Ploenlay in Ao Nang

Staying at this hotel was a huge mistake. The photos show the condition from many years ago, now almost everything is ruined. The bed and table are scratched. The chair had a huge depression where you sit, and after a short while, your back starts to hurt. The bathroom was superficially cleaned, with a lot of limescale in the shower and shower cabin. The shower head sprayed more water on the sides than on me. The service was terrible. I asked for toilet paper. After several reminders, I received it two days later!!! Avoid this hotel! There are many better hotels nearby for a similar price

When I arrived at the hotel I could get the keys without any problems. My room however was in a very bad condition. My bed still had hair inside from the guests before which means the bed sheets were not changed. Also the cleaning service is supposed come every two days but I didn‘t see them after staying two nights so I slept two days in that bed. Also the towels were not changed. The chair looks disgusting and is broken. I couldn‘t lock the door to the balcony so I had to hope that no one comes in. The walls are already cracking and the bathroom is full with chalk. Overall I didn‘t feel comfortable at all and I‘m glad the stay in this place is over. Not recommended

The hotel management is extremely unprofessional. We booked and also paid for the hotel 1 month in advance however they had the audacity the cancel our booking 45mins before checking in saying they were overbooked. We were in the middle of the roads with our luggages hoping to find a new accomodation. Pathetic service

Omg, what a misleading experience! The hotel looked beautiful in the pictures, and the location also seemed perfect — that’s why we booked it. We had an early morning flight and arrived at the hotel around 9 AM, but it was a complete disaster from the start.

They said it’s a self check-in system with a PIN to collect the key — but we never received any PIN or proper instructions. We tried calling and texting the contact number provided, but no one answered. We were stuck outside for over 2 hours with no help at all. Finally, a lady showed up and said check-in is at 2 PM — even though no one mentioned this clearly before.

When we finally got in, the room was nothing like the photos online. It felt like they did heavy editing to make it look better. In reality, the place was totally different — not clean, not cozy, and very disappointing.

So my honest advice: don’t trust the pictures. If you’re planning a vacation and want to enjoy your time, there are many other hotels with better service and honesty. I do not recommend this hotel at all, and I’m really surprised how the Google reviews were so misleading.

To preface, my wife and I consider ourselves to be very easy-going, understanding and respectful people/travellers. We have been fortunate to travel throughout Thailand and Vietnam over the past month with great experiences at many hotels and have certainly expressed our gratitude by providing positive reviews as well as hotel recommendations to friends/family.

Unfortunately, our stay at this location (Ploenlay) was one of extreme disappointment. I’m not normally one to write an extensive negative review, however, in this case I felt it was warranted.

To begin, the hotel logo says “Bed & Breakfast”.
- There is no included breakfast

As we were checking in we were advised that our second floor room was actually on the third floor. They do not have any guest rooms on the main floor so they consider rooms on the second floor as “first floor rooms”. There is no elevator so special consideration may be prudent for any elderly or individuals with mobility issues.

On the main floor of the building we noticed a laundry machine and inquired as to whether guests were permitted to use the machine for personal use. The receptionist declined and stated that it was for hotel use only. We acknowledged her response and intended to respect it.

The following day, however, we experienced one of the most disrespectful incidences involving hotel staff in over our many years of travel. At approximately 9am the next morning we were confronted at our room by the same receptionist from the previous day and the hotel manager. Just as we had woken up, the receptionist assertively accused us of using the laundry machine on the ground level that we had inquired about the day before. She then THREATENED TO CALL THE POLICE to have them come and investigate this issue and question us. The receptionist stated that the police would detain us, take our finger prints and compare them to ones on the washing machine to prove that we had used it. Her aggressive tone and demeanour was one that implied a demand of immediate retribution and not one of simple inquiry. The hotel manager simply stood by and said nothing.

When I asked if she had any proof that we had used the machine she said no. The lobby area of the hotel also has a CCTV camera that presumably works that could be used to review that evening’s events to see if it was indeed us that accessed the room with the laundry machine. The receptionist stated she had not checked the footage.

Now here is where the story gets even better. My wife and I decided to walk for 30-45 minutes to a self-serve laundromat the same day we arrived at the hotel. When I informed the receptionist of this she accused me of being a liar.

So in response to her calling me a liar - what exactly did I do? Well thankfully due to smartphone technology, I had actually taken a series of photographs on our walk through town to the laundromat on the previous day. Furthermore, despite my wife’s reservations I actually had photos of her placing our laundry into the self-serve laundry machine on my smartphone. These photos all contained time stamps and obvious landmarks of the surrounding area.

In response to showing the photos, I got nothing but incoherent grumbling from the receptionist. The receptionist and manager then walked away abruptly with no apology. For the remainder of our stay, my wife felt extremely upset and myself very uncomfortable. The negative valance produced by this event soured our overall experience in Aonang - whereas every other stay in Vietnam and Thailand had been fantastic. All of our previous reviews of hotel facilities have been above satisfactory.

Ultimately, there was no apology. No acknowledgement of error on their part. I personally consider their immediate and initial THREAT TO INVOLVE THE POLICE on international guests with NO PROOF of any wrongdoing was egregiously offensive and disrespectful.