Bastien Desonneville

Very poor experience at 500 Rai Floating Resort. One a scale of 1:10, with 1 representing a "flea bag motel" and 10 representing a "luxury resort", I would rate it as a 2. The staff was very nice (Thai people are exceptionally lovely and kind people, in general, and the staff at the resort was no different), but the quality of the resort just sucks. We stayed in "Deluxe Family villa," which was dirty and rickety, as well as detached from the rest of the resort, which meant we needed to call a barge every time we wanted to leave. There was no refrigeration or ice in the room, so no cold water, no basic amenities (such as a hair dryer), there was one kayak assigned to the room (even though there were four of us staying, including 2 x teenage boys). The beds were old and lumpy. The shower was broken (for the first hour, we had a tech in the room fixing a showerhead that we spraying water straight upward). It was lousy. Biggest annoyance: The resort allows for one hour/day of complimentary wi-fi for each guest. While I appreciate that the resort fancies itself on being a nature-focused getaway, the remoteness of the area results in significant downtime.....for which, naturally, guests would like an opportunity to research the web, upload photos, email friends, etc. Of course, the resort offered an "all day" package....for $45 USD per person. For a family of 4 (including 2 x teenagers), we would have been charged $200/day for our family to have access to WifI. You simply don't expect this kind of blatant, cheap upsell tactic from a high-end resort. The food at the resort was also atrocious. Thai cuisine is famously good (and we enjoyed tremendous meals in everywhere else in Thailand), but the food at 500 Rai was cafeteria-caliber slop. They obviously struggle with getting ingredients to the resort (given the remote location, I'm sure) but, again, for high-priced accommodation, you expect decent chow. For breakfast, I ordered a "croissant with fresh fruit plate" - I received a cold croissant (straight from the fridge) with no side of butter (or jam), along with 2 x cubed fruit pieces (literally a chunk of watermelon and a bit of pear). It was laughably bad.....yet very indicative of the standard of 500 Rai. The resort is obviously capitalizing on the nature beauty of the park. It only exists because of it. But they are taking advantage of it, assuming that guest will be so dazzled by the natural surrounding that they will overlook the substandard quality of the resort. But, candidly, the shoddy standard of the resort detracted from the overall experience. I left feeling that they are the ones who are taking the beautiful park for granted. Do not waste your time or money on 500 Rai.