Category — Hotels

Name: Dusit Princess Hotel
Location: Korat (Nakhon Ratchasima), Thailand;
1137 Suranarai Road
Naimuang District,
Amphur Muang,
Nakhon Ratchasima 30000

Contact: +66 (0) 4425 6629
Price Experienced: 1,500-1900 THB for a standard roomMy Rating: 8/10

My Thoughts:

Nakhon Ratchasima, also known as Korat (lazily pronounced Ko-lat) is the largest, if not, the second largest province/city in the Kingdom of Thailand.  But the infrastructure isn’t what you’d expect from a large city.  Even the selection of 1st world standard hotels are next to nothing.

We frequently drive from Bangkok up to Isan and somewhere in between is good ole Korat.  For some reason we make the supremely wise decision to drive during peak holiday and even traffic hours it seems and by the time we reach Korat, we’re beat and ready to take a hot shower, eat some good food and catch up on some rest.

Out of 10 or so trips we’ve only stayed at 2 hotels.  The other hotel being a total sh*thole that tried to pass itself off as a 4 star hotel.  It would be lucky to get 0.25 stars in the West.  Anyhow, the Dusit Princess is the only hotel that we have ever even seen near the main road/downtown Korat that looks like a proper hotel a westerner would expect.

Guess what?  It makes the grade.  This hotel, is just what we needed.  It is up to date, has high speed internet in all of the rooms, above average room service, a contemporary lobby and friendly staff who speak English surprisingly well.  I’ve seen the occasional westerner (farang) there with his Thai wife/girlfriend/friend on occasion but generally the guests seem to be of middle-upper class to upper class Thai families who roll 5+ deep.  Apparently the Dusit Princess in Korat is not only my own personal watering hole after all!  As well it shouldn’t.  Just because you’re in the middle of nowhere on the way to the dirt-path rice paddies doesn’t mean you have to arrive all pent up!

In conclusion if you’re not a National Geographic reality TV backpacker explorer type and you just don’t want to rock up to the farm village feeling beaten down ALREADY, then take that pit-stop in Korat and don’t take any chances, stay at the Dusit Princess and arrive relaxed for what’s sure to be an interesting visit to Isan.

Here’s a snap from my phone of the infamous Krisdadoi Chiang Mai gardens. There’s a 70bht entrance fee (at least for farangs) but worth it. Beautifully manicured gardens and even a little waterfall, a restaurant and some resort villas.  The gardens are pristine but I’ve read mixed reviews of the hotels guests with the main complaints being the lack of English spoken by employees and the 30 minute distance from central Chiang Mai.

I always thought this was the whole purpose of resorts high up in the northern Thailand mountains… Total solace..  If you’re not looking for absolute, natural beauty or a one-ness with nature then stay somewhere in the middle of the city, hello!

I just heard quite a story from my very good friend and business traveller.  He made a reservation at the Evason Hideaway Resort in Hua Hin (Operated by Six Senses).  Him and his wife were in a car accident en route to the resort and she as hospitalized with a broken femur.  Yes, that’s a shocking and bitter end to their holiday in Thailand, but it gets more interesting.

My buddy then called Evason Hideaways Six Senses reservation center and told them what had happened and that they’d need to cancel their reservation.

They refused saying it was a full-prepayment reservation and that they wouldn’t refund his money.  So he’s in the hospital dealing with this, now livid that he has to pay for a very expensive vacation that he cannot attend due to a car accident.  When he asks to speak to the GM, Alan Thomas he doesn’t even get condolences about his wife in the hospital or their ordeal as a whole.  Not only does he parrot that they will not get a refund, he started quoting Shakespeare!  I asked my friend what would cause a General Manager of a supposed top flite resort like Evason Hideaway to start quoting Shakespeare on the phone to a distraught long time hotel guest when he’s trying to rid himself of any further grief, he had no idea.

I find it quite shocking that the GM of Evason Hideaway in Hua Hin not only didn’t offer any type of sympathy for their situation but he stood by his ‘we cannot cancel this reservation’ stance.  I’d expect a truly nice resort to have some humanity and understanding about the situation.  They were on the way to their resort when the accident occured!  Had they been going to a real resort that had real management in another city, perhaps it would never have happened.

Either way I find Mr Alan Thomas’s actions not only grossly inhumane but absolutely not even within the realm of how an executive in the hospitality should treat someone, anyone.   Let’s not even get into the fact that this guy, my friend, has been going to Evason for over 7 years, multiple times a year!

I was at Evason Hideaway a few months ago and ran into enough problems that I should have warned Dr. Friend not to go back there.  There was hair in my food, 2 times.  I figured it was mine at first then realized it was long, woman hair and my wife had been nowhere around the food.  Oddly, it was in my salad both times.

Also, I found the edges of the pools rotting, some tiles missing giving a tattered look while swimming.   All of the wood on the outside of the pool villa suites were rotting and needed treatment or replacing sorely.  The golf cart to pick us up would sometimes take over an hour to arrive if it ever came at all.  And we’re not saying in some $100/night room, this is a pool villa suite!  I can’t even imagine the awful things that happen to their standard guests staying in the hotel-building!

I’ll never go back to Evason again.  Not only from the experience I had last time, but also due to the treatement by Alan Thomas and their management as a whole.  That’s just not hospitable and when I’m on vacation, I want someone to treat me and my family well.  That’s all.

X2 Kui Buri

52 Moo 13,
Ao Noi Sub-district,
Muang District,
Prachuap Khiri Khan 77210
Thailand

When

We visited this hotel in November 2008.  X2 Kui Buri is still very new hotel by the reviews I’d read before choosing this particular resort, but by November 2008 I’d have to say it’s matured rather nicely although it’s not quite up to the highest standards set by other Hua Hin resorts such as Evason Hideaway.

What We Liked

We liked the very minimalistic design that was consistent throughout the resort.  From the check-in counter, to the walkway leading to our villas and throughout the resort.  It gave a clean, sterile, almost too-sterile feeling but it worked.  The staff were courteous although not the quickest to snap to attention and satisfy some needs such as delivering our cocktails to our villa and such.  But they were very accommodating and professional, humble and apologetic when we asked them to make the drinks stronger which I found refreshing after all.

The all villas/suites have their own semi-private plunge pools, but the large general pool was also nicely situated, which little caches where you could privately have ‘moments’ with your loved one.  I don’t mean sexual, but just kind of some cool places to chill out, sit, and not have to have the whole world staring at you.

We enjoyed the close proximity to Kui Buri (I believe that’s the name) downtown beach area.   It’s about 10 minutes on a motorbike which you can rent from X2 (they’re cheap and fully automatic!  Foreigner proof!).  This strip has a road that you can drive along the beach and see a beautiful mountain scape, clear blue water, restaurants and just laid back, non-touristy Thai culture.  There’s even an area by one of the hills/mountains near the end of the strip where a large troupe of monkeys live and play.  You can buy bananas and fruits to feed them.  They’re climbing all over the place, they’ll hop up on your vehicle and hang out.  Great fun and an amazing experience.

I’d like to point out the most memorable part of our trip to X2 Kui Buri that we’ll always remember.  My wife and I walked to the beach at about 12:00am and all of the lights were pretty much out at this time.  The guard who was watching over us, took it upon himself to go get us a beach-wind-proof candle and light it for us so we could sit on the beach lounge chairs and have our romantic time together.  He didn’t have to do that, he’s just the security guard.  It was a beautiful touch and just this one gesture made our opinion of X2 go up a few notches.

Being so isolated can be good sometimes, and we were pretty much ready for this more laid back, private vacation on the road less traveled (Hua Hin downtown is very touristy, hustly and bustly(sic)).

What Could Be Improved

The plunge pools outside of the villas.  While they are sparsely enclosed by thin shrubbery, they are not 100% private.  If you want to skinny dip or have some private time with your love one, you won’t find it outside your ‘private pool villa’.  Traditionally a ‘private pool villa’ in Thailand includes complete privacy.  Sunbathe in the buff if you will, swim free and in the skinny.  But this is just not possible at X2 Kui Buri.  I spoke with the management and they said they are working on enclosing the villa pools to become fully private soon.  Time will tell and when/if we go back I’ll update this post.

There are some safety concerns I noticed that would make an OSHA inspector in the USA have a massive stroke:

1. By the diner/restaurant, there’s a beautiful view (of which I might add, that the chef made a special table with candles right on the ledge of the view.  This was going above and beyond in response to my request for a ‘very special dinner’ for my wife and I. Thank you Chef!).  The alarming issue was that our char legs were within about a foot from going over a ledge with a 6 foot drop into the sand.  This was just at our special dinner.  When a special table isn’t front and center there, there’s just a deck/walkway that looks like it descends down into stairs so you can walk down to the beach when in fact it is a CLIFF with NO WARNING to anyone.  Heaven forbid it was dark, or you were tipsy or both for that matter!
2. The large community pool.  At night, there is no illumination, at least not at the late hour we were coming back from our private beach walk.  So unless you brought a flashlight, and completely sober, there’s a good risk of falling right into it.

About Our Room

The room was a nice, different design.  We liked it.  It had the minimalist feeling to it, but it worked.  A slight drawback was on the sides of the ceiling there are skylights, soft skylights, that are unavoidable and they let light into the room even when you don’t want it.

The only major disappointment in our villa was the lack of a bath tube.  Oh, how I love a hot bath.  I looked forward to the hot baths I would take and was disappointed when there were none.

Summary

X2 Kui Buri is a beautiful hotel, a new one that has almost reached full maturity in terms of service, facilities and location.  The location is ideal if you don’t mind driving 20 minutes or so past downtown Hua Hin in search of the road less travelled, a quiet, relaxing and very chic place to relax.  We’d definitely stay there again and the prices are always right.