Summer at Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach

Accommodation in Ao Nang Beach – the beach tourists flock to when in Krabi – seems to be on 2 extremes. There are the budget friendly ones along the main street of Ao Nang Beach, and the established but pricey resorts further away. Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach sits comfortably in the middle (literally). Here’s my experience of this mid-range accommodation right smack in Ao Nang Beach, Krabi.

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TLDR

Pros

• Good location (near beach, on a hillside away from the bustle);
• Full amenities and plenty of staff;
• No bugs despite being nestled on mountainside.

Cons

• Room cleanliness was fair;
• Shower lotion was parsley;
• Building 6 not disabled friendly

The main activity centre of Krabi’s famed beach huddles along a road that stretches about 2km from Ao Nang Beach itself. Most of the buildings were low-rise and dated. Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach sits on a sprawling compound off the main road that offers visitors both convenience and privacy of a resort. The resort was refurbished from a failed venture that opened during the pandemic. Therefore, everything was still bright and new.

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Overview

Room Number: 6611
Room Type: Family Sea View with Balcony (One king bed + one bunk bed)

Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach At a Glance

With such an expansive compound, Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach is able to offer a wide variety of room types. They have: Sea View, Garden View and Pool View, with each type having sub-variants at each tier. For sea view, they even have a variant that overlooked the main road, as opposed to mine that was deep within the resort on a hillside.

In the family room that I stayed in, there was a king size bed and a bunk bed at a corner. There was also a round lounging couch that was big enough for a family to laze on.

The room opened to the balcony that overlooked the entire resort, with the famed Krabi coastline in the distance. They had 2 chairs and a coffee table, ideal for folks who wanted to sip coffee while watching the sunset.

As for the bathroom, other than the lack of a bathtub, it was pretty equipped and well stocked. Yes, with toiletries, bathrobes, bathroom slippers and the likes of hairdryer provided, one only needed to bring very personal stuff like facial products.

Amenities wise, Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach has enough to keep guests entertained without stepping out of its compounds. It has a large swimming pool, accompanied by a children’s pool, and surrounded by plenty of sundecks. This made the pool a very ideal corner for families to enjoy quality time. Considering that the pool was surrounded by plenty of greenery, the pool was very clean and free from dead leaves or insects. There was a pool bar that seemed to be operating only a few hours a day. For the 4 days that I was there, I only found it open once.

Breakfast Buffet at Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach

The in-hotel restaurant, which was also open to the public. Since the resort was perched on the hillside, the alfresco section of the restaurant was terraced.In the morning, it served international buffet breakfast to hotel guests, while serving a la carte meals the rest of the day.

The buffet breakfast spread included Thai favorites like pineapple fried rice, Western food like bacon and omelette, Chinese cuisine like chicken rice and Indian curry. That was on top of the standard fare like coffee machines, fruits and cereals. They also changed their menu (for some items) everyday, which was great for those of us who likes to sleep in and don’t want to walk long distances for breakfasts while on holidays.

As the restaurant practiced free seating, the tables got cleared away and taken up by other guests if everyone is away from the table. Apparently, this was so common that similar complaints were all over trip review websites. Therefore, I arrived for breakfast before 8am, beating the crowd, and hence saved myself from the awkward situation of not finding my seat again after I went for my refills.

Dinner at Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach

I also had dinner at the hotel restaurant on my first evening there. The menu was rather extensive, ranging from Thai to Western cuisine. We ordered Pad Thai, Fish and Chips, and Crab Cakes. The Pad Thai was topped with gigantic fried prawns. However, the prawns were rather bland. The glass noodles itself were decent, so the only saving grace was the huge serving. 

They used a local fish type for the Fish and Chips, instead of the usual dory. Unfortunately, it has a rather strong fishy smell. It was also challenging to chew on the fish as it was wrapped in thick and hard batter. As such, it was something that one can give a miss.

The Crab Cakes were the highlight of the evening. Coated in light bread crumbs batter, the cakes tasted rich in seafood flavour. It was apparent that the chef wasn’t holding back when preparing the crab meat paste. They were good on its own, or when dipped into the accompanying tangy sauce.

On weekends, there were live performances. However, the singing was far from ideal. It felt more like a comedy show than live singing. Nonetheless, it livened up the atmosphere for an otherwise rainy evening.

There were some eating places near the hotel that served better food at a lower price. Therefore, I’d recommend dining here only if you are tired after a late arrival.

Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach Hotel Layout

As mentioned, the resort was expansive and sat on the hillside. Therefore, the multiple blocks of accommodation were spread out. For example, I was in the tower block (Block 6), which was the furthest from the entrance, but also rather high up on the hill. On check-in, they ferried me to my room on a buggy. I assume the buggy was available on request. However, I wasn’t interested in spending time waiting for it. 

Getting to and from the tower block required covering a few flight of stairs down to the pool area, and then a lift ride down to the reception. Since the reception itself was also on a slope, there was still some walking before one reaches the main road. For those with walking difficulties and young children, the tower block is definitely not the one to choose, else you’d be constantly spending time waiting for the buggy.

Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach Room Types

At booking, there were also room options like “Garden View”, “Mountain View” and “Pool View” available for reservation. Online, travellers were saying that the “Sea View” was split into one at the tower block (where I stayed) and one off the road (facing the pubs across the road). 

Speaking about views, the “Sea View” from my tower room in the tower block was impeccable. The iconic rock formation was right before my eyes as I stepped onto the balcony. The expansive sea view stretched out to the right. As the room faced Southwest, the sunset, though not visible, showered the sea with glittering sparkles in the evening. It was quite a view to behold.

Neighbourhood and Location of Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach

Location wise, the resort was about 200m from the beach. It was also flanked by eating places, bars, massage places and convenience stores. Therefore, I would say Holiday Inn Ao Nang is set in a very ideal location.

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However, the entire compounds was open to public. There wasn’t card access to the guest rooms too. While Krabi isn’t like the West full of homeless and druggies who would enter hotels to hassle guests, it would still be a good idea to lock your door at night. Who knows if a drunk guest would mistake your room for his?

Generally, the hotel is great for exploring Krabi and resting for the night. Even if you feel like taking it slow, the amenities were plentiful too. The rooms were comfortable and the sea view rooms offered superb views. The aircon was strong for one to hide from the scorching tropical heat. 

Not So Good

One thing to note was that the housekeeping wasn’t top notch. The wooden floor felt oily from the excessive sunscreen left behind by past travellers. The bedsheets weren’t changed daily too.

Adding to that, the hotel also chose to use plant based products for the shower gel and such, though they probably overlooked the fact that parsley is something that a significant proportion of the population hates. There was a deliberate effort to be environmentally conscious, but certain elements tend to be over-woke and implemented without much thoughts. 

There was an incident that made me feel split about their service. A few days before the trip, I noticed via the IHG app that my room was changed from “Sea View Twin Room Balcony” room to “Sea View Family Room”. Technically, it was a one-category upgrade that was one of the benefits of an IHG Platinum Elite member. I was also impressed that they upgraded me beforehand; other hotels waited till the point of check-in. However, it was really weird that they would upgrade a guest whose travel history was traditionally a “twin room” into a “family room”.

Parting Words

Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach didn’t just bank on its great location in the middle of Ao Nang Beach. They had spacious rooms with varying room types to suit all traveller types and budgets. The rooms were also well furnished and equipped with toiletries.

Its sprawling compounds also housed a clean swimming pool, gym and restaurant. That made it a great place to recharge after a day out at the beach.

The hotel did have parts that didn’t quite meet expectations here and there. However, those weren’t significant enough to ruin a holiday. Between splurging on a luxury resort that’s far from Ao Nang Beach to having the convenience of Holiday Inn Ao Nang Beach, the latter is definitely a steal.

Till then, stay wanderlust!

All photos and videos were taken using Google Pixel 4a, and edited with Google Photos.

How to Get there

Holiday Inn Resort Krabi Ao Nang Beach

244, Ao Nang, Krabi, 81180, Thailand
https://www.ihg.com/holidayinnresorts/hotels/us/en/krabi/kbvab/hoteldetail
+6675637635