Rain Tree Khao Yai Hotel

We don’t usually pay this much, but we were splurging. Pros: beautiful appointments, decent quiet location. Cons: Staff was very disorganized and disinterested. We came to check in at 4 o’clock and they told us we needed to wait for another hour. They offered us a downgraded room without any compensation. We had an upgraded room with what was considered a panoramic view. The room itself was quite beautiful. The view however, was the children’s school next-door. Pictures included.

They say that first impression last. And mine ain’t too great about this place. When we arrived at the driveway, there was no one there to assist us. So, I unloaded wife, kid, all my stuffs and quickly moved my car away so that the next car can come on in. After getting my car parked elsewhere, I returned to see that my luggage is still left exactly where it is out doing its sun tan. Wife was not able to find anyone to assist even though the reception was full of staffs each in their own little circle of responsibilities. Move me luggage into the reception DIY, and did my check in. Staffs told us room not ready, please put luggage back in car because room far away. What an interesting welcome. Staffs here need some refresher course on hospitality and servicing. During breakfast, the place was full. We had to find our own seat outside the dining area, no staff came to attend to setup the table and condiments like ketchup, cutlery and tissues. When I asked for pepper, they bought me first a shaker that was salt. The 2nd time, they gave me an empty shaker, and the third time I went to get it myself inside the restaurant from their inventory cupboard. By then my sunny side up had fossilized and I was not enjoying it. Maybe it was too busy a weekend, was here for a 2-night’s stay in conjunction with a kids’ camp that we had our kid participated. They ran out of food too, like the Kanom Jin (Thai rice noodle with spicy gravy). Clearly the place is not geared for handling crowds, but yet the place is tuned for large events. They have event halls here and there, and they tie with event organizers for kid’s camp like these. The kids’ club was like aftermath of warzone, no staffs attended to it. In fact, manly places were deserted, you can have a fall, knock yourself unconscious and they only find your body a few days later. This resort is away from the central amenities filled parts of Khao Yai. It is located in what I considered to be the entry point into big mountain countryside if you are coming from Bangkok via Saraburi. Some parts of this resort gave a weird feeling that it used to be kind of a school that had been repurposed into a resort (it had never been a school). This could be due to the excessive wall paintings with big words like “Live & Learn” and lots of other Thai words I cannot read. Can tell they are trying to uplift the place with all these, but what resulted is a clutter. The resort occupies quite a sizable piece of hilly landscape, a good exercise be done just by exploring the place. A playground stands at the lowest point downhill of the resort where there is a pond. There are community spaces everywhere, such as the sheltered space between our building block and the opposite. Makes a good place for friends to come chat into the night after kids have fallen asleep. The place did kind of grew on me after a while. I like the large spaces and the greens. I like to venture out to the deserted places away from the activities and just take in the stillness there was to offer. It is a decent place to stay and will not burn your pockets, but don’t expect 5-star hotel treatment out of this.