JW Marriott Khao Lak Resort and Spa

This is the first time I can ever remember everything running so smoothly - not a glitch or "uh oh" for the entire stay! The resort was beautiful and the staff so very helpful and gracious. We were upgraded to a suite, which was very nice. I loved the patio overlooking the pool - very relaxing. We opted for the Breakfast and it was fantastic - something for everyone. For this type resort, I think the pricing of the drinks, food, etc., was very reasonable and fair. We did do a Thai dinner special on the beach with entertainment and it was nice, though I wasn't exactly sure what some of the food was, but what I had was delicious! The spa was really nice and very relaxing. I highly recommend this resort, all tucked away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Khao Lak. Many thanks to the excellent staff! Truly exceptional!

It has been our 7th or 8th (I lost track) stay in this fine hotel. Every time I wonder if it will still be as nice as we remembered it from the last time. And every time from the very beginning of our stay it is all we could have hoped and wished for. The staff is marvelous. They are kind and extremely attentive in any way they can. We have the same room every year with its majestic view overlooking the entire property. We do not really consider our selfs as "travellers". We are merely looking for a comfortabel place to spend many weeks in order to be away from the cold and a place where one can live into the day, feel save and well taken care off. This place has time and again fulfilled these wishes. We could live here and dream into the day. Everything around us went smooth. From the morning breakfast where I was happy to see Sorn, Nuch, Ms. Pooh and all the others from the breakfast team who made this first ritual of the day a very pleasant one. Or a late pot of ginger tea after a fine dinner in The Olive restaurant where Chef Enzo and his great Co Chef Eak where preparing fine Italian dishes. Often at night after the last guests had left and before the restaurant closed I had a nice chat with Enzo and with Mr. Wit the restaurant manager while Mr. Nott was busy preparing special Thai tee for me. Sometimes Ms. Mam and Tanny would also join in during this final hour of their working day. What a lovely people they all are! They where so kind to me and my wife. This year they where the ones who made those late evening hours quite special...and gave us the feeling of being a bit at home away from home. Nicolai on my wife's birthday had his staff create some special surprise right on our terrace. It was so pretty, delicious and kind. Enzo in the evening prepared some special dishes for Eva's birthday and we both felt that her birthday like the year before was so special...thanks to all these kind efforts. Ms. Mee throughout the years has grown to know us quite well. She now is probably our most important anchor in this JW. Even before arriving she is in touch with us and personally sees to it that during our entire stay everything will be just fine. During all these weeks Ms.Su took very well care of our room. Fresh flowers, lovely decorations, always plenty of water bottles and many other small and kind details that so often when entering our room made us feel that she does her job with great care. My wife very much enjoyed the sports classes given by Mr. Bao and Mr. Bom. I personally would have enjoyed regular spa treatment but after one go I gave up on that one. I tried to explain but somehow couldn't get through. May be another year...who knows. During the various cocktails at the beach we got to meet Keith the GM. We had some interesting conversations with him and both believe that with him, the place is in very good hands. Thanks also to Patrick for nice conversations and his special kindness. THANKS TO THE ENTIRE TEAM FROM US.

My family of 4 (2 adults and 2 children aged 8 and 6) spent 8 nights here earlier in the month. We purchased through Luxury Escapes and went for an all inclusive package (breakfast, lunch and dinner). I???m torn writing this review as there are some spectacular pros for this resort but on the flip side there are significant negatives due to a 3 day wedding that closed off many areas. I would have given this hotel 4 stars if I wasn???t impacted by the wedding. PROS - The grounds are truly spectacular. The pools and garden are well kept and the gardeners do an amazing job considering how big the hotel is. - The food at all three restaurants was fantastic and the chefs provided amazing service. Enzo at Olive (Italian restaurant) was the friendliest head chef I have ever seen in action; his staff are lucky to have him! Pizza and pasta were authentic and delicious. Lasagne was a let down but can be forgiven. By the way, the serves were HUGE. We ate there 3 nights. Moi at Thai Kra was fantastic with my kids and they loved learning to cook noodles with him. Food was amazing here too! Banana at Sakura (Japanese restaurant) was a hit with my kids - he would do magic tricks on them and they were very amused. We love Japanese food but found the food here not as good as the other 2 restaurants. - Some of the front of house staff were lovely - special mention to oily, beauty, poo and benz. - The room itself was perfect for a family of four. We were in wing 2 and had a pool at the back door which my kids loved swimming across to the infinity bar. The kids had their own makeshift beds which were conveniently made on our arrival. - No need to buy bottled water during your stay! Our bottles were replenished twice daily and all of the restaurants and bars were happy to provide drinking water. CONS - At check in you???re asked to pay a deposit/hold of 16000 Thai bhat (2000 per night). This worked out to be $800 AUD which was excessive given we had an all inclusive package. Thankfully we negotiated for 5000 Thai bhat in total to be held. - This is a 5 star resort but does not offer a complimentary shuttle to and from Khao Lak town centre. Instead it charges ~$5 per person to use the shuttle service. Given this hotel is not walking distance to the town centre, a cheaper and more convenient option is using a taxi for 300 Thai bhat ~$15 AUD. I???ve stayed at many 5 star resorts and this is the first time I???ve experienced having to pay for a shuttle when the hotel is not close to the town centre. - The pillows were sooooo uncomfortable. I asked many times for a firm pillow and I was given fluffy or lumpy pillows. At our check out there were 10 pillows in our room and all were uncomfortable. This was my experience and hopefully not something most people would be impacted by. - My kids enjoyed their time at the Kids Club but I found it pales in comparison to other kids clubs. It is more of a babysitting service rather than a kids club with activities. They are not taken out of the room to go to the pool or around the resort nor can they eat snacks there. - It???s great having a turn down service but for me was a waste given it was far too early in the day at around 4.30-5.00pm. We were often in the room getting ready for dinner. It would have been better if it was around 6.00-8.00pm. - I???d be surprised if the staff in the nurse room are really nurses. They made silly decisions such as putting gauze on an open wound which got stuck in the wound and was painful to remove and they tried putting small bandaids on bigger wounds with the sticky parts in the wounds themselves. I had to step in several times and attended to my kids wounds with the help of an amazing worker from Loss Prevention called Wee. - There was a musty smell in the bathroom which would come and go. It seemed to be at the smelliest when we would wake up in the morning. - The curtains weren???t long enough and light would creep in. Now for the BIGGEST CON... The wedding that was on for 3 days during the final days of our stay. We were told that the hotel was at 98% occupancy and boy did we notice this. This is the first time I???ve ever felt unwelcome in a hotel. It would have been nice to know about the 3 day wedding PRIOR to arriving so we had a choice if the inconvenience was acceptable to us or not. A lot of areas were closed off throughout the 3 day wedding; multiple beach areas, pool areas, restaurants, the spa, gym, etc. I played soccer with my son daily on the beach area and on day 2 of the wedding I was informed that we could not play in the beach area due to setting up for the wedding. I asked when they would be setting up so we could play until they started setting up and was told they didn???t know. I returned after 5 hours and the area still wasn???t set up. It ended up being set up the following day. On day 3 of the wedding multiple areas on the beach were closed and people on the lounges in the pool area were moved to the few lounges in the pool. I understand a lot of money was spent on the wedding and I???m sure the wedding guests had a wonderful time but other guests also staying at the hotel and were significantly impacted. If I had of known about the wedding beforehand I would have stayed at another hotel during this time. I spoke to other guests during the wedding period who were also not impressed.