Cookies Salad Hotel in Haad Yao

We recently stayed here as a family of three, including our 4-year-old child.

The Good:

Location and Vibe The property’s location is its best strength.

Decent Location: The property is on one corner of the Salad Beach, offering beautiful, secluded views. It is a bit rocky in front of the property and to enjoy the beach you will need to walk about 100 yards. It's a nice, quiet beach that is not crowded.

Walkable: You can easily walk to the main beach area.

Cleanliness: The villas themselves were clean.

Areas for Improvement:

Unfortunately, several issues significantly impacted our overall experience, making it an average stay that we would likely not repeat on our next visit to Koh Phangan.
1. Not Family-Friendly (Major Issue) The listing must be updated to clearly and prominently state that the property is not suitable for young children and/or anyone who cannot hike a steep climb. The villas are situated on a steep incline/slope, making navigation difficult and potentially dangerous for small children. We were only notified of this significant fact via email the day before arrival, when we had no option to change our booking. While a Golf Cart is available, its use is severely limited, stopping service at 5:00 or 6:00 PM. After that, guests are entirely on their own to manage the steep terrain in the dark.

2. Breakfast (Biggest Disappointment) The listing promises a "very good breakfast," which we found to be a huge disappointment. No Buffet: There is no buffet. Repetitive, Limited Menu: The options are extremely limited, consisting of only 2-3 repetitive Thai dishes. Rigid Ordering: If you book a breakfast-inclusive package, you are locked into a very rigid, set menu (e.g., 4-5 fixed egg types with fixed sides). Any desire to "waver" from this set combination, or order something else, requires an additional charge. Poor Coffee Quality: The included coffee is very poor quality. You must pay extra to get a better cup of coffee.

3. Maintenance Needs The pool is visually appealing and faces the beach, but it requires better cleaning and regular maintenance.

Overall Conclusion: While the natural beauty and secluded feel of Salad Beach are wonderful, the property's lack of transparency regarding the terrain and the poor breakfast experience significantly detracted from our vacation. We do not recommend this property for families with young children and likely won't return ourselves.

The location of this resort is exceptional – right on the beach, which made it perfect for our family getaway. We stayed in a beach villa, which was spacious and ideal for us. The staff were all very kind and welcoming, which we really appreciated. There were, however, a couple of things to note. The pool attached to the villa had a few broken tiles, so it’s worth being cautious. Unfortunately, a few of us became unwell after breakfast. While it’s always possible this was linked to travel, all signs pointed to the food, as three members of my family (including a small child) became very ill after eating fruit at breakfast. We had only eaten at the same restaurant the night before, which makes it feel more than a coincidence. It was a real shame, as we otherwise enjoyed the stay, but this incident did affect our overall experience. With some improvements, this could have been an excellent visit.

I have mixed feelings about this place. The location is very hilly, and our room was at the top of the property. While this meant we had a great view, going to breakfast or the pool required a lot of walking up and down. Good exercise for the legs, but not ideal for everyone.

The hotel itself needs serious maintenance. The pool tiles were broken and sharp, and many areas around the pool were worn down. I even got big scratches from it. The pool area also wasn’t kept clean, guests would leave towels on chairs for hours, making it hard to find a spot.

The food was disappointing. Breakfast was included, but it wasn’t good. To enjoy decent options like fresh fruit or a proper breakfast, we had to order separately from the menu, and that came at an extra cost. It wasn’t cheap compared to other places either.

The beach wasn’t great, it was overcrowded with bars and restaurants and had rocky, uncomfortable sand.

The only real highlight of our stay was the staff. They were very friendly and genuinely nice, which made our experience a little better.