Saii Phi Phi Island Village

PLEASE AVOID THIS RESORT AND STAY ANYWHERE ELSE! NOT AT ALL A 5 STAR HOTEL! UNETHICAL AND UNSAFE PRACTICES. We booked Saii Phi Phi for the last half of our 2 week honeymoon and it was a true mistake! When we originally booked in October, the reviews on tripadvisor appeared mostly good but oddly as I started to look at reviews in December I started to notice the majority of new reviews were extremely negative. Please read the negative reviews as it appears the recent positive reviews are from guests who had a particular pleasant experience with a staff member which is not an accurate representation of the full experience at Saii. Saii Phi Phi is all a facade! If you live in reality and not through Instagram pictures this place is not at all what it’s advertised as. Initially, we were hopeful but realized this was all a part of the facade. To get to Saii you get shuttled in on a speedboat for a little over an hour looking at amazing views on the way. Once we arrived at Saii we were greeted by a band that sang and played the guitar as we got off the boat. Our boat was full with I would say close to 15 passengers. When we got off to check in there weren’t enough employees working and capable of checking all the guests in that they have to boat into the resort..so you have to wait and there are guests from the previous boat that still have to check in . Our wait was reasonable since we got off the boat first but I can’t imagine how long the others had to wait. We were welcomed with a non-alcoholic pina colada and a cold washcloth. Since it was a hot humid day I decided to put the washcloth on my face, which I then realized had some type of fragrance sprayed on it (I’ll get back to this). We then were told our room was ready and a buggy (golf cart) would take us to our villa. It was high in the hills and completely secluded from the rest of the resort. We entered our ocean view hillside villa which is one of the higher tier rooms to book at Saii, we went all out booking this room since it was our honeymoon. Immediately, after walking into our villa my heart sank. The villa was severely outdated, dark, dingy, and infested with insects. Our honeymoon setup was them taking leaves from outside and writing “Happy Honeymoon Saii Phi Phi” in silver permanent marker. This was completely not at all what they advertised through their pictures on their website, TripAdvisor, and Instagram. We were obviously scammed. Every insect you could think of that lives outdoors was inside our villa. There were flies all over our windows, ants all over the floor, fruit flies flying around. We were absolutely disgusted and didn’t feel comfortable taking anything out of our luggage bags. So, we called the reception to see what they could do about the issue and were told someone will come and spray insect repellent and get rid of the bugs in our room. Several minutes later one of the employees that speaks no English comes in with an aerosol can of insect spray, we try and communicate where all the bugs are but they’re literally everywhere and it’s hard to communicate. He sprays our windows a little and a specific area in the hallway where all the ants were. Not surprisingly, this did not solve the problem and the insects still came back in. We tried to make the best out of the room when we realized our whole entire bathroom (vanity, sink, shower) was completely outdoors. The actual toilet was literally in the middle of the outdoors and it was hot and muggy because it was outdoors. Per the Saii Phi Phi website there is no mention about the bathroom being outdoors. I was under the impression that the pictures of the bathroom give the aesthetic that it’s outdoors because there is actual mention on the website that the bathtub is indoors so I thought that was just an aesthetic design they were going for and not that the whole bathroom was actually outside. While my husband showered there was a huge millipede in the shower with him and at that point we had enough. The hotel should uphold a level of honesty, integrity, and standards. They should have some level of control over the severe and to be honest disgusting insect problems in the villas. They should be honest about the service and quality that they are providing. We should not have to experience the equivalent of the amount of insects that live outside inside our villa, that is NOT why we paid $5,256.89 for 5 nights. We weren’t given the chance to make an informed decision about our stay given the real condition of the resort. I called again and asked if we could switch rooms to a more updated room that I saw some of the 5 star reviewers on TripAdvisor stayed in. The woman at the reception desk just laughed at me. I wasn’t sure if this was because her English wasn’t very good and so we were having difficulties communicating. I asked if I could speak with someone who spoke a little more English so I could communicate the insect infestation, the outdoor bathroom, and need to switch rooms. Because they aren’t able to have one phone conversation there are a series of back and forth calls that happened. I received a call from the assistant manager Nora who stated that there is nothing they can do about the insects because Saii is a “lifestyle” hotel and our villa is in the jungle. I’m not naive to the fact that there are going to be bugs in the area and in our room but it’s a horrible and sorry excuse to say having an infestation of insects in our room was our choice since we chose the “lifestyle” hotel. Nora was extremely unhelpful and only wanted to push her agenda to not inconvenience the hotel but instead inconvenience us while keeping our money. She did not want to work to accommodate a potential room switch. I was completely frustrated and on the verge of tears when I asked for a full refund of our stay so that we can go to another hotel. Nora further pushed her and the hotel’s overall bottom line agenda of greed by telling us there are no refunds while constantly cutting me off or ignoring me when I would ask for a refund. After a significant amount of back and forth she then told me there was a room available that we could take a look at. After about 2 hours of back and forth phone calls and placing me on hold I was over the hotel, they were ruining our honeymoon and didn’t care. If they were able to make that decision and could care less about us I figured I would do the same. I demanded a refund and that I speak to someone higher than her. I told them I was coming down to the lobby and I expected to speak with the manager, to which Nora was able to make happen. We were greeted by Nora who took her phone out to show us pictures from the hotel’s website of the hotel bathroom showing us that it looks outdoors. Meanwhile, we showed her where directly underneath the picture it says the bathtub is indoors, when it’s not. No where in the information does it say the bathroom is completely outdoors. After meeting with the manager- Lee, he was super kind and understanding. He could see the look of disappointment and sadness on my face. Lee let us know he understood that the website said the bathtub is indoors and that there are bugs everywhere in the room. I let him know we came to Saii Phi Phi to have great memories of our honeymoon not to argue and be uncomfortable with where we’re staying. Lee completely understood and told us he would see what he could do. In the end he offered us a full refund of our stay to book somewhere else but as we were talking he stated he had an oceanview junior deluxe suite that opened up if we wanted to take a look because he really wanted us to stay. My husband and I said we would take a look. The room was significantly better, updated, with an indoor bathroom and no insect infestation. Given it took us over an hour by boat to get to the resort and we would have to find another resort and do the whole transfer again we decided to take the room. Lee also offered us a meal comp at the restaurant that night because he felt badly and wanted to make things right. We settled into our room and went to the seafood buffet that we were treated to. When we got there no one knew our meal was on the house when they brought the check. We tried to communicate that with the worker but again that was difficult. She finally understood what we were saying and brought us another check with a charge and said “this is for the water.” We just asked for regular water when we sat down. This is when I realized Saii Phi Phi is such a scam. As paying guests at what is supposed to be a five star hotel we should have free access to clean drinking water, it’s a basic human right. If I made the decision to stay in a rural area without access to clean water and not having paid over $5,000 I wouldn’t expect free clean drinking water. But, that’s not the case in this situation. Saii provides 4 reusable glass bottles that aren’t very big for your rooms only. There is one small water refill dispenser in the lobby and one in the gym that DOES NOT WORK. If you ask for water at the pool, beach, restaurant, anywhere other than your room they charge you for the water all while not providing adequate access to free clean drinking water. Other unsafe practices: - No one ever changes the color for the flags indicating how dangerous the waves are. The flags are always green even when the waves were clearly more dangerous between times in the day and between days. For all 5 days we stayed the flags were always green. Literally, impossible. - The treadmills in the gym are dangerous! They’re clearly so old and have never had any maintenance on them. One of the treadmills had no tread on it anymore and was so slippery I couldn’t run on it out of safety concerns. The treadmill next to it did not have an emergency key attached to it anymore. - I ended up getting some kind of contact dermatitis on my face from the cold washcloth we were given when we arrived. We went to the gift shop that didn’t have the most basic hydrocortisone cream. I was told to see the “nurse” who didn’t have any either. I saw that she had triamcinolone so I asked for that although I didn’t want to start with a moderate potency steroid cream on my face if I had a choice. She wasn’t able to offer any advice on the cream. As a nurse practitioner myself I was fortunate that I was able to treat myself. If the gift shop and nurse lack basic medical supplies and knowledge I have no confidence they would be equipped in other medical situations. This is concerning given they are on an island and the closest medical facility is 30 minutes away by boat. Other concerns: - the gym is filthy, it’s never cleaned, restocked, and checked in on. It’s so dark in the room because of the minimal light they provide. - Housekeeping barely cleans the rooms not to mention 2/5 days we were there we had to ask them to come because it was 3pm and they hadn’t come all day. When they do come they do very minimal cleaning. - There are never any beach towels stocked and no one that helps you get them. They don’t bother to restock them ever. - There is no pool service, no one that asks if you want to order food or drinks. There is no one that cleans up wet towels left on the ground or chairs. - Someone’s hair extension fell off in the pool and it just sat there all day. Again, no one checks in on the pool area. - We have had a great time in Thailand with everyone being so friendly and accommodating. It was a shock that the staff at the resort are the complete opposite. Maybe it’s because they’re overworked and stretched thin trying to accommodate for all the guests that they clearly are unable to accommodate at the resort. The good: - Lee the manager was truly compassionate and did what he could. It appears his capabilities are limited but he works hard to do what he can. He truly deserves a raise or a promotion. - Tanya one of the workers in the reception area is a role model of how all the employees should act. She was genuine and sincere trying to help answer basic questions. She was always accommodating and understanding. On our last night she called us just to check in and see how our experience at Tonsai was. She said she wouldn’t be able to say goodbye in person so she wanted to say bye over the phone. She is a true example of top notch hospitality. All in all I hope guests are able to make an informed decision after this review as I wish so much that we had the opportunity. At the end of the day this is our lives, memories, and hard working money we pay for our vacations. Read less

Highly recommend!! I had an absolutely wonderful experience at Saii Phi Phi Island Village. The staff was exceptionally friendly and attentive, always ensuring that every detail was taken care of, especially thanks to Mr. Woody. The rooms were spotlessly clean and provided such a cozy and relaxing atmosphere. The amenities, from the delicious breakfast to the well-maintained facilities, were excellent. I was especially impressed by the attention to detail and how accommodating everyone was. Thank you for making my visit so enjoyable! Read less

This resort property is beautiful, but it feels like a front and everything is mediocre at best. Prepare to be nickle-and-dimed (not the experience you would expect). Each restaurant onsite is overpriced, especially considering that the quality of the food and service are totally lacking. Our honeymoon dinner on the beach was not good, took over two hours to get through three courses and the dessert promised to be delivered to our room never arrived. The highlight of the resort is the local village immediately behind the facilities where there is MUCH better food and much friendlier people. Says something when the best part of the resort… isn’t the resort at all. Currently waiting 30 minutes just to check out… Read less