Odds n' Sods

Rock Sand Resort, White Sand Beach

rock sand resort koh chang thailandRock sand Resort is a small resort at the far northern end of White Sand Beach.   Nothing luxurious, although the Penthouse is pretty good, and one of the better budget choices for people willing to walk a few minutes along the beach to reach it.

This video was shot in the rainy season – hence the waves.   Thank’s to Sting and the boys from The Police for supplying the backing track.

3 Comments

  • Sadly the excitement we had for our prepaid stay in the Rock Sand “penthouse” was very disappointing.  They advertise a room range from basic B&B to “luxury rooms”.  In our opinion (we were a group of 1 foreigner and 3 Thais) it would be better described as basic hostel to luxury hostel.

    The walk from the main road to the hotel is nearly impossible at high tide, expect to get wet, so definitely do not plan to check in after 5:00 pm….  It’s a 400-500m walk (my estimate) on the beach ( no road access at all), with the water causing you to walk up through very narrow passages with the waves crashing around your legs and baggage.

    Once there the view is quite perfect, but that’s where it ends.  Food is quite expensive, and the luxury rooms offer little in the the way of luxury.  However the Cambodian staff are excellent, the Dutch owners are not.

    During our stay (which we cut short here by 5 days) we were advised that room cleaning was not standard, that batteries for the non-functioning remote aircon control would be replaced “tomorrow”, they were not, the room safe we were advised to slam when we told the owners it would not lock, I slammed the door but only the batteries popped out, offering their suggestion of slamming was the only offer of assistance we had.

    So to summarize….
    Ants, lots of them
    2 towels left for 4 people
    No control for aircon
    No functiong safe
    Hot water needed reset, staff was unsure how to perform
    No wifi ( we were told that Internet on the island was not functioning, in fact it was)
    No room cleaning in this luxury 2,500 thb/night room
    Room smelled worse than any beach side fan bungalow we had ever stayed in (some as cheap as 400 thb/night)
    Food was appx 7,000 thb for 2 days, 4 people, we brought our own alcohol.

    When we finally requested to check out early the owners offered a “round figure” for refund that deducted about 350 thb from the actual refund required, when I pointed this out, owner said he just liked round numbers.

    Owner looked for the 7,500 thb cash for refund as we checked out, but “didn’t have it” and promised a paypal refund the following day……  Nothing came.

    2 days later I called to ask again and was told the Internet was still out, which was odd as I watched the 2 Dutch owners talk on Skype for about 2 hours at the Internet cafe on the main road. ( I pointed this out to the owners wife, she advised a refund would come asap, OK?!  I pointed out on departure or the same day would be asap, the next day would be polite, but three days for a refund of 7,500 thb from a business?  I don’t understand.

    After frequently traveling all over south east Asia, and especially Thailand my thai wife and I have a new definition of poor service and unimpressive business style, that is rock sand….

    Perhaps a luxury hostel, butbyno means a hotel sorry to say.  Maybe at 45 I’m too old for their antics.

  • Sadly the excitement we had for our prepaid stay in the Rock Sand “penthouse” was very disappointing. They advertise a room range from basic B&B to “luxury rooms”. In our opinion (we were a group of 1 foreigner and 3 Thais) it would be better described as basic hostel to luxury hostel.

    The walk from the main road to the hotel is nearly impossible at high tide, expect to get wet, so definitely do not plan to check in after 5:00 pm…. It’s a 400-500m walk (my estimate) on the beach ( no road access at all), with the water causing you to walk up through very narrow passages with the waves crashing around your legs and baggage.

    Once there the view is quite perfect, but that’s where it ends. Food is quite expensive, and the luxury rooms offer little in the the way of luxury. However the Cambodian staff are excellent, the Dutch owners are not.

    During our stay (which we cut short here by 5 days) we were advised that room cleaning was not standard, that batteries for the non-functioning remote aircon control would be replaced “tomorrow”, they were not, the room safe we were advised to slam when we told the owners it would not lock, I slammed the door but only the batteries popped out, offering their suggestion of slamming was the only offer of assistance we had.

    So to summarize….
    Ants, lots of them
    2 towels left for 4 people
    No control for aircon
    No functiong safe
    No wifi ( we were told that Internet on the island was not functioning, in fact it was)
    No room cleaning in this luxury 2,500 thb/night room
    Room smelled worse than any beach side fan bungalow we had ever stayed in (some as cheap as 400 thb/night)
    Food was appx 7,000 thb for 2 days, 4 people, we brought our own alcohol.

    When we finally requested to check out early the owners offered a “round figure” for refund that deducted about 350 thb from the actual refund required, when I pointed this out, owner said he just liked round numbers.

    Owner looked for the 7,500 thb cash for refund as we checked out, but “didn’t have it” and promised a paypal refund the following day…… Nothing came.

    2 days later I called to ask again and was told the Internet was still out, which was odd as I watched the 2 Dutch owners talk on Skype for about 2 hours at the Internet cafe on the main road. ( I pointed this out to the owners wife, she advised a refund would come asap, OK?! I pointed out on departure or the same day would be asap, the next day would be polite, but three days for a refund of 7,500 thb from a business? I don’t understand.

    After frequently traveling all over south east Asia, and especially Thailand my thai wife and I have a new definition of poor service and unimpressive business style, that is rock sand….

    Perhaps a luxury hostel, butbyno means a hotel sorry to say. Maybe at 45 I’m too old for their antics.

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Koh Chang Island Guide For Independent Travellers