The Sarojin Khao Lak Review

The Sarojin in Thailand is a hotel famous throughout the world and regularly features in luxury travel magazines thanks to its striking infinity pool and cabana beds. I longed to visit the resort ever since I first set eyes on it a few years ago. On a recent trip to Thailand’s Khao Lak district, a sleepy tourist resort only one hour drive from Phuket on the Andaman Sea, I finally had the chance to discover more about this incredible hotel resort.

Khao Lak is ideal for luxury travellers looking to unwind and unplug and The Sarojin offers something quite beautiful and utterly romantic. Read on to discover more about why everyone should have this property on their luxury travel list.

Background and Concept

The Sarojin is one of Thailand’s finest award-winning luxury boutique resorts, At only 56 residencies set over 11 acres, surrounded by lush tropical gardens and 11 km of private beach moments away there is a real feeling of getting away from everything here. Clientele are couples, honeymooners and retirees, so the pace is slow, it’s truly a place to turn off the mobile phone and just chill out.

The resort has two restaurants a beach bar, a fabulous spa and a sumptuous turquoise infinity pool. If you want to take romance to the next level you can organise private dining on the beach or by a candlelit jungle waterfall.

There is a national park on your door step and some of the finest diving spots in the whole of Thailand, the hotel can arrange a number of unique experiences which range from private board charters, snorkelling and scuba diving to golf, meaning you can be as lazy or energetic as you want to be during a stay here.

Lobby and Check-In

From the moment you arrive you know you know you are in for something special, staff greet you at the lobby, bags are promptly taken from you and whisked away to your room whilst you are gently ushered across to a sofa in the reception. A welcome drink is presented to you and an all important chilled towel to cool off with.

Check-In is simple after filling in a few forms and a moment to relax looking out to the manicured gardens and pond in front of the lobby you are taken along to your residence.

Location

Set on the fringes of Khao Lak beach, surrounded by tropical rainforest, lagoons and a national park on your door step The Sarojin is the place to really get away from it all. It is peaceful, you can get to Khao Lak village in about 20 minutes by taxi and they have a shuttle bus which will take you there and back throughout the day for free. The nearest airport to Khao Lak is Phuket Airport, which is around one hour and twenty minutes drive away.

If you want to take the stress out of everything book their door to door airport pick up service. A driver will pick you up in Phuket Arrivals Hall and drive you in one of their fleet of 4×4 cars. Chilled drinks and beer are available during the drive, as are chilled towels and the car even has wifi!

Rooms and Suites

The hotel has 56 luxury guest residences set over seven two-story buildings. Careful design has allowed for the residences to all be generous in space, with a feeling of being away from everyone else. Each guest residence in the resort is entered by crossing a stream via the grounds and through a garden terrace, all around nature abounds in a botanical haven wreathed with birdsong and filled with wild fruit, herb gardens and local species of trees.

The Sarojin keep things simple and they have four different residence categories:

Garden Residences of which there are 28 in total at 1022 sq ft they are generous in size, each garden residence includes a private sun terrace and Thai Sala to relax in.

There are 14 Pool Residences, tucked away on the ground floor of the ground floor of each residential block these are 1291 sq ft in size, feature a private sun terrace, Thai sala and your own private pool.

The Jacuzzi Pool Suites of which there are 14 and are located on the first floors so offer complete privacy, they are huge at 1614 sq ft in size and comprise of separate living and sleeping areas and include a 2 x 2 m whirl pool in your own private pavilion and sun terrace.

And finally there is one larger Two Bedroom Pool Villa spread out over 2314 sq ft.

During our stay at The Sarojin we stayed in one of the incredible Jacuzzi Pool Suites. You can see a full video tour of the suite over on our Instagram profile

Lounge

You enter the residence into the huge lounge area with day bed taking central focus in the room, the coffee table includes fresh fruit and in front of the day bed you are lead out onto the sun terrace. It is important to mentioned that when you are checked in your are guided around your residence and all details about the room are explained to you.

The lounge has its own separate bathroom and leads out to the outdoor shower.

To the other side of the lounge is the mini bar complete with Nespresso, which is all topped up daily.

Bedroom 

Moving into the bedroom the king sized four poster bed takes centre stage, its finished in luxurious Egyptian cotton and the mattress is incredibly comfy. There are plenty of changing points next to the bed and they even had UK adapter points in the room too. Lighting is easy to adjust and you can control it all from the bed.

Bathroom 

Across from the bedroom is the sumptuous bathroom. There is an egg shaped bath which had been prettily decorated with rose petals. Next to the bath a rain shower and across from the bath and rain shower is a large sink area with twin sinks. Both bathroom and the outdoor shower are were backed with amenities by Thai brand Juku and you can ask for anything you might have forgotten.

Jacuzzi

The piece de resistance of the residence is the outdoor jacuzzi, which by evening lights up and becomes the ideal place to unwind with a post dinner drink.

Food and Drink

There are two restaurants at the Sarojin, The Edge restaurant next to the beach and Ficus next to the infinity pool

Edge

The Edge

The Edge is set on the beach and is utterly romantic. You can dine under their open air timber pavilion or on the sand under the shade of the surrounding trees. The menu offers Thai and South East Asian cuisines.

The menu is Thai focused and we opted for their unlimited dining option; they have taken all the best bits of a buffet and made it a la carte, so you can pick from their extensive menu until you are full and it is one fixed price.

Post mains you can head over to the bar area for desserts and cocktails, which is what we did.

Ficus

Ficus restaurant is nestled under the hanging roots and canopy of the ancient Ficus tree and beside the magnificent Lotus Pond and overlooking the pool. You can enjoy contemporary Mediterranean cuisine and they have a great selection of wines, Ficus is also where breakfast is served and one of the unique things at the Sarojin (which I haven’t ever experienced before) is their all day breakfast menu, meaning you can head down at any point in the day for breakfast, what a fab idea!

Spa and Pool

The pool has a magnetic drag to it, thanks to its picture perfect cabana beds. Head down at any point in the day and a member of pool staff will prepare your sun bed for you and supply you with chilled water.

Pathways Spa

Wander down the board walk to the secluded Pathways Spa, which floats out over a coconut grove. The spa focuses on treatments inspired from ancient Thai healing techniques and they use their own blends of oils, which you can pick before your spa experience starts. The open air spa had four treatment pavilions and two for couples, with rain showers and couples’ baths, one air-conditioned facial treatment room, and an open air post spa relaxation lounge area. Being open air there is something quite magical about hearing the birds chattering away in the trees next to the spa as you are gently massaged into a state of relaxation.

We have included Pathways Spa in our guide to the best spa hotels in Thailand

The Beach

The Sarojin is located on the beach and due to the layout it is quite private, there are a couple of other local restaurants dotted around, but apart from that it is very low-key and well maintained.

Final Thoughts

I went to the Sarojin with high expectations and it over delivered. If you are looking for a luxury resort where the service is personal and on point, it mixes a laid back vibe with luxury where nothing is too much trouble and the guest lodgings are beautiful then this resort is the place to stay at! It is without doubt one of the finest luxury resorts in Thailand and South East Asia.

We have included the hotel in our guide to the best luxury hotels in Khao Lak