De Veranio Resort

Ce grand hôtel en bord de mer se trouve à environ une heure de route de Trat, le long d'une anse qui s'avance vers le Cambodge. C'était un véritable paradis caché, avec son ambiance sereine et sa vue imprenable sur le golfe de Thaïlande, sa plage privée immaculée devant l'hôtel, son personnel très sympathique et ses chambres neuves, confortables et spacieuses. De plus, l'hôtel nous a offert un dîner fantastique composé de plusieurs plats délicieux, comme une omelette crémeuse aux fruits de mer, une soupe Tomyum sur riz (189 bahts ; fraîche et très savoureuse), un pavé de saumon sauce pesto (189 bahts), une poitrine de porc braisée au curry et feuilles de Cowa (หมูชะมวง ; cuisine locale = 150 bahts), une carbonara avec un œuf Onsen (extrêmement délicieuse) et un « Bualoy » (dessert thaï ; boulettes de riz à la crème de coco). Le petit-déjeuner était également bon. Le buffet comprenait des plats thaïlandais et américains. N'oubliez pas de goûter le « Bun Duke » (dessert Trat ; pudding de pandanus au sirop de canne à sucre et au lait de coco, garni de cacahuètes moulues). Vraiment relaxant. Je le recommande vivement.

LOCATION The location is very far off and the hotel doesn't offer any transport service aside from picking you up down the street. We corresponded with the hotel before arrival asking for recommendation on how to get there from Trat airport and they simply advised us to get a taxi from there. Lo and behold, taxis didn't exist, even airport staff had no idea how to get ahold of one and we wasted about an hour trying to figure this out and not getting much help from the hotel when we called. The only option ended up being paying for a private ride with a songthaew pickup and they were happy to scam you for it since you'd be stranded otherwise. HOTEL GROUNDS The hotel is located kind of in the middle of nowhere, suitable for those not wanting to go anywhere and just staying put at the resort. You're right up against the edge of the water but there's no actual beach. At sunset, when the tide's low, it's possible to take a walk along the shore. The main pool area is nice and the grounds were tidy enough but a bit lackluster. It was also very dark on the premises in the evening with minimal outdoor lighting. ROOM We stayed in a Pool Villa Beach Front which has a nice, unobstructed sea view. The villa itself was basic and disappointing in a few aspects. The room has the bare minimum, although it's spacious, and the bed was generous and comfortable. They also offered refillable, free snacks and beverages, but they were the exact same ones every day so if you're staying more than a few nights you're over it pretty quickly. The only light sources in the entire villa were two main overhead lights and a faint light strip in the headboard which would flicker and buzz. Not even a bedside light. The air-conditioner couldn't cool down the room during the day. There was also not a proper sofa, just a chaise longue that really only seats one person comfortably while leaning back. The interior design was just a bit off and not well thought-out. Our biggest letdown was the cleanliness. The floors were dusty upon check-in, the chaise longue was totally covered in dirt marks, we used a wet wipe to wipe down the desk and it came out brown, there were even extra pillows in the wardrobe that were heavily stained allover. It was pretty off-putting seeing all of this. Most baffling was, we let housekeeping clean the room everyday and they would arrive with 4-5 people total. You'd think with that many people, it'd be spotless. They'd be in and out in 5 minutes flat, just fluffing and refilling. There's major room for improvement, to say the least. FOOD Breakfast spread was fine with basic options but they would often clean up breakfast early, on a couple of occasions it was an entire hour before the actual end of breakfast time. No matter the circumstance, this shouldn't be done as guests are on vacation and shouldn't feel rushed to get to breakfast. The restaurant menu was limited but food was tasty and high-quality. The chef was also open to making just about any cha