Stayed in this hotel for 6 days when Katie was 10 months and I must say this is the best family resort we have ever stayed in. Let me get started...
We flew by Tiger Airways as this is the only airline which goes direct to Krabi from Singapore. Thai Airways would requires us to transit at Bangkok. The flight to Krabi is only about an hour plus so before we know it, we had arrived.
We hired a private van from the hotel and were impressed with their service right from the start. We were given cold towel and cold mineral water to freshen up before setting off to the hotel. Once there, check in was done swiftly. The manager came out to welcome us and we had a nice chat. Cold drinks were served and you can even have a shoulder massage while waiting at the reception. We decided to go to the restaurant for the kids' meal before heading back to the room. Luggages were brought to our room by the staff.
We were having lunch when I realized that I left Katie's bib and feeding spoons in the luggages. I went to the room and found out that my room card didn't work. A staff was nearby and he walkie-talked a chambermaid who came and opened the door for me. The staff took my card and said he would change it before bringing it to the restaurant. By the time I grabbed the feeding utensils and got to the restaurant, my husband was already given the new card. The restaurant is on the second floor while our room was on the third. It sure didn't take me very long to get to the restaurant. My husband was very impressed and commented that Sofitel Krabi is the best hotel he has ever stayed in. He has been travelling since he was young so to hear him say something like that, Sofittel Krabi must be really good.
Katie came down with a fever on the second day of the stay. The staff at the restaurant got to know about it and made a special effort to cheer her up during meal times. Of course, they entertained Anna as well. Whenever we arrived at the restaurant, the staff would start setting the table up with 2 sets of children's utensils. Extra teaspoons, bowls and napkins would also be placed on the table as they knew that I would be using them for the pureed food and the mess while feeding. A staff would approach me to take the bottled food for heating, without even being asked! We did the whole routine twice when we went to the restaurant and the staff caught on really quickly. When I saw the details the staff paid attention to, I was just overwhelmed. On the third day, an executive staff came by when we were in the lobby to find out about our stay. When she knew that Katie was sick, she was really concerned and asked if we needed a doctor. They could call one and the doctor could arrive shortly. She was geninuely concerned and that came as a surprise.
The room is spacious, enough for the kids to run around without getting hurt. The view from our room's balcony was simply fantastic. Staff told us we got the best view. It helped that it was low season so I supposed there was not much competition for the room. We got a little surprise during our stay there. It was our wedding anniversary and when we got back to the room after a dinner, we found a pretty cake in our room. The room's lighting was turned down so it was really romantic. Anna loves pretty cakes and she was very pleased too.
The kids club is also a class of its own. There are 3 parts to the indoor kids' club. A napping room, a wooden floored room where kids can do drawing, play computer games, read books, play building blocks and more importantly, run around safely and another room which is fully padded with a mini playground. There is also a very clean toilet inside the kids club. Outside the kids'club is a huge playground, with doll's house, swing, see-saw, slide, and a huge sandpit. The kids' club is just beside the gym so you can drop the kids before heading for your stress relieving stretch and run or simply to the spa for a good massage. I went for massages 2 days in a row. Hehe.
The staff at the kids' club took the initiative to befriend Anna and Katie. They even let Anna do some art and craft at no extra charge. They merely took some of the old art samples and let Anna paint all over it. It is comforting to know that their service is not all about money. Some kids club staff would only entertain the kids when activities have been paid for. Anna also made a lot of tissue paper flowers and was clearly very pleased with her achievements. I still have them kept in the drawer. Even when there were other paying kids (their parents had paid for baby sitting and a full day's activities), the staff would welcome Anna to sit with them and participate while I was playing with Katie in the other room. Katie loved playing in the spacious room (the one with the wooden flooring) as the toys are all placed on a very low table. She could stand up on her own and played with the toys at ease. Playing was really fun especially since she could just nap in the napping room inside the kids' room whenever she got too tired.
The pool was also great. It is supposedly the longest pool in the whole of Thailand, circling the hotel. Needless to say, we went to the kids' pool everyday. It has 2 slides and a water feature in the middle of the pool shaped like a mushroom.
The hotel has won several awards, one of them being, the Gold Award for Luxury Family Resort for the years 2009 and they certainly deserved it.
Total cost: 6 days 5 nights $1600 (includes air tickets for 4, accommodation and all meals)
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