tl;dr Huge kids club with supervision. Wonderful pools and small water Park. Good service. Long version: We enjoyed our stay at the Sands with a baby and a toddler on the "splash" and noisy side of the hotel. That side includes the small water Park, the big kids club, a restaurant with Pad Thai, pizza and stuff the kids can eat, with fairly reasonable prices but it closes at 18. The quiet side has a more prestigious restaurant, beach access and two pools: one for adults only and one for all. It has a lake with big fish with twice a day feeding time so little ones can help feed. The beach is about 5-10 minutes walking from the "splash" side. Breakfast buffet is also separated for families and adults by 2 different restaurants. We used the babysitting service for our baby. Someone from housekeeping came to the kids club (as per our request) and wonderfully played with our baby, while our toddler was fascinated by the vast variety of toys and entertained himself. The kids club staff is not interactive with the children (other than planned creative activities) and mostly watches the safety of the children. Parental presence is welcome. The hotel provides free water bottles and beach towels to your room. The baby got a wooden baby bed and our toddler used the extra bed/sofa which could be conveniently turned around so the back of the sofa became bed safety rails.

tl;dr Pristine beach is not private and without security control. Better priced restaurants and massages on the main road. Long version: For breakfast all are seated outside, no air conditioning. The hotel has a mobile app where you can order room service and receive warnings of jellyfish but unfortunately it didn't have the weekly evening magic show for kids and the advertisement appeared on the quiet side of the hotel, which we didn't attend regularly. The bathtub wasn't clean when we first entered the room but the room service came in briefly and cleaned. Outside the hotel, on the main road, a good selection of cheaper restaurants and massages.

Exceptional service. Amazing facilities and set up

They should have more for teens and should run a shuttle service via their golf carts up to the main road and to the night market

We had a great stay with our daughter (2y) in this family friendly hotel and would recommend it to everyone travelling with young children. - Friendly staff - Multiple swimming pools (1 adult only, 1 with a lot of waterfun, 1 close to the beach) - Well-equipped gym (don't expect high-end materials, but there is enough for a proper workout) - Great kids club (also possibility to request babysitting services at a reasonable price) - Large breakfast buffet that offered a wide variety of foods (Thai, Western, children's buffet, ...). They have enough high chairs and plastic tableware for the little ones. - Direct access to the beach - Close to the main street where you can find diverse restaurants, bars, massage salons, etc. Note that the Bang Niang night market is located 5 minutes (by car) from the hotel. The Bang Niang area is also busier. Nang Thong area felt more child-proof (except for the streets, strolling with a buggy can be challenging - but that seems to be the situation in more Thai locations) - Lunch at Talay restaurant was good.

- Food in the restaurants is more expensive compared to local restaurants around the corner - The room was sometimes a bit humid and tv had some issues (we did not really need it so not a real problem for us) - They play quite loud music at the children's/family pool, which is not needed (in my opinion) as there are a lot of children and water activities that make noise already. Or play some chilled music instead

Multiple pool options is a plus, our son enjoyed the kids pool. Rooms are very similar to the pictures in the web site, they are spacious and the housekeeping is good. You will have multiple options inside the hotel for food and the open buffet provides variety of options. Should you need, there are many restaurants at a walking distance along the main road of the Khao Lak. Staff are responsive and helpful. The kids club is nice and clean. All in all, it is a good Hotel for a family trip.

The waiting time at the all day dining is a little bit annoying. Just to note, not much to do in or outside the Hotel at night time.

Great location. Ocean front. Very large and varied breakfast. Self service. But what’s with the chicken sausage??? All over Thailand they have chicken sausage that looks like a hot dog 😳 If you have kids the kids pool area looks amazing. But we don’t so did t use it. Lots of kids at breakfast. Hard to tune out all the crying

The adult pool does not have a swim up bar? That’s in the family pool. Makes no sense. When we check in the ac in our unit was not working. Housekeeping was aware that it was not working. They still had us check into that room. Communication was very poor. Ultimately the ac was fixed but we were told to use their app to communicate with the staff but no one ever answer our messages and replied. Poor customer service. We had to run around and try to figure out ourselves if it was repaired. This is not something we feel like we should have had to deal with.

The facilities were incredible. Definitely more for families but a good amount of adult only areas too. The kids club is amazing - my 4 & 6 year olds were asking if they could go! We didn't even end up having a nanny at all because of how good the kids club and swimming pools were. The food was amazing - if you like Thai food then you'll be in heaven at the flavours. And such good value for money. 8 nights we had massages, dinners, cocktails, room service, nibbles - we paid $1400AUD on checkout. Very very happy. Will definitely be back

As with all resorts, after a week you've tried everything, but not much to complain about. The bed mattress wasnt great and fine for the first 5 days but definitely started getting aches and needing my home mattress

Unbelievable! Amazing! We will definitely be coming back and upgrading our experience. We came during the low season and the resort was still busy which is a testament to the resort and the area. We booked for 4 nights just so we can check out the area as well as the resort. We've previously stayed in Phuket and decided to add on Khao Lak for this trip and not only did it not disappoint, it exceeded our expectations and them some. From the moment we arrived to the resort, we recieved the customary Thai welcome. The staff are so humble, warm and welcoming. The vibe was just amazing from the outset. The design of the hotel literally covers everyone's tastes. Couples, honeymooners, families young and old to older generation of people looking for a quiet and relaxing holiday. As busy as it is, there are 2 buffet breakfast locations next to each other. 1 reserved for families and a quieter one for adults only which is a brilliant idea. There is a huge selection of food so it it should cater to nearly everyone, truly. There is a store with supplies next to reception and the prices are very reasonable especially considering it's part of the resort. It has everything. Clothing, footwear, swimming gear, drinks (alcohol including popular brands) ice cream, snack etc. Self service washing and drying machines for 50 baht each which is again an amazing idea for families in my opinion. We booked 2 connecting rooms on the ground floor next to the mango bar so we had great access to the main beach front pool, the breakfast buffet, the talay restaurant (have left an amazing review there - check it out). The rooms were amazing truly and housekeeping was really well done. As busy as the resort was, the 3 large pool areas (including 2 swim up bars) make sure that you have more than ample space to enjoy a swim. Again there is a kids/family pool which is really well designed that adults thoughts enjoyed it as much as the children of all ages.

Honestly? Nothing I can think of! If I'm being picky, the large central lake seems a wasted opportunity for a large pool, garden, lawn games areas to me. Thats really about it.

Pools were nice, lazy river, water slides and kiddies swim area was good. Room, shower, and toilet clean and tidy. Overall, it was good and a pleasant stay. Staff are very friendly and kind. Complimentary bottle water was very good.

There are no usb points in our pool access junior suite. Floor in the shower bath area very slippery. Our breakfast in the floating restaurant was often cold ( eggs, bacon, and sausages often cold. Occasionally, we missed out on items of breakfast that were unavailable , scrambled eggs, bacon, etcetera. Lunch was always good. The pool water temperature was way too warm and could be 4 degrees cooler. More shade over pools would be nice. The grey tiles around our pool access were always too hot to touch. For me, I felt the price for 8 nights of $58000 thb was too expensive compared with other facilities. Overall, we did enjoy ourselves, thank you.

location , facilities , kid activities

staff (they are friendly & helpful but should be trained to meet luxury hotel standard) for example, I booked for 3 but only get 2 sets of towels & beach towels. I went to restaurant with a 3 year old but didn’t get kid utensils unless asking. I went to beach massage & notice staff didn’t change the bed sheet & towel after one customer left. security system need improvement. for example I took my baby to kid club. there is no good security check. they only ask for room number without prove of key card. I traveled to different places. this should be high priority. I drove my rental car in and out. They should register the car that go in and out. it is about safety.

Nicely designed hotel next to the sandy beach and close to Khao Lak village. Waterpark- indisputable attraction for families. Kids Club. Many other water facilities for kids and adults. Many restaurants and bars (Coconut Bar!). Well equipped gym plus pool table. Mind blowing breakfast at Manta Ray Restaurant.

What we did not like is that we could not stay longer and relax for a little longer.