Montalay Beach Resort ★★★

The hotel is nicely located at chilled and calm Tanote Bay, which is great for snorkeling. The staff is very friendly and welcoming. The rooms are modern and spacious.

- The bed was not very comfortable. - Only Instant Coffee. - Not the hotel’s fault, but depending on the current there are days, where a lot of plastic garbage washes up on the beach, which is very sad.

The property is rated well for a 3 star hotel. Breakfast isn’t bad, and the staff are helpful in the restaurant area.

You get a free pickup from the pier on arrival. However have to pay 100TBH if you want to use the service to go back out anywhere. I was also charged 300TBH for a stained bed sheet, which I thought was a bit unfair.

We decided to stay here because we traveled with 2 small children and didn't want to travel up and down to a beach every day. This resort absolutely has one of the best spots at Koh Tao. The beach, located just about 100 meters away from our room, really offers fantastic snorkeling experiences. I expected needing to swim further into the sea first but the fish and coral are pretty much right at your feet. The beach itself is kept very clean and there are plenty of toys for kids to play with in the sand. The resort has several other things going for it. During our many travels through Asia we've learned to expect the worst from showers but the shower here is hot and powerful. I think the bathroom has been modernized as it looked newer than the rest of the room. The resort has a good pool for both young and old to freshen up everyday. I read comments on how the pool is in the shadows and although at first we didn't like it either we later learned this is rather pleasant so you don't burn up in the sun every time you get out. It's safer for the kids as well and with temperatures at Koh Tao the pool never felt cold. Reception is helpful and speaks very good English. They helped us out with a snorkeling trip and booking the ferry back to the mainland when the website for Lomprayah made me want to book a trip for January 1970. There is plenty of fresh water in the room. The resort manages a bonus system during if you don't ask for housekeeping you get a voucher for a free meal. The air-conditioning in the room can be set to freezing cold and the place is very, very quiet at night which was lovely. Wi-fi was fantastic. We had internet everywhere, not just in the room but at the pool as well. I've rarely had Wi-Fi this great in Thailand. There are several other restaurants nearby offering good food.

It's pretty obvious Thailand has been hit by the pandemic and this resort is behind on maintenance. Several small things were broken but none of these are serious issues. They've supposedly been bought out and I've a feeling it'll be improved gradually over the next coming months/year as construction was going on here and there. Breakfast was really it's biggest downer. There are plenty of choices but the food is among the worst we've had in Thailand. We had dinner there once as well and this wasn't very good either. Another big downer was often being surrounded by the smell of smoking and blowing tourists when sitting at the pool.. There are ashtrays everywhere and I'd think people needing to smoke should find a designated area to do so. I'm sure smokers feel differently though, as they always do. Despite the room being closed all day we still had some mosquitos in the room coming in from the air-conditioning vent. Staff cleans the room and clearly works with some anti bug spray so we didn't get bitten a lot. Also, this is an island, getting bitten kinda comes with the territory, I suppose. At night, the light from the hallway shines into your room, coming in from the windows in the bathroom. You can't darken your room that way. Blackening out those windows would help a lot. The bathroom is poorly lit. Yes, it feels cozy, but an extra light would help a lot. Overall we feel that if the downsides would be improved this place would easily get a 9/10 and without the location this place is worth just a 7. We hope they'll manage to turn things around and we can come back in the near future.

Nice pool for beeing an Island.

A bit expensive and "boring" menu. Better alternatives on beach. Had to pay for Transfer back to pier, only pick-up is included. Family room only had 2 chairs on the big balcony. Why not 4? A bit worn down. The beach needs better cleaning from the different resorts and restaurants.

Staff was super nice that offers good service for daily activities, room was modern and we got the option for an extra bed for our child, very good location directly at Tanote Beach, very good breakfast.

All very small things: Restaurant was ok regarding the food but the lights at dinner time are so bright that it felt uncomfortable for us to sit there for a while. There are other options around with nicer atmosphere. (Still the staff was super nice) Our room was back-site on the top so no sea view but the road is not noisy at night so ok for us. Balcony furniture could need some cushion for more comfort.

Location is great of course, right by a top snorkeling beach. Nice pool, ok restaurant. Diving school right next door. We had a superior room with AC, it was comfortable, rather new bathroom. Everything was very clean. Staff is exceptionally friendly and helpful. Leave a tip!

A bathrobe would have been nice, most 3 star hotels we went to had this. Be aware that the location is quite remote, you need a taxi/scooter to everything else you might want. We liked the quiet though. We were there over New Years, so the price was very high, even for the location and standard. But I guess that's the way it is in high season. Restaurant prices were also quite high, the restaurant next door on the beach was decently priced.

Breakfast was good

Daily free shuttle into town/main pier would have been awesome

we made an additional payment and changed the room to a better one, otherwise it would’t have been impossible to share the bathroom with someone

unfortunately the sea had strong waves and it was impossible to swim

Staff extremly nice and friendly. Beautiful snorkel spot dircetly at resort beach. Totally recommend. Loved it

Food a bit expensive but good

The location is good and away from the other tourist hotspots with its own beach. The staff were always helpful and smiling. The room was nice and housecleaning did an amazing job each day. For Scuba diving their is a really good dive center located on the hotel beach.

The restaurant was ok but rarely used it.

The quiet location with one of the nicest beach in Koh Tao right next to the pool.

Nothing

If you love snorkeling the location is simply the best...

... But you have to know that they say that they don’t respond for your belongings inside the room while you are away. By the way, the right wing of the hotel, the one with 101 room is noisy from early mornings. Change it if you can.

They should be fine. Anyway I had booked room without breakfast.

They could buy all new towel. I found they were so poor.

- it is a beautiful bay, very nice landscape - very clean beach - good spot for snorkeling, good reef and rocks with a lot of fish - room is good and clean

- hard mattress - the sand at the beach is a bit rough - the hotel should be better maintained

The location is super! Super breakfast. There is a beach right in front of the resort. Friendly staff and very helpful. Although Koh Tao is a bit pricey, the prices at the resort for food and drinks are not that overpriced. Nice big rooms.

The shower was a bit moldy and it smells like that. We didn’t asked about it, but it’s noticeable. There was no airco, there was a fan but this isn’t helping enough for a cooler night.

Most staffers were very friendly and helpful.

Very noisy aircon.

The views from this resort are incredible! The back of the property leads to an infinity swimming pool with steps down to a private beach. The sunrise was gorgeous in the morning. The beach itself is quiet and clean!

The resort is VERY remote. Only 4 scheduled taxi times to go into town and nothing within walking distance. I arrived late so the only option for me to eat was in the hotel restaurant which had significantly higher prices than anywhere in town. I knew it would be serene and remote, but I didn't realize that it would be so closed off from the rest of the island. Also a very expensive taxi ride from the pier.

The staff is very helpful and the view from the bungalow is very nice

The toilet smelled a bit damp, but then we aired the room so it was ok, not the end of the world

Staff were very helpful

While the location was lovely it was a very hilly 15 minute car ride to get to and from the resort

The treehouses were located behind the resort, in a quiet area, surrounded by forest, 5min on foot to the beach (steep path) Staff was always helpful and friendly

We would liked to have more confortable seats on the balcony or a hammock