La Vela Khao Lak in Khao Lak

The hotel itself is nice and the breakfast in the restaurant is good — but that’s where the positives end. For a 4.5-star hotel, it feels more like 3 stars.

Our first room was not properly cleaned: the mirror had strange stains, and we had to change rooms. The new room was even worse — still stains on the mirror, a broken bathroom light (night mode), and a faulty sliding partition that wouldn’t close properly. Housekeeping was disappointing: when we checked the new room, there was a bottle cap on the shelf, and after cleaning it was still there. Used spoons disappeared, and towels were old, torn, and worn out. A guest even said they were told they’d have to wait *two hours* for clean shower towels because there were none available. That’s unacceptable for a 4.5-star hotel.

The “breakfast to go” is another big issue. The box includes a dry hot dog (no sauce or butter), two tiny croissants, a boiled egg, fruit, juice, and soy milk — hardly a proper breakfast. We asked for a bit more (extra hot dog and juice), but got even less the next time. When we asked to prepare our own box from the buffet since breakfast was included, reception refused, saying guests aren’t allowed to pack their own food.

Our friends with *all inclusive* faced the same issue. They requested changes in advance, but their wishes were ignored and their breakfast box ended up in the trash because it was inedible.

“All inclusive” is very limited: lunch and dinner are not buffet-style but à la carte from a small menu. After a week it becomes repetitive — definitely not worth the €1500 extra. Even basic things like coffee with syrup or ice cream are *not included*.

Staff are friendly and always smiling, but problems are never solved. For several nights, people were shouting and slamming doors at 2–3 a.m. We reported it, but nothing changed.

On Fridays and Saturdays, the restaurant offers a buffet with lobster and seafood, but it’s not included in any plan and costs around €50 per person. Paying extra wouldn’t be an issue, but the restaurant becomes overcrowded, and guests with half board or all inclusive can’t even get a table.

In summary: friendly staff, nice building, and good breakfast in the restaurant — but serious issues with cleanliness, housekeeping, and service quality. Definitely not on the level of a 4.5-star hotel.

This is my third visit to La Vela, but during check-in, I was notified that the room could not be provided due to an issue. They arranged for me to be transferred to their sister property, Casa de la Flora. However, Casa de la Flora has no beach access, a very small pool, and the resort area is quite limited—it’s more of a quiet retreat. The overall experience was just average.