Le Meridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort Takua Pa

Day 5 - checked out of Andaman Beach Suites, waited for our private driver to Khao Lak. We booked 2 nights at Le Meridien Beach & Spa Resort, let me tell you... this place is like paradise, it has its own private beach, the rooms are the best ones I've seen by far. It truly deserves its 5 star rating. We checked in, dumped our bags in our room then proceeded to look for Le Spa to have our pampering done. Booked a 2 hour session which included 1 hour Thai massage and 1 hour body scrub (2,400THB/$109) while Nesse had a 3 hour session that included 1 hour swiss massage, facial and body scrub (3,800THB/$172). I know it's a rip off but we figured, we're on a holiday, we're at a 5 star resort, why not go all out? Hehehe. After the pampering session, we got ready for a night out in the main town centre. Took the shuttle bus, costs 200baht for a return trip. We shopped, ate dinner and had our manicure/pedicure done... also tried that banana roti for dessert (YUM YUM).

Day 6 - Breakfast was at Cafe Lillawadee, it was the most expensive breakfast I've ever had. $40 per person... luckily we had 50% discount on all food & beverages ... we went 3 times, the sausages & fried rice were simply divine and the pastries were to-die-for. We planned on checking out Khao Lak, see the Tsunami memorial, go to the national parks but decided not to and spent the entire morning lounging at the beach. Collected seashells (planned to sneak them back to Australia) and chased crabs (hahah they were so elusive). One thing that was a let down for this resort was it's not a place for singles or young people, it's a place for complete relaxation and for honeymooners/couples. We spent the entire two days missing our bfs and wishing they were there with us. We certainly got a lot of looks, they probably thought we were lesbians. LOL Anyway, we also had mixed feelings about our stay there, it was 99% caucasians, the only other asians were the 4 korean couples and us. In one hand, we felt "rich, special and important" because we could "afford" to stay at a place like this and on the other hand, we felt bad for the people working there, it just seemed like they were slaves to the "white" people. Hmmmm... Ness & I discussed this throughout our stay there, don't get me wrong, we can't fault the place... as I said before, it's paradise! We had dinner at Cafe Lillawadee, opted out of the seafood buffet (kinda regretting it now though, it just looked sooo delicious), ordered ala carte instead. It took 1 hour for our pasta to arrive. >_< But thankfully they kept the olive bread & bread sticks coming. We also ordered antipasto platter, we thought it'd look like the ones served here in Aus but it was just prosciutto and melon balls. *sigh* The staff were so helpful, they noticed us slapping ourselves silly so they brought insect repellant for us. Such angels, I tell you. LOL

Day 7 - Checked out of Le Meridien, we booked a driver to take us to Phuket Airport, costs 1,500baht ($71). This is the only driver who came, not on time, but EARLY! So we tipped him an additional 100baht.

That was just a copy & paste job from my Thailand JBR. I'll add a few things, we've requested twin beds but got a king bed. We requested to be transferred or have the bed separated but that didn't happen. They gave us two blankets instead and more pillows so my friend and I can have some kind of divider. As I said, I doubt they cater for singles... only couples! The beach is perfect if you're after relaxation, it's pretty far from the main town. One of their restaurants (I think the steakhouse) was undergoing reburbishments, don't know if that's still the case. All in all, a great place to stay. I would definitely go back there again & take advantage of Star Hot rates! hehehe