Elixir Koh Yao Yai

Very nice hotel with excellent bungalows. Beach not quite as beautiful as on some other Thai islands, but we very much enjoyed our 2 night stay here. :)

We came to Glow Elixir for a 40th birthday celebration and we booked a beach front pool villa. The hotel staff helped arrange a beautiful private BBQ on a beach front raised patio , we have a ridiculous amount of food, and our own private chef and waitress for the sunset dinner. The next day we ran into a bit of a problem, we woke up and our private pool looked like it had turned green. We continuously asked for it to be repaired or cleaned, but they couldn't seem to solve the problem, and told us they would try to have it clean by that evening. We were only there a short time, and had specifically come there for the private pool villa, so it was extremely disappointing when they told us there was nothing they could do except pay for our boat trip to our next island. Less than an hour later, they came by our room and we were shocked to hear that they were now able to move us to the 2 bedroom pool villa with amazing ocean views. It wasn't on the beach, but it had great views, was about twice the size, and much nicer!! The vacation turned around instantly, and we were extremely pleased they were able to do this for us.

The hotel grounds are absolutely beautiful and the staff were really great. Our room was always cleaned really well and our restaurant servers, Rea, Koko, and Mud were exceptional. The resort is quiet and relaxing. The dive centre is onsite so access is really convenient. The beach was really clean in front of the hotel however, other beaches on the island are covered in debris. The only challenge that we had was with transportation to and from the hotel - it was inconvenient and we did not see the value for the cost.

Fantastic, helpful and friendly place

Excellent stay from start to finish. The resort arranged airport transfers that were super affordable: $30 Australian per person for 90 min transfer (Phuket airport to speedboat, speedboat to Koh Yao Yai island, then car ride to resort). The staff were so kind. Example: one of the 8 days we were staying at the resort I was unwell (typical travel bug/upset tummy). The staff noticed my partner was eating alone at the restaurant, and asked after me. They gave him ginger tea to take back for me, and plain bread to help settle my stomach. The next day when I was back to normal, about 7 staff asked me if I was feeling better. The resort restaurant was great - combo of Thai dishes, and 'Western' meals (burgers, sandwiches, pizza, pasta, steak, etc). The meals were very reasonably priced. For animal lovers, there are cats and wild monkeys roaming the resort. The cats were friendly (I patted and played with a few of them), but I obviously kept my distance from the monkeys. It was nice that the monkeys and cats around the resort weren't kept in cages or on leashes (a lot of other places in Thailand keep monkeys on chains or in cages, which is so sad). Our room was gorgeous. The bed was comfy, and the shower was awesome. The air-con was a god-send. The beach was great to swim in the morning and early afternoon. In the late afternoon/evening the tide goes out a really long way, exposing lots of rocks. So for late afternoon/evening swims, it's pools only!

I enjoyed my stay but found the transfer and day trip very over priced.

Staff are wonderful, food superb and the location is just amazing. Each villa is no more than 20 metres from the beach. You wake up to the sound of the sea and you villa is structured in a way that means the first thing you see when you open your curtains is the beautiful clear ocean. The pump wifi everywhere (even on the beach) and there's rocks a lagoons to explore too. Night time is beautiful with a perfect meal by the sea! Loved it and glad I went!!

We where travelling all around Thailand for a month and GLOW Elixir was the first hotel where the service was actually really on the niveau you would expect from a four star hotel and higher. Tiny details did matter as well such as having a perfect clean environment, service personnel that actually knows correct manners and garden / pools always being in perfect shape. Later we figured that the hotel is under european management and maybe this might do the (cultural) difference.

Couldn't have been more helpful and welcoming. A luxurious few days of peace and quiet on a "real" Thai island.

Glow was so relaxing but, almost too relaxing. The hotel is gorgeous and the staff is wonderful but there isn't much of a town to visit. All the rooms are your own private hut over looking the ocean and the pool area is lovely as well. The staff was fantastic and the hotel restaurant had great food. We discovered that the reason there is zero night lift is because the island is 98% Muslim and they do no sell alcohol. If you're looking for relaxing, this is the place but if you want to go out at night and experience the beach, Koh Phi Phi or Phuket would be a better fit.