I just had my honeymoon at Aleenta Phang Nga and I have to say that I was very disappointed with the resort.
We stayed at 2 resorts for our honeymoon, both luxury boutique resorts. The first resort we stayed at, The Sarojin (
www.sarojin.com), was a dream. The rooms don't look as nice as the ones in Aleenta, but they more than made up for it with the excellent service, fantastic food and thoughtfulness that went into everything they do. We absolutely loved the place and are looking to go back for our first anniversary.
Aleenta, on the other hand, is very chic and has a gorgeous beach. We had an Ocean View Loft and the view from both the living area and the bed on the mezzanine floor were amazing. The beach has soft white sand and clear water. The Thai food is also pretty good, though the Western food was only ok. Unfortunately, that's where the good part stops.
Service - Despite it being our honeymoon and us reminding them about it several times, there was no effort to make the stay special for us. Also, the staff seemed aloof. In comparison, The Sarojin greeted me with a bouquet of roses, upgraded us to the best suite they had, arranged roses on the bed to say, "Happy Honeymoon" and presented us with a complimentary bottle of champagne! Throughout our stay, they also impressed us with their warmth. EVERYONE, including gardeners and other staff you wouldn't normally expected, greeted us whenever we passed them and spoke English well. We also had managers checking with us every once in a while about whether we were enjoying our stay and whether they could do anything for us. The amount of thought that went into everything was also amazing. For example, whenever we wanted to lounge by the beach, all we had to do was choose the seats and the attendants would arrange the towels on the seats nicely for us, set up the umbrella and serve us glasses of cold water.
Food - The Thai food at Aleenta was good but the western food wasn't impressive. We thought the breakfast on the first day was great, e.g. the croissants were warm and fluffy, but the breakfasts for the next few days weren't as good, e.g. the croissants were cold and the oil had settled at the bottom. We also didn't like that we didn't have a choice in some of the food. All the food at the Sarojin was amazing. And again, the thought that went into the place showed through its breakfast menu - it was an ala carte buffet where you could choose anything you wanted from the breakfast menu in unlimited quantities. That way, you could eat exactly what you wanted, the food would be freshly prepared and there would be very little wastage.
Spa - The prices of the services at the Aleenta spa were high, even higher than that at the Sarojin. Given the prizes Aleenta had won for being a spa hotel, we had high expectations. However, we were disappointed by a number of things. Firstly, unlike a number of spa we had been to, there was no lounge area where guests could wait while choosing their therapies or waiting for their rooms to be ready. Secondly, we felt the masseurs were mechanical and merely going through the motion. Their command of English wasn't very good, so they couldn't really understand us when we gave certain instructions. Thirdly, at the end of the massage, they rushed us to the changing room to get changed while they proceeded to clean up the rooms. With other spas like Divana or DVN in Bangkok or the Sarojin spa, we were given ample time to change, lounge around the room, take a shower if we wanted and so on. Fourthly, for a place that has won an award for being a spa hotel, it had surprisingly few choices when it came to massage oils and scrubs. There were only three massage oils to choose from.
Sorry about the long post. Just wanted to let you all know my experience with the Aleenta Phang Nga.