Six Senses Yao Noi

The resort is beautiful, the food is exceptional, rooms opulent, beds super comfortable, icecream amazing, organization is wonderous with the app, gardens and foliage immaculate, decor chic, braakfasts to die for but the staff and team are what really makes it at Yao Noi…..thank you one and all. We adored Yale and Win in Hilltop and our GEM of dreams was NubSib. Truly, grateful to have met everyone. Every single person we met regardless of role was always busy and smiling and warm. We feel so blessed to have visited your slice of paradise. Thank you again. Read less

The Six Senses Hotel in Yao Noi, Thailand, is a property that has some very positive points and some very negative points. The guest experience manager and staff were fantastic, providing excellent service and making us feel very welcome. In particular, our Gem Kun Mind was absolutely excellent. She was warm, welcoming, charming, and fun. She had excellent recommendations and our stay wouldn’t have been nearly the same without her! The views from the hotel were also impeccable, offering breathtaking vistas of the surrounding area. Additionally, the food at the hotel was great. However, there were also a number of drawbacks to the hotel. We stayed in a 2-bedroom sea view villa that was in need of repair. The room was very basic and all the cushions were stained and in need of replacing. Furthermore, the grounds and common areas of the hotel were all run down, giving off a feeling of neglect. Despite claiming to be a sustainable property, the run-down nature of the hotel does not justify the high price. It is fine to tout sustainability, but it should not be used as an excuse for a subpar product. In conclusion, the Six Senses Hotel in Yao Noi, Thailand is overpriced for the quality of the product it offers. The staff and the views are wonderful, but the state of the rooms and common areas does not justify the high cost. For these reasons, I would rate the hotel 3 out of 5 stars. Read less

We were initially hesitant to book due to the cost, but it was worth it, for our bucket-list Thailand trip. Among our favourite lifetime hotel experiences. The view from our room at sunrise and throughout the day of the 40+ island archipelago of Phang-nga Bay to the east of Ko Yao Noi was phenomenal. If you can afford to splurge, we would recommend (even if it means you can only stay at Six Senses for a 2-night stay, and more economical one for the remainder of your trip). The room/villa was huge, with indoor and outdoor showers, large bathroom incl large soaker bath tub with bath-adjacent sitting room, living room area, mosquito-net covered king bed, private pool, outdoor patio and sitting areas. The gorgeous view and tropical setting were very romantic. There are cooking classes and day outings (eg longboat ride, snorkelling and cave exploration of James Bond island of Phang-Nga Bay) that I would suggest booking in advance if interested since cooking classes were full when we arrived. We didn’t mind, since the room with private villa patio and pool was so nice, we wanted to maximize our use of it, rather than spending an entire day out and about during our short stay at the resort. The unobstructed 180 degree vista at the resort Hilltop Infinity Pool was even more gorgeous than from our room, and a super peaceful place to watch sunrise (pool itself and bar service did not open until 9 am). During our stay, even when multiple people incl children used the Infinity pool, it didn’t feel crowded or boisterous. Clientele seemed respectful. The beach was also very peaceful. Small but private. Can use the kayaks, or go for a swim. The resort “Den” was another beautiful place to sit and have afternoon drinks. Complementary Buffet Breakfast + dishes a la carte were excellent, and the food for dinner was also very good. Afternoon complementary ice cream with all the toppings made us feel like kids again! Also complementary morning yoga class. Resort was large, but there were several “shortcuts” to walk to the restaurants and Pool and beach. Plus, if you didn’t want to walk, staff arrived quickly on request to drive you in golf carts/buggies. Our “GEM”/Guest Experience Maker/personal butler Zoe who greeted us upon arrival at the resort was super helpful throughout our stay with any questions or needs that we had. She even noticed I had quite a few mosquito bites and provided some low-dose corticosteroid cream/“afterbite”-equivalent. And she surprised us with birthday cake, decorating room with birthday wishes, and complementary wine! Our shared boat transfer leaving Six Sense was quick and very convenient. (We also did a Private boat transfer To Six Senses from a Ko Phi Phi Don resort called Zeavola, since we wanted a direct commute from an atypical starting destination) But if going from/to Phuket, our shared boat transfer + private land transfer to our next hotel was comparable, apart from having 2 other couples onboard and cost a lot less $. The boat that Six Senses used/chartered also had MUCH better cushions than that used by Zeavola resort, which helped when the sea was choppy/had “whitecaps”. (We are sailors, and used to rough waters. Nevertheless, the Zeavola private boat/helming was like a rollercoaster/headache-inducing in same sea conditions). Only major negatives we noticed was: -the cost (eg nightly stay fee, alcoholic drinks were expensive). But considering how beautiful and peaceful Six Sense was, feeling like a second honeymoon/paradise, we would do it again when back in Thailand -If you’re looking for a party and/or a night owl (eg single in your 20s or early 30s), I don’t think this resort nor sleepy, predominantly-fisherman village Ko Yao Noi island is the place for you. In the area, I would suggest Tonsai Bay in Ko Phi Phi Don, or Patong Beach instead. Six Senses seemed to cater more to couples in their 30s-60s (straight or LGBQT) and families. Those with physical disabilities may have difficulty with accessibility due to the hilly topography of the resort, although the staff-driven golf cart service helped. -if you go during a very cloudy/rainy period or monsoon season, the view across the bay would not be ideal. Also, in our opinion, if you’re going to splurge, might as well go big, and get an Oceanside room like we did. (Eg rooms 26 or higher. I can’t remember if 40 or 50 was the best, but probably even more pricey). I jogged around the resort several times, and the villas overlooking the jungle rather than the water/Phnga Bay did not give you as much value for their cost. We were fortunate enough to stay in 3 excellent resorts during our stay in Phuket province/southern Thailand/Andaman sea region: 1. Six Senses 2. Zeavola 3. Keemala We would recommend them in that order (Both Six Senses and Zeavola have private villas in a jungle/rainforest-like setting and private beaches. Six Senses has an AWE-INSPRING view of Phng-Nga Bay, the best food, but is more $$$, and a smaller but still nice beach. Contrary to what another reviewer said, we did not find it run down at all. The rooms & amenities were of higher caliber than Zeavola. Zeavola is still very much a luxury resort with a beautiful view of the sea at sunrise and throughout the day, a better long powdery white sand beach (on which you can go running/hiking right to gorgeous Tonsai Beach hilltop viewpoint), good food. I would suggest getting a Pool Villa Suite, which is still <1/3 cost of a Six Senses Ocean panorama villa with pool, and has a guest house, so can fit 4). The ground level garden and village suites has significantly less privacy from the communal paths, smaller outdoor patio, and no pool. The communal pool was good. Keemala is very unique architecturally (like out of a Tolkien novel, or Star Wars movie), and their Birds Nest pool villas like the other 2 resorts were large, with beautiful teakwood. All category rooms had private pools. But resort is located in a more urban environment. While you can hear the birds and cicadas still, you can also equally hear the cars and ambulances and city noises, and see the concrete jungle of buildings of Kamala beach below and adjacent. Also, unlike Six Senses and Zeevola, other guest villas and resort communal buildings can view into our patio/private pool, so no skinny-dipping swimming! And there is no beautiful sunrise to watch nor sunset (due to resort location), and no resort beach. There was a complementary resort 5-min shuttle to nearby Kamala Beach. But that public beach was very chaotic and crowded, with people peddling jet-ski and horseback-riding, Thai massages, lawn/beach chairs, etc. Also a good distance 30 min+ from Phuket-town, which was worthwhile to take a taxi to, at least for one day/evening outing, including for dinner. Fun to walk around Old Phuket Town, do Naka night market (weekend), Khao Rang Holl viewpoint hike with great vista of Phuket, and go to delicious streetfood Michelin-nodded restaurant Jadjan (which was still cheaper to eat at including Grab/Bolt/taxi ride fare than eating dinner at the resort). Staff at all 3 resorts were amazing. In Thailand: BRING/BUY MOSQUITO REPELLANT like “Off” at a Thai 7-11 or supermarket, and some lightweight, long-sleeve clothes (like linen shirts and pants or rash-guards esp in the evenings). The resorts provided in-room and at-restaurant “natural” insect repellent (eg made from camphor/eucalyptus/lemongrass oil, which we applied liberally), but plain-old commercial repellent and at night protective clothing like linen pants staved off the mosquitoes better. I lost count after 20+ bug bites, with the mosquitoes were worst at Zeavola and Six Senses due to surrounding vegetation. Even a few bites walking around urban metropolis Bangkok in the evening! While most tourists won’t get the following infections, doesn’t hurt to minimize the risk of mosquito-associated Dengue Fever, Zika Virus, malaria as much as possible. And don’t forget to get whatever pre-travel shots recommended. (Eg Hepatitis A, and don’t drink /brush teeth with tapwater in Thailand) Read less

We just completed our 4 night holiday at Six Senses Yao Noi. After visiting over 100 countries, I can say this place left a lasting impression on my wife and my 2 year old son. We loved every minute of our stay. The rooms were perfect and the views were beautiful. Shoutout to our wonderful G.E.M., Margie. She always made sure we were happy and even upgraded us to villa 54 on our last night! Everyday she would checkin on us and make sure we had everything we needed for our stay. She’s always accessible via WhatsApp. The staff are all so friendly and smiling. They genuinely want you to have an amazing holiday. They really go out of their way to make sure that you are comfortable, taken care of and have everything you need. We dined at chefs table, hilltop, living room and the dining room, and all the meals were amazing. Breakfast was great and special shout-out to Kwan, the manager at the living room. Everyday he would make sure to talk to us and make us his special cocktail. The ice cream shop was also amazing and we went multiple times a day! There is so many great things I can say about this place. My wife and son had an amazing time on both of our tours. We did the phi phi island and Prang Na bay tours. Both of them were private tours and the tour guides were great. The weather was amazing and the resort provided buggy’s to take us anywhere in the resort. Truly happy with our experience and would recommend this place to others. Read less

We loved everything about this place, and we enjoyed our time so much. We were lucky that we had Zoe as our Butler, she was very friendly and professional, she managed our stay very well and was able to serve us with every need and anything we wanted. Also, Pond the tennis trainer was very friendly and I had fun playing with him. I highly recommend this hotel to everyone, and definitely will come back. Read less