Anantara Golden Triangle Elephant Camp & Resort

和大象親近，享受！

First, the hotel, the view, the staff and everything about this place is as good as it gets. However, I want to write todays review on the cooking class called Spice Spoons. The head Chef of our program was PJ and he was absolutely fantastic. You start with a tour of the local market which is something we have not experienced before. Then, we came back to the hotel and had about an hour or so to relax as the tour started at 7am. Then we met PJ in the private kitchen and cooked our own meals. He cooks each dish first as we watch and he explains what everything is and what he is doing and then we replicate it and cook ourselves at our own stations. Then we sit at a beautiful table and eat our dishes. PJ was wonderful. He was funny, had all the answers from the questions the group had, was extremely knowledgeable and was an absolute joy to be with. I highly recommend this and definitely request PJ.

Our stay at the Anantara Golden Triangle Resort offered many highlights and a few areas for improvement. The resort's location, surrounded by breathtaking scenery and lush greenery, set the stage for a tranquil getaway. Positives: * The guides for trekking and biking were exceptional, and spoke perfect English. They provided in-depth knowledge about the local area and making outdoor adventures both fun and educational. The “city tour" was fun, usingtuk tuk and longboats as transportation * The elephant encounters were unforgettable, thoughtfully designed to respect the animals' well-being while allowing guests to connect with them in a meaningful way. * A special mention goes to Julia, whose Thai massage was absolutely terrific. * The staff was extremely friendly nice and helpful. Negatives: * The overall food quality was average. The buffet, in particular, often felt underwhelming, with dishes that seemed to have been sitting out for too long. There is an a la carte menu- which is deceptive. 2/3rds of the menu is on the buffet, 1/3 a la carte. The second day a different 1/3 is a la carte and so on. There is no where convenient to eat off campus and so the food is an issue. * The room felt a little dated, with furnishings showing some wear and tear. The large shower/bath tub combination, while luxurious in size, was somewhat impractical and it was difficult to use the shower * The pool was gorgeous- but not heated- was too cold to use * At $2000 per night the experience frankly should be near perfect.

We had the most wonderful stay at this resort. We walked with the elephants, made medicine for the elephants, and also took the spice spoons cooking class. The rooms, while small, are extremely comfortable. My boys, who are 19, 18 and 14, absolutely loved the resort pool and the buffet options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We also ordered off the menu and at the bar on several occasions. Everything was excellent. We stayed at several beautiful properties during our two weeks in Thailand, but I think this was probably everyone’s favorite. It was very comfortable and we all felt extremely welcome. Excellent job.

For luxury travel in the Golden Triangle, there are only two choices: the Anantara and the Four Seasons. While it is widely known that the Four Seasons is the superior choice between the two properties and carries more weight as a brand name, we stayed at the Anantara because it was a quarter of the price. That isn't to say that Anantara is a poor brand by any standard -- I stayed at the Anantara in Quy Nhon, Vietnam in December 2023 and loved my stay. It was certainly a five star experience. Property: The property of the Anantara Golden Triangle is well designed with most rooms being a short walk from the lobby, restaurants, and pool. There are three restaurants: a larger area where breakfast and buffets are served, a poolside restaurant (though it is really just four tables), and a Chef's Table sort of restaurant using ingredients from the three countries of the Golden Triangle. The pool has a nice view but is rather cold and has no hot tub. Room: My family and I stayed in a Mekong Explorer Suite. The room was well designed and kept clean, and I have no complaints. It is comfortable, but not a room in which one would want to pass the entire day. Activities: I'm not sure how it is for all rooms, but basedon our room, we had one activity per day. One day we went on a walk with elephants on site, another we went on a bike ride around the Golden Triangle, and the other we went on a city tour of the Golden Triangle with a boat ride in the Mekong. All were well done and should be done if staying. We also had massages, which I found to be poorly done and uncomfortable. Food: Food, but not alcohol, was included with our plan. The food is good quality and has reasonable variety, though I was bored by the final day. They do try to have buffets to sparse up the food, but the buffets are just the dinner menu. I would recommend that the restaurants rotate their menus in order to keep guests entertained. Service: I overall was displeased with the service at the Anantara. I debated bestowing a 4 star review, but ultimately I believe the other areas carry it to a 5. Staff as a whole are adequate, but they seem confused and under-trained as a whole. Two specific examples stood out to me as evidence of the service coming in below par. For some reason, there seemed to be an internship program going on while we were there. One intern, Gum, seemed to be our waitress at every meal and she was perpetually baffled by basic requests and would run to get a supervisor. Moreover, she seemed to be confused by multiples of the same order (i.e. there were multiple examples where we would order 2 coconuts and she would bring one). I am not sure why the internship program was in full flow during the Christmas holiday, but it was somewhat disruptful. Another instance was during our second dinner, two members of our family didn't get their food for over an hour due to the restaurant being busy. It came laden with errors, so they invited us to the Chef's Table restaurant

We had the most incredible stay here. The staff were INCREDIBLE. So kind and accommodating. The food was great, the head chef was always around to talk to us about his food and give us suggestions. Chacha and Jane who work were particularly kind and helpful. We did an elephant learning experience with the head veterinarian, Nissa which was so informative and unique. She is great. The next day we did the “walking with giants” with Tao and Bank who were both incredibly informative and patient with us. It was such a beautiful experience being in nature and amongst the elephants for a prolonged period of time. This hotel and the experiences you can have here are a MUST if you come to Thailand.