SunseekerNorthWales
Google
My husband and I have just returned from a 6 night stay at TwinPalms Surin and were very happy with our stay! ||CHECK-IN|We arrived in the middle of the night and were greeting with a lovely smelling flower bracelet and welcome drink (they ask if you prefer alcohol or non-alcoholic welcome drink). |We arranged the airport transfer with the hotel which was 3,000 Thai baht return in a Tesla car. The driver was very polite, drove well, and there was complimentary water and cooling face cloths. ||You receive a QR code to download an app which makes it easier to see all the hotel services and to communicate with the team. The response time was always very fast and helpful replies. ||STAFF |All of the staff were so friendly and efficient, especially the housekeeper every morning and the front office team who helped with recommendations for best Thai restaurant, etc. ||ROOM |We stayed in a Lagoon access room. They kindly offered us an upgrade on check in to a Presidential Suite with private pool but we prefer to be more social and people watch so opted to stay in the booked room. I LOVED the lagoon access. It was so nice and the lagoon pool is much longer than it looked on the hotel website pictures and 1.5m deep. |The room was spacious and equipped with everything we needed including the nicest smelling toiletries! (We bought the candle and reed diffuser to bring back home for holiday memories). |Our own slight complaints were that the bed was too hard for our liking (but pillows were perfect), and no matter how hard we tried we always seemed to get water all over the floor when we showered, but that’s just a minor thing. ||MAIN POOL|The main pool was also very nice - perfect temperature to cool off in the July heat. Our only complaint for the pool bar is that there was no background music which surprised us (as even the reception area of the hotel had music), so we tended to stay near our lagoon access and had our own music. ||BREAKFAST |The breakfast was very nice with fruits, cereals, different breads, meat cold-cuts, cheese, and salmon, chicken sausage, baked beans, and an egg station (then a few other dishes from other parts of the world). The eggs were always cooked to perfection but did take a bit of time as there was usually only one person doing it - so order your eggs first and then go and get anything else you need. |I would say the service in the breakfast area was a little slow. The staff were friendly and polite and would remove our empty plates when we asked them to (but they would be sat on the table for some time before we asked them to be removed). ||SPA|The Spa had a buy one get one free massage offer when we were there in July so the massages were very good value for money. I had an aromatherapy and Thai massage, both very good. ||LOCATION |Local taxis generally cost 300 Thai baht from the hotel south to Kamala and north to Bang Tao, and 400 to Laguna area (golf course). I’m sure you could haggle further but we were happy enough with the price. |The beach is 10 minute walk from the hotel. It seems they are cleaning the beach to make it more natural but, at the moment, there is a lot of rubbish swept up so we didn’t stay on the beach.|Just next door there is a very nice restaurant called Nalu. They have a mix of Thai and International food and even serve breakfast items until 6pm! The service is very good. They have 50% off cocktails from 5:30-7pm too and live music. ||Other restaurant recommendations during our time:|- Blue Manao, Kamala. 15 min drive from hotel / 300 Thai baht. The Thai food was soooo good here! The restaurant was full and the staff did an amazing job looking after everyone. There are a few other bars in walking distance in case you turn up and need to wait for a table. |- Kati Beach Bar, Bang Tao beach, 5 min drive from hotel. An amazing spot for Thai food at very affordable prices. Gorgeous views over the beach and ocean. Fantastic service (thank you to Winnie who spoke amazing English and was very nice to chat to). |- Beach Clubs: there were a few beach clubs that were recommended to us and we tried Catch (the hotel has a complimentary shuttle bus running every hour) and we tried Carpe Diem. Both very nice if you want something a bit more boujee. We live in Dubai and are spoilt with nice beach clubs so we preferred more of the local style venues. Other beach clubs nearby (but we didn’t try) were Maya, Nomads, and Cafe Del Mar. All of them were 10-20 min drive away so check them out if you’re looking for a party vibe. |- Sugar Cane, lovely restaurant - good food, service, and the style of the restaurant was nice. Only downside is there wasn’t much else nearby in walking distance but the restaurant called a TukTuk for us after our dinner. |- Beach Pig in Bang Tao, next to Maya beach club and close to Laguna. This is the place to go for Live Music! The owners, Noi and Ben, were very hospitable and took time to say hello and have a chat with everyone. We loved it here and kept returning during our stay. ||Overall, I really enjoyed our time at Twinpalms and would definitely recommend to others.
