I would definetly recommend this place as long as you don't expect to see the sea when you are in your bungalow. We are staying here at the end of the low season and the price should be 1000B. We are paying 600B and it's certainly worth it.
We are staying in the Deluxe Beach Bungalow, it's a shame that you cannot see the beach from your bungalow as the window does not face the beach. You can see the beach from your veranda. The bungalow is spacious with air con, T.V with plenty of English speaking channels, hot shower and fridge. There is also a swimming pool which is in use at the moment (shallow pool for children as well). This is the one of the best deal's that we have had in Thailand.
The bungalow is clean and well maintained. Because it is low season, the bar and restaurant are closed until 1st November. Don't fear, plenty of places open nearby.
Prices go up on the Ist November.
Bungalow is fantastic, it has been furnished to make you feel that you are at home. The pool is well maintained.
From : http://www.virtualtourist.com/
Hubby and I honeymooned here in March 2009. We spent 4 days in Phuket before heading to Ko Lanta and the contrast is astounding. If you want night markets and grandpas in g-strings on beaches, Phuket is for you. If you want an entire coast of white sand / aqua water beaches with next to no one on them, then Ko Lanta it is. Sure there are resorts and tourists but you're not suffocated by them everywhere you go. It's very easy to get away from it all on Lanta :)
I stayed with my hubby and 6 other adult friends at Ancient Realm in late April ’09.
Green season had just started so we took advantage of the green promotion on A.R’s website (800 baht pn inc American style breakfast, free internet, 2 bottles of water in room daily, discount coupons for spa treatments, etc). We all agreed this was an excellent value for money package. To top it all off Clinton & Suki (the owners) had a 99 baht cocktail special (24/7) going while we were there. Suki and the bar staff make beautiful cocktails with no skimping on the alcohol (Suki is also a very good ‘shots’ creator)!
One of our group is taking his wife and teenager back in September to Thailand and has already booked a few nights again at A.R as part of their trip.
To summarise, the highlights for us were:
• outdoor hot water showers were great (toilet covered but not shower)
• air con in all of our rooms was quiet and very efficient
• showers had good pressure
• rooms very clean
• mini bar in room reasonably priced (I hardly use mini bars as they are often priced to the hilt but the prices weren't much more than buying them outside so we did indulge a couple of times).
• bungalows have small gardens around each with place to sit outside, creates ambience and a little space from neighbours
• resort right on beach
• circular bar with thatched roof is next to beach and a covered ‘relax’ area that has cushions, chairs, mattress type facilities to lounge around and read, play cards or talk
• motorbike rental was just as cheap as offsite rentals
• small, ambient places on beach to dine at reasonable prices (including A.R)
• free internet (bit slow sometimes but free and it worked so it did us okay)
• on a nice stretch of beach but also close to Saladan town
The BEST bit was perching ourselves on the tall bar stools around the circular bar hut right on the beach (think of the movie Cocktail); especially towards nights end and just shooting the breeze with Clinton, Suki, staff and other guests. One night it was just our group with Clinton and Suki; I got into the inner sanctum of the bar to learn how to make some of the cocktails we were enjoying! I also realised how many strawberries Suki uses in her strawberry daiquiris (major strawberry, major YUM!).
A.R has a small pool and a couple of cold water spas which looked very inviting which some in my group used; they are right next to the beachfront. Because the pool is on the small side I asked if this presented an issue for any of my friends and the consensus was “it was fine, a place to cool off in nice surroundings” and "it was nice to have even though the beach is right at your doorstep”. One of the guys jumped in fully clothed on a “it’s my holiday and I’ll do what I want to” whim! Another couple utilised the hammocks that are strung between trees in the garden near the bar and the neighbouring ‘balai’ type hut. Very ambient.
There weren’t really any ‘lowlights’ to speak of. Perhaps for peeps who want instant answers to a myriad of questions it would help if Clinton was sometimes a little quicker to respond via email; however I wish to stress ‘sometimes’ as being the operative word.
To balance this I’d also like to add that many other places we emailed in Malaysia, Thailand and Laos we didn’t even get responses. On the few times we had to wait a few days for a reply Clinton did then give a detailed response and the courtesy of an explanation (which he doesn’t have to do), but it was appreciated. Most of the time though he replied promptly and sometimes offered extra info to help with planning which was great!
The weather was not kind to us for ocean diving and snorkelling day trips, very rough and windy offshore, but that has nothing to do with the resort. The weather inland was great however so we hired motorbikes and explored the island (can be navigated in a day but you need 2 or 3 days if you want to relax the riding and stop to partake of activities like cave exploring, elephant riding, or swimming at all the beaches, etc). Suki arranged 4 motorbikes easily for us and just as cheap as anywhere else we found on the island.
The other thing we really appreciated was that the resort looked EXACTLY like the photo's on their website. I really do value websites that 'what you see IS what you get'!
If you read this Clinton and Suki – thank you for your positive and wonderful contribution to our month long Asian adventure. Some will see you again in September; hubby and I will see you next year to stay again and catch that diving we missed this time around. Good luck with you future endeavours too.
If anyone has specific questions that I haven’t covered in this generalised report please feel free to PM me.
Someone else has described Ancient Realm as a Flashpackers and I find myself inclined to agree in some respects. Before you write it off based on that assessment let me say it is a rare and wonderful thing to find a place that is good value that gives you that home away from home feel. Ancient Realm does exactly that. It has very comfortable accommodations that I can't flaw, that uber laid back feel and staff that have a bend-over backwards attitude. And the spa... oh the spa. Sooooooooooo good! Forget about the ridiculously expensive McDonaldsesque chain resorts and their 'pool scene' and stay here! You have an entire coast of Andaman sea beaches to choose from, who needs a pool? :)
Suki is an absolute treasure who truly cares about her guests. Clint is a bartender extraordinaire (among other things I'm sure) with an uncanny knack of making drinks appear bottomless. Scooter rental is super cheap and easy. Couple a scooter with a sense of adventure and you'll make some memories to tell the Grand kids about one day. On that note, if you're considering a traditional Thai bamboo tattoo as a take home momento make sure you see Kwan (http://www.myspace.com/kwanbambootattoo)
The only thing I can see room for improvement at Ancient Realm is the food. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. Hubby and I aren't exactly foodies but we definitely like to seek out the good eats. Perhaps our expectations were a little high overall of Thai food, due to the amount of kick arrrrse Thai restaurants in Australia. Time for Lime next door was good, but a bit pricey. Funnily enough the best food we found on Lanta was the day before we left when we had lunch @ a dodgy looking restaurant attached to Ocean View Resort (down the beach about 5 minutes walk to the right of Ancient Realm). Their spring rolls were fresh, not frozen and the vegetarian green curry is the best I've ever had!
All in all we LOVED the 9 days we spent @ Ancient Realm and hope to make it back at some stage. Maybe a few years down the track we'll bring the kids... it is a VERY family friendly place, but not in an obnoxious "kids club" kind of way.
The Ancient Realm resort is a little paradise!! We have two children aged 8 and 12 and we planned on spending a week at the resort and then moving up the coast towards Krabi. However, we all had such a great time that we decided to spend a full 17 days at the resort. The staff are great and we really felt at home. I would highly recommend this resort to anyone who is looking for a very relaxing island style beach holiday
From : www.tripadvisor.com
