Zeavola Resort, Where Barefoot Luxury Meets Sustainability 

@@mancunianinlondon thanks for your feedback, interesting information. Agree going early to avoid crowds at Maya bay is best. Will be visiting Saii Phi Phi again in about 2 weeks time. Will be interested to see if we encounter similar issues. Last time it was wonderful , not perfect but very relaxing and laid back, service was good. this time we wanted to check on it during rainy season . Many resorts do maintenance for the high season during off season so it can be luck of the draw. We have had one very good stay at Rayavadee and one disappointing stay. For the very high price they need to deliver perfection . Our last stay was lacking on many levels, breakfast, crowding, noise, service , rude guests at big wedding thinking they owned the resort. All depends on timing I guess. Last visit we stayed at another resort at railay, and it was better value. Location is perfect every time. Agree Phuket traffic is a downer when you want to go places and get stuck in heavy traffic. I’m sure I will have that again in a couple of weeks time. Glad you liked Camel Rock , we are looking forward to going again soon. Thanks James

@@globebug Hello and thank you. Which other resort at Railay did you visit? Bhu Nga Thani resort looked tempting so we might stay there next time. Do you have a recommendation for Railay area? Phranang beach was also stunning. SAii was a huge disappointment for us. Our stay had so many issues that we won't stay there again. That resort is significantly more expensive than most others on Phi Phi so we expected better. We might actually try The Holiday Resort which is near Zeavola. Did you stay at Rayavadee in high season? Maybe its a very different kettle of fish during the high season? On Phuket we stayed at Thavorn Village which is quite close to Kamala and Surin beaches. It was a stunning resort. We couldn't fault it for the price we paid. It was probably our favourite spot in terms of resorts. I think on my next visit I will go straight to Phi Phi from Phuket airport and do island hopping from there. I would love to go back to Railay beach for a longer stay too. But Rayavadee rates are too high to stay there again

@@mancunianinlondon we stayed at Railay Village Resort last time after . Room was good, food was good. Pool was good. In a more busy spot but nice view from the restaurant at sunset. Satay chicken was great. Easy access to that walking path from one side to the other beach. Can scoot out the back way and your half way across already. Did 5 nights in high season and 4 nights in shoulder season. Stay at Thavorn Village twice on the beach front. Both good stays and enjoyed all the animals that they have , giant tortoises, baby pigs, birds etc in that afternoon feeding session. Nice quiet beach. Cabins a little simple but good. Ko Yao yai and Koh lanta are both quiet and good also. Have footage on all those still to edit

@@globebug Oh I wanted to go to Koh Yao Yai but never got the time. I'd love to see your footage! Thanks for the recommend on Railay Village. I might try it. Yes Thavorn is lovely and the pool is one of the best I've had the pleasure to swim in. It's such a pity about the traffic on Phuket. Either we got stuck in Patong or stuck in Bang Tao. It has totally deterred me from going back for anything longer than a few nights.

@@mancunianinlondon I don't have as much footage as I would like , maybe have enough. I ate an ice cream from a road side shop and got really really bad food poisoning . Maybe the worst I have ever had. So spent 4 full days in bed. Still sick when I caught the speedboat back to Phuket. So that cut my filming short. I will go back. We stayed at the Koh Yao Yai Village resort. Wonderful view from the swimming pool Nice rooms , good service and food.

I should have mentioned that in the video, my mistake. The bed was perfect. Not to hard, firm but soft. No sleeping issues for us. The safe, quiet comfortable feeling sleeping there. I was just back at the Saii village last month. Still good. Good restaurants, good massage and the bars are still interesting. If the tide is up the long tail can take you right up to the bridge / back entrance of the village. I went back to shoot more footage of the Saii . Got the drone shots I was after but I left me Action camera with the SIM card at our Thai house by accident so can't finish the review yet. I will be back in Thailand in 33 days time ( counting the days ) . will stay for 1 month and then come back and finish the Saii review.

No , when we stayed the most I saw in a day were 2. one in the late morning and one in the afternoon. Other days only 1 and one day zero. The tractor wheel marks in the sand were more irritating to me in photo's but the tide washed them away

@@globebug thanks, have you been to SAii Phi Phi?

@@waxfluent5105 the hotel is not cheap and totally depends on time of year. Like many of these types of hotels you are not just paying for the room and the resort and grounds , you are paying for hopefully a more reserved type of guest. That is not always true and it can be Russian roulette with some wealthy people acting poorly. Other guests can spoil the experience. Hopefully the odds are better than staying at a back packers lodge if you want quiet and romance. Getting there is not an issue.and not expensive. we did not eat at the hotel much. Mainly because of two factors. 1 we were a little disappointed with the breakfast because they made a big deal of the French chef. The one Dinner we had was good but over priced 2. There were many other good choices along the beach and at SAii village. So we ate mostly at the small beach restaurant that had fresh sea food and also got take away there for the villa.

Hi I will complete and post the other Phi Phi Island reviews , soonish, I am booked to go back to Saii Phi Phi Village in July ( 4 weeks time ) and will shoot some more / extra footage of that resort. Forgot to do any aerials last visit and a second visit at a different time of year will also be handy to compare. I also have completed 2 stays at Phi Phi Coco and 2 other resorts in the main area that I need to edit. If you subscribe you won't miss them.

@@globebug hopefully we can see all your videos. Your videos are quality and so informative. Love the drone following the boat

@@mancunianinlondon thanks, that is actually a 360 camera on a long pole from the boat not a drone. I want to try a drone but I never want to fly one when people are around so when I do fly , I try to find an area to take off with no one around.

@@globebug it's brilliant

The Gold Coast is around 1 - 1.5 hours drive south of Brisbane. Mainly freeway wall the way. Gold Coast would be the Australian equivalent to Phuket . Nice but very touristy. Thai was doing a direct flight from Phuket to Sydney but may have stopped it. Not sure. Bangkok to Sydney is a 9 Hour flight. cheaper airlines fly this also but stop over in Singapore or KL North and South of the Gold Coast also have loads of choices for Beaches and towns. Most popular are Byron Bay ( South), then North , Caloundra, Coolum, Noosa ( very popular ) All of the Sunshine Coast . Then North a very popular area is the Whitsunday Islands. Mainland town is Cannonvale then boat out to many islands. WhiteHaven beach may have the whitest sand in the world. Or further north is Cairns. Easy day trip out to Green Island. very nice Obviously Sydney has many beaches also along with the city.

@@Jettec thank you. I have been told about Whitehaven beach many times and that it is incredible. I'm very tempted to try to get to Cairns and the barrier reef the next time I am in Thailand.

Thank you very much for taking the time to leave feedback. I have many many many more videos still edit. 3 more on Phi Phi. The Saii Phi Phi Village is also a good one round that side of the island. Quieter and has the village connected at the back. I am going back there for a third time in around 3 weeks time to get more footage and escape the Sydney winter. Just finishing a video now on Dust Thani Pattaya. Will try and post this week. I have loads of Phuket hotels to post and also Pattaya, Bangkok, Koh Chang, Koh Mak, Koh Lipe, Koh Yai , Changmai, etc etc. I know what you mean when you want to go back to an area that was good years ago and how disappointing it can be by the over development and over crowding that happens now days. Thanks again for your kind words. James

@@globebug Thank you for the reply. I really appreciate you suggesting another option on Phi Phi as well. In my opinion, Ko Phi Phi (including both Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Leh) is the most beautiful island on earth, even with the crowds. The trick is finding a place to stay away from the crowds and figuring out ways to see the beautiful parts (like Maya Bay on Phi Phi Leh) without encountering too many people. Your suggestion about taking an early longtail over to Maya Bay is a good one. In about 1996, I took a longtail over to Maya Bay from Long Beach and we were literally the only people in the bay - just me, my friend and the boatman. It was mind blowing. I'm always looking for the holy grail in Thailand (and elsewhere): a nice place to stay on a beautiful island away from the crowds but close to a good beach. It doesn't have to be at all fancy, just well run, clean and quiet. I had one on the quiet side of Ko Tao, but that bay has become too crowded. For me, the magic ingredient is space and privacy - if a bungalow is far enough away from other bungalows and restaurants, it's almost always good. I wonder if there are any such places on Ko Mak or Ko Kood. Do you have a presence online where people can find you? There's a lot to discuss.

@@chrisrowthorn41 I was in Koh Mak in April and Koh Kood last December. Both were very good. Both a lot quieter than Phi Phi. Koh Mak is quite small but also good fun and relaxing. If you are on instagram I have posted some reels there on account Globe.Bug We stayed at The Mak Trat on Koh Mak and Shantaa on Koh Kood. Koh Lipe and the island there are also fantastic. BUT they are further away. Koh Lanta is also good , laid back. all on Instagram Globe.Bug Will post reviews on both. We fly out to Thailand again tomorrow morning and we be staying at Saii Phi Phi again in a few weeks time.

Yes you can catch a long tail boat. I would arrange it with the boat driver earlier so that you know what time you want to go back before leaving it very late . Late at night many boats will be tied up and the drivers at home already but if you arrange it earlier in the afternoon evening you can be sure that you don’t have to worry about it. I have caught them at night no problem from tonsai and over at sai where the other bar street is

thanks, that's so handy to know. Thanks for your responses@@globebug

@@mancunianinlondon I have stayed there twice and have all the footage of the hotel. I am going back in about 2 weeks time to do the drone footage if the weather is OK. Rainy season now so hit and miss. I have 2 nights in the main area and hopefully it will be clear at some point. Then once I have the footage I can edit the video

We used “ go phi phi island “ www.gophiphiisland.com. From Phuket . Leaves from Rassada pier. Took us from phuket to ton sai pier and dropped some people , then we stayed onboard and they dropped us off around the island for zeavola

Thanks for the kind feedback

Yes it’s a great atmosphere in that bar and the street, good selection of music and food . Carmel rock is a good vibe

is it open in low season?@@globebug

@@mancunianinlondon should be open all year. A few of the surrounding hotels closed during covid and did renovations then opened again

Hope you enjoy, the only things the video can’t express is the feel of the sea breeze , the real feel of relaxation and the taste of the food

@@globebug With this fan blasting and my big imagination I can feel the sea breeze...haha Loving your channel man!