Banana Beach Resort in Lanta Island

We had booked one week for our family of four (two adults and two children age 2 and 0), because of the good reviews stating that it was a perfect stay for families. We were, although, completely chocked as we checked in. The place looks nothing like the pictures/reviews. It’s falling completely apart. Dirty, dry and most dreadful, I would describe it - and both the owner and the staff seems as if they have given up! Also the water in the shower smells like rotten eggs. You can easily tell there has not been many guests for a long, long time. We checked out after two hours and found another place. Biggest hotel disappointment of our entire trip so far!

We stayed here for 4 weeks, with a group of multiple families. If it was only our family, we definitely would not stay for such a long time.

The room

The rooms are basic, very basic. There are large gaps in between the door and the frame (see photo) , which results in a lot of mosquitos the whole time. Not much to do about it since the gaps are from the ceiling to the floor. The beds squeek a lot, which is really annoying when you want to rest. Our towelrack came loose from the wall, and was not fixed the whole time we were there.

The smell

There is an open sewer of some kind just behind the resort (see photo). This results in a constant smell, a really strong mixture of sulfer, rotten eggs and chemicals, that covers the whole resort. if the wind is in a bad direction, you basically smell it the whole day. This makes it not nice to be outside, at all.

The pool

The pool does not have a filter system, they clean it manually. Sometimes they don’t clean it for days. One day the pool was so dirty, you could not see the bottom of the pool. This is not only dirty, but it is also really bad for your health. I don’t recommend using the pool if it looks cloudy.

The staff

The reception staff is surly, and not helpful at all. The cleaning staff and the kitchen/service staff are really sweet and helpful though.

Internet

To be short, it does not work, and has never been the whole 4 weeks when we were there. We told the reception staff multiple times, but nothing has been fixed.

You may ask yourself, why stay here for 4 weeks? Well, the only reason why we stayed is for the kids. They could roam around freely the whole day. Enough space to play all day long, on the resort, as well as on the beach. If it wasn’t for them, we would have definitely checked out after a few days.

We paid around 50 USD per night, and this was without breakfast.

Sorry, but we are relieved to be leaving.

The good thing is that the kids can easily play outside.

However, the bad aspects include: the internet not working, a really bad smell that makes it unpleasant to be outside, and the pool being too dirty to use (despite paying for it).

Additionally, the reception staff were really unfriendly.

The rooms are basic, which is fine, but the doors didn't close properly (understatement, huge gaps), there was rust in the kettle, fridge had broken plastic trays (so ypu couldn't store your water) the water hose in the shower was too short, making it impossible to use for washing your kids (which was very inconvenient).

Furthermore, the tap/faucet was loose, and the bedding for the kids was synthetic and sometimes smelled very strongly of synthetic perfume.

The best thing about our stay were the cleaning ladies; they cleaned well and were super friendly. Thank you to them ♡.