Gaja Puri Resort & Spa Koh Chang

What could and should have been an excellent hotel was frankly not up to standard. The rooms were really good, but the facilities on offer were very poor. This hotel is in a good location but with no beachfront to speak of - so no loungers on the beach. I finally managed to obtain sunloungers and umbrellas by the pool. The request was met with surprise. The staff were all very good but unusually for Thailand, the service was not good. Nobody seemed able to make a decision. The resort was pretty empty and other people who came did not stay long and also complained about the lack of service and facilities. The pool pump broke down and was not fixed for two days - resulting in green water unsafe for children to swim in. The mini bars were not restocked, one night they had no wine at the pool bar and very often there was no-one on hand at the pool bar at all. The other small cafe at the bar was closed so if any food was ordered it had to come from the main restaurant and was invariably cold. We were staying for nine nights and had pre-paid otherwise we would have gone to another resort. It is such a pity - the Gajapuri could be so beautiful but they really need to have good management and experienced staff and to have some idea of what tourists actually want. It is no good saying it was low season - I had to explain that for Europeans, it is the only time of year when they are able to bring their children in the summer holidays. I only wish the resort well - our holiday was spoiled by the number of times we had to keep asking for things to be fixed or set up. I had stayed in Koh Samui two years ago and had so much better service. To make matters even worse and after all the problems all the guests had encountered, just as we were leaving, they accused us of taking a laundry bag! They really did not understand how to run a hotel business and no wonder they were so empty.