We had a wonderful stay in mid Jan 2026. Read below for more details and why we give it 4 out of 5 stars. (The hotel itself is excellent, but it cooperates with a venue to which we cannot give 5 stars for a few reasons, the beachfront restaurant/cafe/club, which creates the impression to be part of the hotel, but has a different (likely French owner). We are lowering the rating to 4 stars, hoping that the owners review their cooperation with this venue and the terms of their agreement.)
The hotel is excellent, so is the staff! The rooms are very good and the pool view with the sunset furthervaway were a bonus. Everyone is very attentive, from the reception (Hasma and all other young women at the reception), to the tuk-tuk car drivers, from the breakfast service (we found the manager of the breakfast excellent and very communicative, also Gun at the olimpic pool area who runs endlessly all day, and the staff at NOOK restaurant we visitted twice for dinner were exceptional), to room service, from the SPA staff who are also very helpful (we used it twice) to staff of wellness indoors water treatment. The ladies at the wellness centre (SPA area) are excellent. They have golden hands; the massage sessions were quite good (I left a review about Pang and Mo, but the second time we had another lady who was also excellent). Very professional and well trained. They use several types of aromatherapy oil (I bought one). The packages are quite expensive (european prices - this was not a nice surprise!) compared to massage offered outside. However we chose these sessions as opposed to services outside, because we preferred the hygiene and commodities of the hotel facilities and the extra bonuses ( variety oils, neat service, etc). The water circuit treatment sessions add a very special a bonus to your stay (we loved particularly the steamroom with the special scent and the floating experience).
Regarding staff, the owners (Thai mother and daughter) or management have selected and trained them very well. I strained a leg muscle two days before leaving; we received an extra personalized attention by nearly everyone! Such a wonderful treatment!
The quality of the meals: excellent! Drinks: very good! However, the fresh coconut is quite expensive compared to local prices (probably they get it from the Beach Club Klong Muang - mentioned above, as they cooperate continuously). It will cost you around 200-250 baht, meanwhile in the local market you may find it for 20 baht. We found this somehow greedy.
The prices at the restsurants of the hotel are quite acceptable. The European/Western food however, is more expensive, but cheaper than in Europe. Funny enough, the pizza is one of the most expensive (around 18 Euro). The menu has many options - Thai, Chinese, European. The menu at the beach Club is similar. Some prices are unreasonable compared to the local restaurants. However, it is the rental prices of the cabanas and beanbeds (not hygienic), which can increase the bill considerably. The environment is beautiful, but we foun the prices too greedy. (Greedy and expensive are different concepts!) The pool unfortunately collects guests, a category of them, which exhibit behaviours marked by inappropriate acts. Unfortunately they kill the relaxing vibe. The music is quite nice, but can get too loud (the DJs are good). When accompanied by running alcohol all day long and weed/marijuana smoked frequently at the area of the beanbeds, adjacent to the tables where food is served, the guests tend to exhibit behaviour that exceeds certain boundaries. These images do not fit a hotel which we chose as a wellness hotel. The beach club is owned by someone (possibly Frenchman) who walks around all day and leads the guests to the cabanas and beanbeds he rents; he supervises the restaurant staff and DJs continuously, he is also seen frequently at the hotel. This collaboration and seemly attentive service can be revised and stretched to guarantee a different service and thereby a different image to Varana hotel, which strives to keep its image as a wellness hotel.
We discovered that Varana Hotel has also a seemingly sister hotel, Tubkaak Boutique Resort a few minutes away. Visit it for dinner or have a day passusing the hotel free shuttle. We did twice. We loved the gardens and the sunsets! Somehow both hotels complement each other.
