Koh Lanta Accommodation Recommendations on Long Beach - Guesthouse Reviews
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I stayed in two different guesthouses on Long Beach on Koh Lanta at the beginning of December 2007. While there I took some photos to help other backpackers looking for cheap accommodation to get an idea of what these places are like
While you can book many Koh Lanta hotels and guesthouses online, there is still plenty of accommodation on this beautiful Thai island that is still off the grid, so to speak. Travelfish is a fantastic resource for finding out about guesthouses that just use the phone and email for reservations - and I thought I take a few photos of the two places I stayed in recently on Koh Lanta as they are both quite good options.
My visit in December 2007 was the first time I'd been back to Lanta for over a year, and there's a lot of development going on across the island. However, it's still got its laidback charm and the beaches are still pretty empty - during peak season at Christmas and New Year it's a different story, but otherwise Lanta provides a great place to experience island living.
Long Beach is where it all happens on Lanta, and prices for accommodation overlooking the beach has skyrocketed - up to 3000 Baht a room at Nakara Resort, where I'd stayed previously. Sod that, quoth I, and went looking elsewhere. Set back just a few metres from the beach is LD Bungalow - previously known as Sandy Bungalow - which has a collection of bamboo bungalows and a few concrete ones. I took one of these as it's the last room they had left. The price was 600 Baht a night. The bamboo huts start from 300 Baht a night. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and the room was nice enough with towels, fan and a western style toilet (no flush though - you empty the bucket of water down it to flush). However, the cold water shower had very poor water pressure and just dribbled out of the shower head. It did get really hot in the room though, even with the fan on - that's the downside of concrete bungalows. Opening the door helped a lot. LD Bungalow has its own well presented website for getting in contact with them. Here's some pix:
When I came back from my Lanta diving liveaboard, I decided to try the place next door to LD Bungalow, Best House. This was altogether more classy and for only 200 Baht more, it seemed like a bargain. Best House is a big, 2 storey block of rooms, owned by a husband and wife couple. I had a room on the second floor that was huge, airy thanks to the mossy netting covering the slatted windows, and had a much more powerful cold water shower. Perfect! I shot a video of the room I was so impressed.
You can contact Best House by email and phone
I can't vouch for how well either of these places honour email and phone bookings - I'd originally reserved an aircon room at Best House but arrived in the evening to find they'd already sold it. If you don't want to wing looking for accommodation if your booking falls through, making an Koh Lanta hotel online reservation is your best bet, but hotels using online reservation systems tend to be somewhat more expensive. You can also see Koh Lanta hotels that can give you instant confirmation of room availability at Agoda.com, which is handy if you're booking last minute.
Other Travelhappy posts of interest:
- Perhentian Islands, Malaysia: A Quick Guide
- New Flights From Phuket to Koh Phi Phi, Koh Lanta and Krabi
- Koh Tao: It’s Not Just For Scuba Divers Anymore
- Koh Chang Boutique Hotels
- Come Back To Khao Lak
