The TreeHouse Villas on Koh Yao Noi promise luxurious tree house flair, but between a bumpy arrival, a mediocre check-in and little privacy on the terrace, the concept doesn’t quite hit the mark. If you’re looking for exceptional accommodation without children and can overlook the minor flaws, you’ll still find a charming hideaway in Thailands Phang Nga Bay.
Review #54
Inhalt
Location
Like the Cape Kudu and the Six Senses, the Treehouse Villas are located in Thailand’s Phang Nah Bay on the island of Kho Yao Noi, which is the northernmost of the two Kho Yao islands. You can only get here if you have booked a public ferry or a private transfer directly with the hotel or if you have a four-wheel drive car that can cope with the hilly landscape. If you travel overland from the public ferry terminal to the hotel, you will literally be driving over hill and dale.
Getting there
As we traveled from the Cape Kudu Hotel, the only option was a transfer by car, as you are not allowed to take a private boat to the resort.
However, if you come regularly from mainland Phuket by minivan and speedboat, it will cost you 1500 THB per person. At the Anantara Koh Yao Yai, however, the transfer was included, although the accommodation price there was cheaper than here.
How to get to the resort
We arrived by cab from Cape Kudu at a fixed price of 800 THB and were allowed to wait here in a kind of a bus stop for the buggy that the TreeHouse Villas share with the neighboring hotel Kho Yao Paradise. The neighboring hotel belongs to the same owner and is located on the same property. We informed staff that we were ready to get picked up, nothing happened for the first 20 minutes and we stood here in the wilderness, somewhat lost in the landscape.
Check-in
After the buggy picked us up, we drove the short distance to the open lobby. The trainee from French-speaking Switzerland, who had only started two weeks before our arrival, then carried out the check-in and let me tell you: it didn’t go so smoothly. We had to ask about all sorts of things and inclusive services, locations etc, because that was only explained very sparingly. We only found out when and where breakfast would be served when we asked.
In our opinion, we should have had a hike included, as we had booked through Hyatt at the Mr. and Mrs. Smith Hotels, but unfortunately this was not mentioned at all. We then had to write our credit card details on a piece of paper for the deposit and not enter the pin into a terminal as usual – that was also a bit like the Stone Age.
TreeHouse Villas at a glance
As already mentioned, the TreeHouse Villas share the grounds with Koh Yao Paradise, but this has nothing to do with the Treehouse itself. The sister hotel is more of a classic bungalow hotel, while the TreeHouse Villas, as the name suggests, mainly focuses on its own villas, so-called tree houses.
We were driven to our tree house by buggy from reception. To be honest, this was actually totally unnecessary as the resort really isn’t that big and you can actually get everywhere in a maximum of five minutes on foot.
The resort has a total of 31 villas, 25 of which are classic tree houses and six beach villas, which are logically located in the first row on the beach.
Villa
The tree houses are therefore the lower category after the beach villas and extend from the second row further back up the slope. While we also have two floors and the levels are arranged one above the other, the Beach Villas have their levels next to each other and therefore only have a first floor.
In terms of size, however, all the tree houses have the same size of around 100 square meters and ours was number 305.
Quelle: treehouse-villas.com
Welcome
We start with the upper and therefore air-conditioned floor. There is a desk here as soon as you walk in, on which the invitation to the management cocktail was already lying on arrival. Very cool, this would be the third management cocktail we have had, after the Alila Villas Uluwatu Bali and the Cape Kudu. As a further welcome gift, we were given some local fruit.
There is also a tablet on the desk with various information about the hotel.
Living- and bedroom – upper floor
The minibar is also located in the entrance area. Soft drinks were free of charge both up here and on the lower floor, where another minibar is located.
There are also postcards right next to the door, which can be used and written on free of charge and sent – but then for a fee.
In the middle of the upper floor was the bed, which was really super comfortable. There was also another canopy between the air conditioning and the bed, so that the cold from the air conditioning didn’t blow directly onto us and we didn’t get a stiff neck straight away. Really good!
Apart from that, there were a total of four pillows and two decorative pillows, which were put aside for the turndown service.
Bathroom
The free-standing bathtub in a hammock style, which we found really cool, can be separated off with a potential curtain to the right of the bed. The bricks used as flooring looked good, but didn’t necessarily give us the luxury feeling that I would have expected here and that the hotel is also trying to convey. The rain shower is right next to the only washbasin with a basin. The toilet is installed behind the rain shower.
Up here, it’s more of a circular route from the entrance past the bed towards the bathroom. There, this rondel ends next to the toilet with an open closet. It holds bathrobes, flip-flops, slippers and a bag for the beach – we always think that’s great at resorts like this one.
Turndown
As already mentioned, there is also a turndown service in the TreeHouse Villas. Here the curtains were drawn and the bed was transformed into a four-poster bed!
View
There is a very small balcony on the second floor, which you can reach via folding doors. There are two chairs there and the view is directly out to sea. Unfortunately, we couldn’t really enjoy the view up here, as construction work was taking place on the neighboring tree house diagonally in front of us on the right-hand side of the picture. This created a noise disturbance that prevented us from relaxing quietly on the balcony.
Terrace – lower floor
You can easily access the lower level via a small bridge from the entrance, but unfortunately you have relatively little privacy there. You have your own small whirlpool with loungers, but the neighboring guests could watch us bathing and relaxing from the tree house next door if they wanted to.
The houses are spread out quite well across the property and the entrances are positioned so that the other guests can’t see the lower floors of the other villas – but unfortunately that didn’t work out very well. Basically, it would have been really great if the tree houses had been placed a little further apart. Apart from that, the view from down here is really great and the fact that every tree house has its own whirlpool is really super.
And of course there was also construction site noise from across the road. You can certainly see the privacy screen in the picture below, but of course it didn’t help against the noise pollution.
This construction site right in front of us was annoying, as the resort was far from fully booked in October 2024 and there would certainly have been another place for us. In the end, however, we had no major ambitions to change the tree house again for an overnight stay.
There is also a hanging swing and a minibar downstairs, of which all soft drinks were included in our rate, similar to the minibar on the upper floor. The spirits were also included, but not the alcoholic beverages stored in the wine fridge. A bit complicated…
There is also a separate toilet with washbasin. But as you can see, none of this is really private. The entire lower floor is fully visible from almost all sides. So let’s sum up the tree house in advance: the idea is great, but there is still room for improvement in terms of implementation.
Resort activities
Pool
In the TreeHouse Villas, the only pool is located directly between the breakfast/Thai restaurant and the lobby. Connected to it is a kind of grotto, as well as a steam bath and a sauna. I think this idea with the grotto and the steam bath is very, very cool.
But what really bothers me is the fact that there are hardly any loungers by the pool. The location of the pool right next to reception is just as strange. Imagine you’re lying here and guests are checking in at the same time, that’s weird, isn’t it? I really did ask myself the whole time why this wasn’t equalized a bit. It’s not as if there isn’t a lot of space on the property.
Beach
The beach is fine sandy and shallow, the water is clear and rather calm. During our stay here at the TreeHouse Villas, however, we didn’t see anyone swimming in the sea. Let’s summarize: The beach is beautiful, but not comparable to the beach at Pimalai Resort & Spa on the island of Koh Lanta.
And this Coconut wheather Station is fun, but nothing that we haven’t already shown you in our video from the Hyatt Regency Hua Hin, for example. So it’s also a bit outdated.
Fitness Center
There is an outdoor gym, but we did not visit it.
Spa
We also did not use the Aruna Aura Spa during our stay.
Activity center
The two hotels Kho Yao Paradise and the TreeHouse Villas share various facilities on the beach, including batik painting, a table tennis table, a badminton court, the watersports center and more. In combination with the beach, you will never get bored here.
Besonderheiten
There is also a co-working space here on the beach, although I wouldn’t know why I would want to work here. This really is a true vacation spot!
Management Cocktail
When we arrived at the Management Cocktail, we immediately noticed that various dishes had already been eaten so much that there wasn’t much left for us to snack on. Unfortunately, nothing was refilled, which was really poor.
And even after we had one cocktail each, there were no more free of charge. Huh? We had to pay for all the others. Whether with alcohol or not. Here, too, we have a different understanding of a management cocktail.
Restaurants
As with the various activities, the TreeHouse Villas share the restaurants with the adjacent sister hotel. So you have two restaurants to choose from here on the beach and then the Thai restaurant in the hotel itself.
Roots Restaurant and Lounge
In addition to the three restaurants, there are also two bars. The first, right next to the Thai and breakfast restaurant and therefore also close to the lobby, was the Roots Lounge.
Al Fresco
The Italian restaurant here in the TreeHouse Villas is called Al Fresco.
Seafood Terrace
Micha wasn’t having dinner that evening, but Fabian opted for the Seafood Terrace in the hope of a nice piece of salmon fillet. However, this plan was scrapped by the offer of an escalope on the menu. According to Fabi, it was quite tasty, but of course it couldn’t compete with the local specimens – of course.
Bar
The second bar at the TreeHouse Villas is called Sundowners Bar and is located directly on the beach and therefore also by the sea. However, you can’t watch the sunset here as the resort faces east.
Breakfast
Breakfast here includes a very extensive buffet, which was very tasty and varied. Compared to Cape Kudu, however, the taste here is much better and the selection is a little more exclusive.
The service here was also very good at just after seven in the morning. This was certainly also because there were hardly any other guests eating breakfast apart from us. In addition to the buffet, there is also a small à la carte selection at the TreeHouse Villas, which was not only great to read, but also tasted very delicious.
We had an Egg Benedict and a French toast. Both were really good and we can highly recommend them.
Check-out
To check out, we were picked up from our tree house to coincide with our departure on the speedboat and driven to reception. We settled the bill there and then also took the buggy to the hotel’s own jetty, where the boat was ready for our departure.
Costs
At the end of the low season in October 2024, we paid 12,000 THB for an overnight stay including breakfast, which was equivalent to around 333 euros at the time of our stay. We booked this price via a 50% offer from Hyatt. And now think about it: normally you pay just under 700 euros per villa and night here. Would it be worth it to you? Let us know in the comments. We look forward to hearing your opinion!
Departure & transfer
We then took the paid speedboat back to Phuket and then on to Bangkok where the return flight in Condor Business Class was waiting for us.
We received this information about the costs and times from the hotel in advance (as of October 2024):
| Departure Times | |
| Yacht Heaven Marina – Phuket | Treehouse Villas |
| 11.00 AM | 09.30 AM |
| 14.00 PM | 13.00 PM |
| 16.30 PM | 15.00 PM. |
| Thalen Pier – Krabi | Treehouse Villas |
| 14.00 PM | 13.30 AM |
| Yacht Haven Marina via Google map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/goMt4ZsSavV1bWuQ7 |
| Thalen pier (Old fisherman pier) via Google map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/9gd36Ub4gQzKAG4x8 |
| In the interest of safety for our guests and staff, boat trips will not operate at night. The operating hours for our speedboat transfers are from 8:00am to 5:00pm. Due to these restrictions, our pick-ups by limousine and minibus from the Airport/Hotel operate between 6:00am and 4:00pm. Please note: if your flight arrival time is after 4:00pm, overnight accommodation in Phuket or Krabi can be arranged for the transfer to the resort the following day. |
| Weather also plays a large factor in the safety of the speedboat operation. The final decision to run the transfer is with our responsible captains in charge. It is rare that bad weather sets in for long periods of time. In the event that poor weather prevents the transfer to the resort, Treehouse Villas can arrange accommodation with hotels of similar standards in Phuket/Krabi. |
Conclusion
Unfortunately, we were not entirely convinced by the concept here. The check-in experience alone was really only half-hearted and mixed. The story with the arrival – well. Maybe it looks better if you arrive normally from the mainland of Phuket Island by paid transportation and not from another hotel like we did – but even if you do. A private journey by land should also be considered as normal and not just assumed that the boat journey is the only valid way.
But the product itself, i.e. the tree house, is a nice idea, but somehow it didn’t convince us. Perhaps it would have been better to build the pool on the upper floor – I don’t know… And then there was the building site next door, which we not only saw, but unfortunately also heard all day long. And that at an overnight price of over 300 euros, mind you.
Recommendation
As the resort is an adults-only complex, children are logically not allowed in the TreeHouse Villas. Otherwise, we would say that couples and solo travelers alike can have a good vacation here.
Rating and classification
We give the TreeHouse Villas a rating of 6 out of 10 possible points.
We would classify the house in the lifestyle category. Although it tries to exude a luxurious charm, both the product and the service fail to achieve this.
Hotel Homepage
Go there?
Well. If you’re into something unusual, then you’ve definitely come to the right place. Likewise, if you’re not traveling as a family, but as a couple or solo traveler. If you consider the points of criticism we have mentioned, you can ideally decide for yourself. We are quite ambivalent about the TreeHouse Villas, we have now seen it, were only partially impressed and have mentally ticked it off for us, without thinking that we would come here again.
Our trip to the Phang Nga Bay
This vacation started with the Condor Business Class flight from Frankfurt to Bangkok. Fabi then stayed two nights at the Hyatt Regency Phuket before we both met up again for our stay at the Anantara Kho Yao Yai in Phuket. After two more nights there, we spent one night at the Cape Kudu Hotel of Small Luxury Hotels before staying at the Treehouse Villas. This trip will end with a direct flight from Bangkok to Frankfurt, also in Condor Business Class.
As always, it remains exciting.
YouTube Review
And if you’d like to see some moving pictures, original sounds and Fabi’s assessment of the TreeHouse Villas, then we’d be delighted if you’d take a look at our YouTube review.
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