all the villas are way back from the beach so you get to see the beautiful and immaculately kept resort's grounds. We were due to stay for 3 days, but extended for 8 as we were so happy with the peace and beauty of the resort. We were also lucky enough to have the resort completely to ourselves for 5 of those days. The entire stay was perfect, and we didn't have a single complaint. The restaurant/bar is keeping with the resort theme is amazingly designed. For breakfast you have 6 options, one being a delicious fruit muesli which is a refreshing change in islands resorts. Coffee and fresh juice is constantly topped up. It was so nice not having to deal with a buffet. The restaurant has a surprisingly fast wifi considering the remote location. We were able to keep up with work during breakfast in a spectacular setting, which didn't make it feel like working at all. I hate eating all my meals in the hotel, so we explored the local town restaurants, but the couple of meals we had in the Costa Lanta restaurant were definitely highlights (including out meals in Bangkok). Beautifully presented, fresh modern twists on Thai classics. Yeah, it is a bit pricey (especially with the 17% tax) but upon review it was actually comparable with many of the places we found outside which weren't half as good. The pool. I LOVE THIS POOL. ooooooh. This my dream pool. I'm so sick of curving, shallow resort hotel pools that are primarily designed so people have direct access to the bar with out having to get out of the pool. Costa Lanta's pool is designed for swimming. It is long and sleek, and has over run walls, which keeps the surface water perfectly glassy and makes swimming in it positively dreamy. We checked out a lot of the other resorts on the same beach, and just came back feeling self satisfied that we were in the best hotel on this beach by far. The others are either block hotels, or cheesy bamboo, thatched roof bangalows all squashed together. The few tourists we did see walking by on the beach all seemed to peer in enviously of the starkly different Costa Lanta. The main difference in Costa Lanta though is the space. If this were another hotel they would have jammed 2 or 3 times more rooms into the same space. Even though we were the only guests, the grounds were immaculately swept of all leaves every day. Staff were very quiet and reserved, which was fine. We wanted our space. We had no language difficulties. The manager was excellent and was always very helpful with taxis and the hotels complimentary bicycles. She even organised a surprise birthday cake for me as my birthday was during our stay. We used the massage service on the hotel and she was excellent. Extremely professional and well trained. A note about the bad reviews: I think some of the people who have reviewed this hotel badly did so because they had the wrong expectations. This is a hotel that is built around nature, encompasses it and is in harmony with it. They built it over a natural lagoon, which has been left in its natural state. The rooms are built back from the beach to avoid erosion and damage to the beach front. The rooms are open plan. If you want a completely sealed room, nature to be artificially controlled and kept away from you, then this is not the place for you, go to a 5 star resort. Mosquitoes - We personally had zero trouble with them at all (surprisingly too, as I got eaten in Bangkok). The resort has a nightly turn down service, where they set up a full mosquito net to cover your bed, and lightly spray in case you already have any in your room. This is more than enough to control any that may have entered your room. You are in SE Asia, if bugs that much of a problem for you, stay at home. Some people in these reviews complain that the rooms are in poor condition, and it is true that there is a little bit of wear showing. Once again, these are open rooms and nature comes in. I thought the small wear helped offset the starkness of of the concrete design and gave more warmth in the rooms. None of it effected functionality. Overall, we both had a perfect stay in Costa Lanta. We felt it was a very unique and special resort and really fulfilled exactly the type of holiday we were looking for. It is green, peaceful, and professionally run. For couples looking to refresh themselves, relax and soak up the atmosphere, I think it's amazing. I will definitely be back, especially in the off season.

it was all elements into one! when i got to this island, i understand what i would face - language barrier to the culture and all. good thing i've stayed oversees to places which is still developing. i have to say, the thai culture is so rich that it has my utmost respect for the way the locals lead their life and how at any time of the day, they never fail to smile with a wave and a hello from us to them. it's not the perfect beach but Costa being in this island, some how, someone in the project knew this was the right place to " plant" their nest! the staff may be shy but yeh given the days i'm there. some of them were more opened and that didn't give me much problem as i was there for a purpose. to relax and enjoy the elements of what the island provided. the team is led by a wonderful manager who was always so worthcoming and making sure the team is providing what we need. i guess we ain't that fussy. i have to say the food at costa and on the island is impeccable. even better than the ones i've eaten in bangkok. and in some indo islands. this is the best kept secret of west thailand and i hope it will not turned out like a bali or phuket.

My second stay in Costa Lanta and again very amazing. The location is beautiful at beachfront, by design one of the best hotels I have ever seen, the staff is very friendly, service is good. They even kept the kitchen open only for us as we had late arrival at 23:00 p.m. to prepare dinner for us. I really also appreciate the concept of involving local people as their staff and teaching them about service and hotel business. Mosquitos are not more than in other places in South East Asia where you have to use repellant everywhere. Lovely place. Will come back again!

The Costa Lanta resort looked great on pictures, but in reality it is not well designed. The whole area is filled with still water, manking it an exeptional breeding place for mosquitoes. This combined with openings in the walls makes it a disaster. We had literally hundreds of mosquitoes in our room, and even if you can keep most of them away from the bed with a mosquito net, you will not have a chance in the bathroom. In addition the cabin is very small, barely space to walk around the bed. The "Seaview" cabin we ordered had merely a sea glimse. You cold see the sea between the other cabins if you stod upright outside the cabin and looked in the right direction. The view was rather straight into the neighbor cabin. When complaining about the lack of seaview and mosquito problem we met little understanding, but chose to move to another resort. We only stayed one night and had booked four, but only received a refund for two nights after a lot of hassle. Not reccomended at all - stay away!