The Sands Khao Lak by Katathani

We have just returned from a family holiday staying at The Sands and we have had a fantastic time. The rooms were beautiful, really comfy beds. The facility were spotless. Food and cocktails were delicious. The service and staff need a special mention as from the moment we arrived until we left the staff could not have been more helpful. Special mention for all the staff in the gym, Queen, Martin 7, Cartoon and God

Great for families, huge kids water park, and very good indoor child play centre. We booked 5 rooms for 2 grandparents, 4 parents, and 6 grandchildren aged 22 yo to 1 yo. Family said gym was well equiped , but needed cooler air condition. Breakfast also good, and all staff beautiful, as you expect in “ the land of smiles”. HOWEVER..one terrible experience at evening banquet which runs from 6-10 pm. We arrived about 7 pm, and all bay marie containers near empty. When we complained, more food started arriving, but was literally cold e.g. large chunks of flavoured butter in one dish hadn’t even melted, let alone help cook and flavour the meat. Charged 790 baht, not worth 70 baht!

Literally just got back yesterday morning from 11 days in the sands katathani. First time to this hotel and khao lak, but second visit overall to thailand. We are a family of 4, 2 kids aged 10 and 7, and I have to say we all had a really good time!. Yes the weather can be abit hit and miss at this time of year but we really touched lucky. Anyway to the hotel. We had a family swim up room which I thought was great considering towards the end of the day you can relax on your patio area while the kids are literally feet away from you in the pool insted of the main pool. Ovbsiously your room can get wet an you can feel the moisture sometimes in the room but its just a product of this time of years weather and humidity. But the room was good, a tad dated in certain parts but its a room to sleep in and get ready, no big deal. And I would recommend it for family. The main pool has a couple of slides, a small lazy river which alternate being open and closed as it must be the same staff running the both again they are okay for the kids to keep busy that pool also has a swim up bar with 2 restaurants very close by. Walk down towards the beach you go past a small adults only pool, and ither family pool that does not have slides but seemed quieter and more modern area with lots of loungers on the grass areas near the beach front with again 2 more restaurants close by to that area. There is a gym there which looked modern and new and a pool table with table tennis which I only discovered on the last day! 😱. The beach had red flags out most of the time while we was there again just the nature of the time of year. We still had a walk down the beach once or twice an it was lovely. There is a mini mart on site which sells everything and I found to be very cheap considering it was a hotel shop. But come out of your hotel at the top of the hill turn right walking distance to a number of shops, restaurants, bars and 7-11s including a McDonald's for kids. And a restaurant called Thai jasmine. Highly recommended. Tuk tuks available everywhere which I would suggest taking to the night markets which are open 3x a week but again that area is surrounded by shops, restaurants and bars including coco restaurant again top draw. To get there up the ramp out of the hotel Turn left. 6mins in a tuk tuk Overall we really enjoyed the hotel and our holiday. The staff couldn't do enough with any request you came to them with. Inc ordering things for room over the app like different pillows or softer mattresses for your room down to extra hangers for wardrobe. Thanks for a brilliant time.

A great location and service was always attentive. The facilities are great, all of the pools and the grounds are so well kept. The rooms are lovely, spacious and clean. We had a swim up room and it was a great facility when you need down time but the kids still want to swim. Local bard and restaurants are really good and all walking distances. The shuttle and taxi service is a fabulous asset to the hotel- it should be showcased with the options more, even if it's just the taxi to the market or recommended short self led trips to the local areas. Yes the beer and food is more expensive than out in the shops but it's a resort?

This was the fourth and final stop on our family trip to Thailand, and we had 2 twin rooms between us. They were the standard rooms, and are quite large with a balcony and good sized bathroom. Our rooms were on the third floor, quite near the reception. There were better (read more expensive) rooms on the ground floor which access a semi private pool directly outside the rooms. A compromise might be to ask for the rooms near the adult pool, or overlooking the lake, as they would be more convenient for the pools and restaurants and with nicer views. There are plenty of pool options. We avoided the extensive family pools as our kids were both teens. The ones we spent time at were well kept and had a swim up bar. Unlike the other hotels we'd spent time at in Thailand, this one was busy, being a firm favourite with the aussies. They lived up to their reputations of liking a drink. Breakfast was extensive, and decent, if not amazing. We ate at the pool bar quite a lot, and the chips and questadias were recommended, as were the happy hour cocktails (£3). We only ate dinner at the hotel one night, as £20 per head for the buffet is quite pricey compared to other local options. The buffet was fairly good, with steak and prawns among the choices on the night we went, and lots of stuff on hotplates. Other themed nights did Italian, Thai etc. It was about on a par with the Turkish all inclusives, if you've been there. My personal tip is to ask the chefs to make you some fresh stuff, as they did me a thinly sliced sirloin, and also a nutella thai pancake fresh, which were a big improvement over the ones that had been hanging around for a while We'd actually recommend eating locally as the value and quality was better, albeit that all the restaurants are on either side of a busy highway/ road. We took a taxi to the night market one night (£5 each way) and found the vibe around there better and more relaxed, so thats worth thinking about for a change of scenery. All in all, it does what it says on the tin. Not boutique, not amazing, but a solid option.