I feel bad writing a negative review of First Villas because it’s a family-run business and they have clearly been badly impacted by the effects of Covid on Thailand’s tourism industry. However, whatever the experience was before January 2020, the experience now is quite poor despite the friendly staff. First, access is down a 500m unpaved dirt track that has so many major potholes that it’s dangerous for cars to attempt to drive down. We had a small jeep, drove inch by inch in first gear, and it still managed to damage our exhaust pipe. They have to repair the access track as a priority. The resort next door has a proper paved road but a wire fence prevents you from using it to get to First Villas. Second, the restaurant and bar are closed and there’s nothing within easy walking distance in this isolated location. The nearest bars along the main road specialise in adult entertainment for groups of single males. The closure of the resort’s restaurant is understandable given the low (or zero) occupancy for the last two years but the web site still talks about a restaurant and we should have been warned that we needed to stock up on beer, snacks, and breakfast coffee before we arrived. The garden villas are clean but old and desperately require an overhaul. The corroded bathroom fittings in particular squirt water in all directions. Our air-con was also erratic, the fridge was not that cold (important given the closed bar), and the safe didn’t work. Refurbishment work could have been carried out over the last two years when the place was empty. The beds were comfortable though and there’s a friendly cat wandering around. I feel for the family who own this place and the pain they have suffered since January 2020 but the pictures of happy, fun, holidaymakers enjoying drinks by the pool simply don’t reflect the experience today in this run-down resort in an isolated location and until they spend the money to repair the access track, refurbish the villas, and reopen the facilities, it’s difficult to recommend this place.
翻譯