Racha Island Resort (Rayaburi)

This is a long review. TLDR - awesome staff, 10/10 view, but maybe don’t book our room (villa), or book a room here during travel peak seasons so there may be more staff and better maintained facilities. We stayed overnight for 1 day at Racha Island. Our itinerary: 1. Join half a day tour (Phuket ＞ Racha) 2. Arrive Racha and stayed behind 3. The next morning, left the island and joined the rest of the tour. We were lucky the tour guides were willing to accommodate our overnight schedule. Racha Island Resort itself had amazing staff, 10/10. However, the amenities are quite run-down, perhaps because the room we stayed at were not frequently booked and hence not well maintained. During our stay, the following happened: - Our room hairdryer broke and started smelling burnt - Our toilet flush malfunctioned and water kept overflowing out till the toilet floor - The shower head broke - There was no hot water until the staff arrived and fixed it - Our room minipool water seemed a bit dirty and green, we requested for cleansing but unfortunately that did not happen. We ended up not using our pool at all - We were supposed to have the entire villa area to ourselves, but the gates could not be locked and did not have enough gates. People kept ignoring the “private area” signage, opening the gates themselves, and walking in and out our area, and stared at us while literally walking past the outside of our villa, so we had to keep our curtains closed all day as it felt a bit unsafe. Can’t exactly blame their lack of respect since the surrounds did not have a clear indication / proper gates that showed they were not supposed to trespass. - We ordered a taxi to the pier but it never arrived (but thanks to the staff’s quick thinking, we had a motorcycle ride instead which was fun!) The view was amazing though, perhaps our stay would be been more pleasant if we had a more realistic expectations. However, the staff deserved all the respect for always making things work and for fixing all of the above issues fairly quick.

The resort is located right next to the beach. You can find interesting corals within shallow waters. The resort restaurant overlooks the beautiful waters and offers affordable dishes. On the other side there is Batok bay, where the water is calmer, but there isn’t that much corals to see. We rented a scooter for 500 bahts a day to travel around. If you like to dive or snorkel, it’s nice to spend 2-3 nights here at least. Otherwise there are not much things to do on the island.

Situated on a stunning beach, nice clear water. You come to this hotel to experience the beautiful beach. The speed boat ride to the island was late, and packed, takes about half an hour or so. Rooms are nice enough, quite tired and dark, but are fine. Nice swimming pool, but everyone uses the beach. Nice littl hotel bar on the beach, also hotel resturaunt. Dont expect much from the food, bland Thai dishes, no spice. Lots of food like burgers and pasta. Food quality is poor. Breakfast was very bland. All the hot stuff was cold, and all the stuff that should be cold was warm. You are going to this hotel for the beach, and it wont dissapoint. Staff are very nice and freindly. Remember to include your boat transfer when you book, or you could get stung for it later.

Excellent service and hotel.

The room is large and clean, though the facility is a little old. The Resort size is Ok, we can walk to the restaurant for 5 minutes. The hotel stuff are all very friendly and professional, letting us know which bay is good for diving. After we arrived at the island, they sent car to transfer us. So warm, especially Minky, really good, who helped me changed a room due to the noisy air-conditioner. Bank, Na Khao and Parn all provide good service. We ordered speedboat transfer service by email and the transfer took arround 30 minutes, a little bumpy. The transfer back to Phuket is accomplished by another bigger speedboat, with another team of tourists, like one-day trip to Racha, time was the same， so very good solution. The restaurant is right in front of the beach. Few people, good sight. Resort also provide free car to the hill to see the sunset. Resort provide service for deep diving and also snorkeling, the price is reasonable and good. Service is also Ok. There is also SPA, very comfortable. Really recommanded to visit.

Racha hotel is a little paradise on the island. Everything is just flawless about this hotel.