Exterior

Reviews of Montalay Beach Resort Koh Tao

3 out of 5
Montalay Beach Resort Koh Tao
53 Moo 3, Koh Tao, Surat Thani

Reviews

8.0

Very Good

Rating 10 - Excellent. 93 out of 307 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 142 out of 307 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 47 out of 307 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 14 out of 307 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 11 out of 307 reviews" "

8.2/10

Cleanliness

7.8/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.0/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

4/10 Poor

Richard

Traveled with family
Disliked: Staff & service
We were happy with our initial welcome and check in. We were picked up from the pier free of charge for our initial journey, thereafter charged too and fro from the hotel which became expensive. The location of the hotel is on the opposite side of the island, the area being quite remote but having fantastic snorkeling opportunities.. We stayed for a full week but in reality around 3 or 4 days would suffice in the hotel. The staff were friendly but there was often miscommunication due to little spoken Thai or English. The food was average and the set breakfast menu was limited with only instant coffee.The staff promptly solved simple issues that arose in the room such as fixing the tv etc, but there was little to be done about the continually blocked toilet or the ants that we shared the bathroom with. The staff tried to make our stay special and made an effort to do so but in the end this was soured by a disagreement on the payment of a bill that we settled at the beginning of our stay but we were then billed for close to departure. Future visitors to this hotel would be wise to ensure that all bills are paid for through the main reception and that they request a receipt upon payment to avoid any pilfering that may or may not happen.
Stayed 7 nights in Jun 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on Jul 6, 2023
Dear Mr. Richard,Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. We're sorry to hear that your recent visit wasn't up to your expectations. We apologize for any inconvenience or frustration you may have experienced. We would like to address your specific concerns and make things right.We hope to have the opportunity to serve you better in the future.

10/10 Excellent

Richard

Traveled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
4th time to stay at the beautiful Beach Resort. The staff always go out of their way to make our stay the best we can ask for. Food is always great. Swimming in the pool or snorkel in the bay. Dive shops are on site and ready to be used. Get certified while you are there. Easy trip to town or get a scooter. Great hiking also The only thing is the bed are hard. Manager says that new beds are coming so hope that is true. I did get extra bed covers to add as a pillow top cover but beds need replaced if you have back issues.
Stayed 17 nights in May 2023
Response from Hotel Manager on Jul 6, 2023
Dear Mr. Richard,Thank you for staying with us, we are grad to know our service meets your expectation. We do apologize your issue with the bed. And it's true the new beds are coming as we are going to renovate in the next 2 months. We hope you will be back and join us to see the new look.

10/10 Excellent

Mary E

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Beautiful location and property.
We really enjoyed the Montalay. The staff was great, the beach is beautiful, and our room was spacious and had hot water and a refrigerator. The hotel would benefit from a water refill station instead of bottled water. We loved how the resort is built into the landscape, with boulders and drainage incorporated into the design. The included breakfast was great. The hillside rooms are a bit of a climb, but the view is amazing.
Stayed 4 nights in Nov 2022

10/10 Excellent

Jamie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful calm getaway
Wonderful calm atmosphere and very kind people helped make our stay excellent. Rooms are very clean and the pictures don’t do it justice. Much quieter and relaxed than Sairee beach (which we wanted). Thanks!
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2021

4/10 Poor

niamh

Traveled with group
Disliked: Property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Dated and disappointing
Beds are too hard and very uncomfortable Towels are tatty and should all be replaced Wi-Fi consistently drops connection in the bedrooms The beach is a coral beach so its uncomfortable to walk on Food is over priced and very average The location is pretty remote in that there is nothing to do outside the entrance to the hotel. You will need to hire scooters although only a 15 minute ride to town (sairee beach). The shuttle bus is not complimentary and only runs 4 times in the day. If you want to go out of hours it costs nearly 10 times the rate per person one way. Good fish life snorkelling from the beach but coral is all dead. Several young families stayed during my 4 night visit. If you want to switch off with kids in the pool all day this could be for you. Only that I had prepaid I would have moved
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2019

4/10 Poor

Jenn

Business traveler
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Would have liked a smile from staff
I wanted to love this hotel. I want to say straight away there were two very friendly staff. One waiter and I’m sorry I don’t remember his name and another who helped me with my bags. But aside from that the customer service at the front desk wasn’t polite. I felt like I was putting them out, no smiles. Ignored and playing on their phones. So for me that is why the negative feedback. Pros: food was pleasantly great with one pasta dish despite reading negative reviews. Normal price for that kind of menu choice in Thailand hotels. Oddly the Thai soup was a let down. But I’ve eaten at hundreds of restaurants in Thailand the past year. Bed is comfy. Used the TV to watch news from back home and had t bothered most of the year. Beach is beautiful. Weather wasn’t great during my stay but no fault of the hotel. Bed was comfy. Pillows not so great, needed a change and shower was hot/nice bathroom. Cons: Balcony seats needed covers. Menu was over priced but that seems the norm for the out of the way cliff hotels away from the pier and Sairee beach. Really the major issue was not feeling like I was treated as a guest and customer service wins all the time even in a run down hotel anywhere in the world. I like what I like, but I’m not unreasonable.
Stayed 1 night in Nov 2019

10/10 Excellent

Matthew

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay
Fantastic resort on Koh Tao, great room and staffs, snorkeling directly on the beach. Would recommend. Pro tip, eat down the beach to the right at the small restaurant with the up stairs, open air restaurant, not attached to any hotel. Best food in Tanote
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2019

10/10 Excellent

carol

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great snorkeling
A perfect resort if you are looking to relax. My roouwas very nice with great air conditioning. The beach in front was very nice with fabulous snorkeling right from shore. I can’t wait to come back.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2019

10/10 Excellent

Wayne

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great snorkelling in Tanote Bay
We stayed at the Montalay Beach Resort for 5 nights in late January. The resort is on Tanote Bay which is where the highway ends on the eastern side of Koh Tao. This area is not nearly as busy as the west coast beach strip. The resort has a granular sand beach that provides exceptional water clarity and snorkelling on site. It also is a PADI dive center. We stayed in the Treehouse bungalows on the forest side of the road. While they were a bit of a clump they provided a great view from the spacious front deck. Given its isolated location, you are at the mercy of the Resort restaurant. (As well as a few others). Thankfully the prices were reasonable and the food was top notch. If we ever find ourselves in Koh Tao again, we will head to the Montalay Beach Resort
Stayed 5 nights in Jan 2019

8/10 Good

Andrea

Liked: Staff & service
The beach was nice and great for snorkelling. Tree house only for people who like nature as we met a snake on the way to the room at night, woke up with a gecon in our room a had 2 bats in the terrace at night eating something there:)
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2018

10/10 Excellent

JD

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We had a very good stay. We were in the tree top fan cabin and it was fantastic. It is nestled in the jungle but still has a sea view through the trees. The included breakfast was good. When ordering food for lunch or dinner, it was big, tasty portions and it was reasonably priced. Great bay for snorkeling or lounging on the beach. Would definitely recommend.
Stayed 2 nights in Sep 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Remote location
Stay here if you want a secluded experience. The location is a bit remote. You need to take cabs to go to the main areas of the island which add to the cost. So better to take this hotel only if you wish to spend your holiday at a resort away from main Koh Tao attractions.
Stayed 3 nights in Aug 2018

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Disliked: Staff & service
Go for the beach
Beach and snorkelling were amazing and beautiful. Hotel was average at best.
Stayed 5 nights in Aug 2018

8/10 Good

Susan, New Zealand

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good location for enjoying the snorkeling
This is the second time we have stayed here. Excellent location for snorkeling. Our stay was in their low season so we knew it would be quite. We just think closing up the restaurant at 8:30pm was a shame and a missed opportunity for the hotel to make some more revenue from bar sales.
Stayed 5 nights in Jun 2018

10/10 Excellent

Jasreen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Great resort
Great resort, very clean. Helpful staff, we booked a snorkeling tour from here and it was amazing. I just wish they had air conditioning, however our rooms did have a fan. Its on the other side of all the nightlife and restaurants so we had to taxi in and out all the time. I would stay again though.

8/10 Good

Lorentz

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice snorkling spot !
Everything was good exept for the food. The breakfast was poor and the thaifood we ordered for lunch were the least tasteful at our holiday so far. But the snorklig was really good so visit the bay!

8/10 Good

Buki, London

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Go for the snorkelling
Hotel is clean and comfortable. Staff are pleasant. As it is a 3 star establishment we are not expecting five star services. Free pick up from the port is provided. Food is good, with a wide menu choice. You come to Tanote Bay to enjoy the amazing views and snorkelling; still the best variety of fish I have ever see. Not even three feet from the shore you can snorkel.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2018

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
Perfect location. Beach is great except for trash.
All is quite good except for lousy bed and pillow.
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2017

6/10 Okay

Angie, England

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
November 2017
Positives: Beautiful bay Excellent snorkelling Not far from main port/beach sairee Rooms lovely and clean Staff friendly. Negatives: Resort shut down 9pm Latest resort taxi back 9.30pm Bay is expensive compared to the rest of the island Private taxi was 500/600 baht one way resort food hit and miss Nearby Jah bar everyone recommends was closed Not enough storage in room ( one wardrobe 5 coat hangers was literally it) Would not recommend going out of season, we were under the impression the resort closed down at 11pm and Jah bar carried on till 1am. Not the case but we did have 10 days of sporadic torrential rain which wont have helped. Jah bar were busy fixing their road. Oxygen snorkelling trip was the highlight booked at sairee.
Stayed 13 nights in Nov 2017

8/10 Good

mel, Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Clean rooms. Easy beach access. Pool small with few seats. Restaurant average, set menu for breakfast- big servings but not much variety. Check-in/out good but otherwise limited staff interaction. No ATM. Comfortable bed. Could not get hot water in shower. Picked us up from nearby hotel with only 1/2 hour notice via email -thank you.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2017

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Big room for two person and close to the beach. You can snorkering and sightseeing.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities

8/10 Good

Joan & Robyn, Sydney Australia

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Good hotel with big pool and beach
Complimentary hotel taxi from the pier when you arrive to the island. Call before you arrive and they'll pick you up from a designated pick up point. Hotel is further away from the busy touristy parts of Koh Tao. Which was great, the beach was not as crowded and the snorkeling was wonderful. There is also a diving Centre if you wanted to go scuba diving. Our room was very comfortable, wifi excellent and well secured from mosquitoes and bugs.
Pool right by the beach

10/10 Excellent

Cheryl

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great stay!
Great stay, room was wonderful, staff treated us so so well. Wonderful spot if you would like a quiet getaway!

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good location but poor service
Scenic beauty but no proper hotel service they didn't even provide room phones to contact reception, no one at hotel during night for attending , you get to hotel by their free shuttle but while coming back they charge ....

10/10 Excellent

martin

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
pretty bloody good!
Love love love this place and decided to stay for an additional night! Rooms are pretty good, nice balcony, great food in the restaurant, scheduled taxi service from and back to the hotel (although they finish very early). Nice pool area, but hotel opens straight onto the beach. Restaurant and bar close early 9pm, beach bar closes at 10pm and the scheduled taxis to town finish at 5pm! only about 10/15 mins to pretty much anywhere on the island.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Great for snorkeling
The resort was reasonable for a 3 star rating. The beach is just beside the resort and snorkelling is great here as there are many fishes, I was lucky to see a small shark on my trip. However this place is quite far from city and needed a ride for 15 minutes to the town area, and there is only one restaurant so there were limited food choices. Most of the staff couldn't speak good english but they are willing to listen and try their best to fulfill your wishes. Some of the staffs give good service while some dont. Cons: the beach has rough sand and far from town.

2/10 Terrible

Sarah

Disliked: Staff & service
Rude staff, remote location - avoid!
If you want to just stay at the resort then ok, but be warned... the staff are rude and unfriendly. If you don't just want to stay at the resort then avoid at all costs. It's expensive to get taxis back and forth because there is very little in the area. My advice would be stay elsewhere on the island but definately visit Tanote Bay, it is beautiful and great for snorkelling.

10/10 Excellent

Hera, shenzhen

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
great facilities, very nice staff.
Excellent place for snorkeling , the Tanote Bay, super clean beach, full of fish. The rooms E-4 and 5 have excellent view but must climb the steps in the hill and it takes a while. The water pressure in the shower is very weak, but the room is very comfortable.

6/10 Okay

Paulina, Germany

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Hotel is ok for a short period
The rooms are nice but watch out! They distinguish between rooms with a fan and an AC. The food at the restaurant was not good. Its ok if you have no expectations.. but compared to other restaurants we tried in Thailand on our journey before, this was one of the badest unfortunately. BUT at the pier or in the city centre are a lot of good restaurants! The beach at the hotel was pretty nice and great for snorkeling. Overall the hotel is fine when you are just staying two or three days, otherwise I would recommend you looking for another accommodation.

8/10 Good

lauren

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great place

2/10 Terrible

Saffron

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
We didn't stay. We checked out 4 hours after we checked in. There was nothing to do and the room was incorrectly advertised- the hotel does not offer any twin rooms and yet this is what we booked. We also got a fan room with no air conditioning which was not clear when we booked. The whole booking process was very misleading and we decided to move to a different hotel on the other side of the island.

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, room comfort
The stuff is very friendly and helpful. The resort is in a very good location with beautiful coral reefs nearby in very good condition. Hopefully the new visitors will continue to take care of the reefs during the visit. The food is good and at very good price too.

8/10 Good

Verified traveler

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

8/10 Good

Susan

Road to the resort is currently being made up from a sand track to concrete so there were a lot of road works to get in and out of the resort.

8/10 Good

Lucinda

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service

10/10 Excellent

Jody, Ardenvoir

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice stay
Beautiful and secluded. Very helpful and pleasant staff. Wonderful snorkeling right off the beach. Because it is secluded might rent a scooter to go to town so you don't have to rely on taxi. Rough dirt road so go slow! Enjoyed our stay

10/10 Excellent

Jody, Ardenvoir

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice stay
Quiet side of the island. Such nice people! Very helpful! I suggest renting a scooter. Olie was the place that was recommended and was great!

8/10 Good

Rod, California

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Wonderful Cottage overlooking Tanote Bay
Staying in one of the cottages on the hillside overlooking Tanote Bay was paradise. The beach and snorkeling at Tanote Bay was fabulous and the swimming pool at the resort was really nice as well. The breakfast was good and we enjoyed our experience very much.

6/10 Okay

rachel

Liked: Staff & service, room comfort
My sister and I spent two nights in a cottage at Montalay. The cottage was comfortable and had a cozy porch to sit out on in the morning and early evening. The bed was comfortable and the room was clean. Downfalls: the wifi didn't work, the shower head was broken, and the resort is about 15 minutes via a dirt and hilly road away from everything. I was nice to be tuck away for a night but after eating at the resort for 1 day we were ready to get some better food.

8/10 Good

Stefan, Edinburgh, Scotland

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Perfect hotel for divers
We went to the Montalay Beach Resort with the purpose to use for diving trips. Since the hotel itself is a little remote, but they call a boat for pick up, it absolutely perfect for diving. The stuff in the hotel, restaurant and dive center a re really friendly. Overall we liked it a lot.

10/10 Excellent

Rebeca, Paracuru

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Great resort!
To arrive there can be very difficult. Indeed, to rent a scooter might be a not very good idea but we did it. And it was doable, overall. If you do not want to go out for dinner, the hotel has a great restaurant with very good prices (for a resort). The beach is great!! The room was big and confortable.

6/10 Okay

Verified traveler

Disliked: Room comfort
nice location and grounds
the drive to the resort was horrendous, the roads are half rubble dirt tracks at height through the mountains, but on arrival the hotel is actually very beautifully set. The grounds are lovely, although they were doing some building work constructing more bungalows. The room was not as nice as I had anticipated, sharing the room with a number of insects and lizards. The staff and the food let the hotel down, as it is such a trek to eat anywhere else your choice is limited.

8/10 Good

Berangere

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Romantic cottages with sea view
Hotel is located in a remote area of Koh Tao, accessible by a very rough track that can't be called a road.. so you are a bit cut out of everything, but the hotel is so pleasant and quiet, with wonderful view, good food, amazing breakfast, that it really doesn't matter to be a bit isolated! Cottages are very nice, ours had a balcony with view on the sea, wonderful view. We even had the visit of a cute squirrel on the balcony ^^ Bathroom is quite basic and the stone floor was so-so clean, but beds are very comfortable and there was no bugs. A few super tiny ants but that's really no big deal. I would definitely recommand this place for romantic holidays!

6/10 Okay

Franny, Malaysia

Too many moisquitoes and location is inconvenience
The hotel is OK. Quiet but too many moisquitoes and location is inconvenience.

8/10 Good

Harry, Leeds

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Terrific Koh Tao
Beautiful beach resort at the far side of Koh Tao. Everything there was lovely from the beach and the pool to the food and service. The rooms are really quirky yet very comfortable. The only warning I would give is that it is impossible to 'nip out' to use an ATM, go to the shop etc, so bring plenty of money and toiletries etc.

8/10 Good

Guy, England

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice hotel great snorkelling
Great hotel very accommodating when we asked to move from the treetop cottage to the hotel, I wouldn't recommend the cottage, we did it for 2 nights and it was very hot and cramped with no storage and plenty of bugs. Hotel room was much better, we didn't get air con and it was bearable. Lots of storage and very large room with big balcony and modern design. Food from the menu was great but breakfast was mostly cold and bit boring. Staff didn't understand what "starter" meant as they were brought out with or sometimes after the mains. Some staff were great and some just wanted to sit on their phones. We booked this hotel for the scuba diving but when we got there the guy we spoke to did not seem interested at all telling us snorkelling was just as good, as if to put us off booking with him so we went elsewhere. The snorkelling is fantastic there, we saw a turtle on our first day. They also do drop off and pickup to stairwell beach and the pier regularly throughout the day.

8/10 Good

PK

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Super cute hotel
My husband and I stayed for our honeymoon, staff is great, rooms are great, we stayed in a bungalow, so it was a work out to get to, but it was amazing. The beach there is absolutely stunning and clear water, beautiful bay. Only down side is its secluded and hard to get to the main strip, which we wanted to do for one night, but it was a lovely getaway

4/10 Poor

itay

Liked: Staff & service
Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Not worth the stay
Remote hotel even for us the lonlyners...bad road getting over there. Over priced for a hut. Hut is smal and not clean.. Staff is really nice and helpful