Marina Sands Resort
As beautiful as Koh Chang is, I was surprised not to find very many nice options for where to stay. That is until my buddy showed me the Marina Sands (not to be confused with Singapore’s Marina Bay Sands). Well priced with a room that could fit the four of us comfortably? I was in. Here’s what I thought of the hotel.
Location: A-
Sunset at the main beach of the development - the water here, easily warmest sea water I have ever been in. Jacuzzi level temperature nearly.
This is, in my opinion, actually the best place to stay on the island. Here’s why. One, you’re close to the ferry, which is convenient. Two, you’re only about a 5 minute drive over the mountain to White Sand Beach, which has all its beachfront restaurants and bars and what have you. But the biggest reason of all is the fact that Marina Sands is not just one hotel - its actually in a complex called Royal Seaview that covers basically the entire northern coast of the island. So that means you can stay at the (cheapest) Marina Sands, but have full access to the pools, beaches, gyms, restaurants, golf course, lounges, etc. of the other fancy hotels in the complex. Its a new development, so there are still some empty spaces and construction, but just the fact that we could spend about a quarter of the price as the other hotels but still have free use of all the same amenities made this hotel’s location absolutely prime.
Rooms: B-
Problem here might be that the room was just too big. We had a two bedroom suite which had a couple balconies and plenty of space, but the interior design just was a joke. A tiny couch and a couple chairs made the space almost useless, plus super low ceilings were not ideal. The shower’s water pressure, a personal measure of a hotel’s quality, was less than ideal as well. With that said, the beds were good and we had all the amenities in terms of soaps and shampoo and what not, so that was nice.
View out from the side balcony - main balcony also had a nice view of the river
Dining: B+
The morning breakfast on the edge of the river and its beautiful mangroves was a delight, complete with an egg station where you could order your omelets. Aside from that, we actually ate at this hotel a lot, all around the property. We ate at the sailors lounge one night, which had great Thai food. Another night, we had a fantastic whole fish for dinner at one of the beachfront restaurants in this massive development. The burger and beer at the beachfront pool were given a 6.8 by my standards. And we had room service several times, all of which (especially the pasta) were solid. And the crazy thing about it - all the food we charged to the room (4 people, at least 5 meals excluding breakfast) came out to be about $100. So room service, dinner on the beach, by the pool, on the river (PLUS a round of golf for 3) ended up being about $5 per person per meal. Insane. So insane to the point where I felt like there must have been an error somewhere at some point but hey, I didn’t say anything.
Amenities: A+
Like I said before, you have access to the entire development while staying at the Marina Sands. That means you can use the pool at the Peninsula Hotel, the gym down by the beach, the bar at Shamabala Beach Club, or the awesome little golf course. We played 9 holes on this course, and even though we are beginners, we had a blast (and only lose 16 golf balls in the water!). So when it comes to amenities, you’ve got it all here. Plus, there are several beaches you can explore, including a few hidden ones that we discovered up on the north side, perfect to just lounge with no neighbors or sounds other than the gentle, subtle noise of the waves at your feet.
Shambala Beach Club while the sun was setting…awesomeness.
Service: B-
Look, its better than I had expected. We had a guy carry our bags in and out of rooms for check in and check out, and the golf cart drivers were all super friendly. Of course, the staff seemed a little unseasoned, but that I think just has to do with COVID and the absence of tourists and the real-life training they provide the staff. Check out was annoying though, as we had to go to a couple different buildings just to check out. So that definitely could have been a lot smoother, and as I remember that and write it down here, I am going back and adding a - to the B because I’m a petty bitch.
Scene: All over the place. Some people are staying at their vacation home in this development, some are super fancy couples at the Peninsula Hotel, and some are large families staying at the Marina Sands like us. But the development is just so large that if you wanted to, you could avoid seeing people all together quite easily.