Sakarin Valley Resort

No complains about the accomodation. The room was spotless (no really) albeit feeling like a microwave due to the heatwave but the aircond was chilly and it worked to really cool down the room swiftly. There's no wifi nor security guard (which justify the price) but the location is perfect as it is situated next to the river connected to the River Kwai. At night it was quiet and we didnt find any insects or anything annoying. Breakfast was a little disappointing for those who cannot eat pork or vegetarians but passable I guess. All in all, a good place for a break.

The setting is beautiful and the little lodges are quaint. However the interiors lack basic needs. The bathroom has no shelving or vanity unit for placing soap/shampoo / toothbrush etc and no towel rail or hooks. The room has nowhere to open suitcases etc. and just a small useless wardrobe. Plug sockets are scarce and are not easy to access. The area around the fridge/kettle/tv, where the plug sockets are, is too small to small and cramped to use easily. The bed.... so uncomfortable! Probably the most uncomfortable bed I have encountered during many stays in Thailand. Despite sending a message hours ahead of our arrival (6pm) there was nobody at reception when we arrived and we had to go in search of assistance to check in. Although the restaurant was lovely to look at and in a beautiful waterside setting, the food was absolutely dreadful. The American (I think they meant English) breakfast consisted of luke warm cheap ham, uncooked hot dog sausages and over cooked fried eggs. The breakfast buffet was poor too. We ended up just eating toast on the second morning. The first morning we shared the space with an older man who was sat drinking beer and smoking inside at 9:30 am. The whole place stank of cigarette smoke. He did apologise after I gave him a couple of dirty looks, before he asked my Thai wife whether she had taken too much cocaine the night before, as she had a cold. We ate one evening meal there for convenience, and that was one too many. Under cooked shrimp, over salty soup, cremated soft shell crabs and warm Chang beer. I attempted a dip in the small pool during the second afternoon, but it was full of leaves and floating dead insects so I didn't stay in it long. At 2500 baht for 2 nights, not hugely expensive but high enough for the rural area. Would recommend only for the initial attractiveness of the setting and lodges, otherwise I would suggest checking elsewhere.

The room was clean with good air conditioning and a fridge. There is a tv but again not a smart one so could not connect my phone. The shower room was in need of an upgrade and some paint. The grounds are tidy with what looked like a 24h leaf sweeping service. The pool was warm but full of leaves and not particularly clean. Staff when we saw them were polite and helpful. Reception even organised a local scooter company to come get me to hire a scooter. (See my other review for OK bikes). Now the restaurant. I am not sure what is going on here. The breakfast was ok with a choice of omelette, eggs or an interpretation of western breakfast. Come dinner time the restaurant is closed and in the dark so no sitting by river for evening drink or any food. I can only assume this was shut because only 4 people staying whilst we were there. Would have been nice to of been informed because we arrived to late to get a scooter and hadn’t eaten all day as started our journey early. We chose this place because it was by river with a restaurant on site and a nice pool so felt we didn’t get what we thought we were paying for. If you don’t have transport then you are stuck out of town. On the whole the stay was ok but I think it was overpriced because the restaurant was shut and pool not in best shape.