Jez G
Google
This place is amazing - views to die for, amazing accommodation, welcoming hosts, and the most peaceful and stress-free island ever. And incredible value!||The houses are spread up the hillside, but no more than a minute’s walk to the ‘reception’ base from which the fantastic inclusive breakfast is served.|We stayed in two different bungalows - Yai and Glang 1. Both came equipped with air con, fans, mosquito nets. A fridge, shower and - to top it off - a large string hammock providing the ultimate views. Toiletries were provided too, inc. mosquito spray, although we didn’t experience any here (great spray?!).||The bungalows are all in fantastic settings with tropical plant and wildlife surrounding them. They all face east, and it’s worth setting the alarm for sunrise - we finally got a glorious sunrise on our last day! Even if it’s cloudy the birds make up for it, with an astonishing dawn chorus. Rooms are cleaned and tidied very well, every day. ||There’s a few restaurants and shops between Hill House and the pier, and they seemed to be most popular around dusk (6pm-7pm). Most don’t serve beer as this is a predominantly Muslim island, but the lassis and shakes make up for it. There is a shop (Bubbles) that’s a few mins walk away that sells beer for take-away. ||Hill House doesn’t provide a restaurant for lunch/dinner, but the Tha Khao Bay View restaurant is just across from the bungalows and provided us with the delicious meals with great service (they also did our laundry service for us!). Sala Cafe, Anchor Point and Suntisook were also fantastic for meals/drinks.||The beach is great, but to swim in the sea required a lot of wading out, as the bay is shallow. At low tide you can walk to the small islet of Ko Nok.||The owners rent out scooters for 200 THB a day, including helmet. That’s about £5! The roads were quiet and there’s no chance of any vehicle getting over 30 mph, so it felt really safe. There’s a few places where the road surface changes from concrete to dirt track, so need to be a bit careful there! To get around most of the island will use about 2 litres of fuel, about 100 THB.||The island has a few nice beaches including Pasai Beach and Long Beach (which is tricker to get to). Both virtually deserted when we visited. The main commercial centre of the island is on the SW side about 20 mins away. It has more restaurants and shops, including some more crafty ones for gifts. There’s obviously a lot of poverty, but everyone is very helpful and friendly. Crime apparently doesn’t exist as people leave keys and possessions in vehicles on full view. ||There are lots of trips available to the 5/6 local islands include Ko Hong, each of which is unique. The two of us went for a 6 hour trip with the owner of Hill House and benefitted from his local experience and his boat (3200 THB, about £80, excluding lunch). The islands are amazing but do get busy with the larger tour groups, so we were glad to set out early and had most of Ko Hong beach to ourselves for a while. The islands are part of a national park, so there’s a small fee (300 THB each, paid on Ko Hong only). An amazing trip and great value compared to anything in Europe.||As the final leg of our Thailand trip, we caught the 40 minute 200 THB ferry from Ao Thalene (near Krabi) to Tha Khao pier on east side of KYN and just a 2 min taxi ride to Hill House. When we left we got a 20 minute 200 THB taxi to Manoh pier for a 30 minute 400 THB speedboat to Bang Rong, then a 30 minute 500 THB taxi to Phuket airport. We didn’t need to book any tickets in advance, and paid cash as is the preference in KYN (ATM in shop next to Tha Khao pier).
