Just got back from the PG this morning. This was our first trip to Thailand, and will be going back. The hotel is everything it says it is. Don't go here if you want a busy and bustling hotel. There are only 70 or so rooms, mostly booked out by Thomsons. While we were there half the hotel was not occupied. This means that although the hotel has a resort feel about it, things are fairly intimate, and you could find yourself being the only people in the restaurant or bar in the evening. There is no real daytime entertainment, as this seems to be focused on relaxing by the pool or getting out and exploring. For what we paid, it was excellent value for money. The hotel is set a fair distance from Khao Lak "town", a ten minute taxi ride away which costs £4-5 each way, which is nothing when you consider you can get a superb meal with drinks for about £5.00 in Khao Lak's main tourist/shopping area. The beach at the hotel is not excellent, and not directly accessible from the hotel - a 10 minute stroll away. The area was badly hit by the tsunami, which can be noticed by the amount of coral washed up onto the beach. There are a couple of shacks cum restaurants on or near the hotel beach, both cheap and fabulous food, but other than that, you can virtually have miles of beach to yourself for long walks along the shore. Mountain bikes are free to use from the hotel (with varying degrees of maintenance- test them first to find the one that suits you) and within an easy 15-20 minute ride is Aow Tong beach, also known as White Sands, which is a particularly beautiful beach, but has the luxury of 4 very good beach bars and restaurants, with toilets and shower. These are also open in the evening for dinner, and great for a romantic and fabulous inexpensive meal. Don't be suprised if a little beach-bum dog approaches you, they are very friendly, if a bit rough around the edges. We shared our sun bathing spot, on the sand, not on the deckchairs provided by the bars, with a snake for the two weeks! It was harmless (I think). The sea here is good for swimming, and again ytou can walk for miles along the sand hunting for shells. Head right from the hotel and follow signs for The Serojin Hotel. The rooms at the hotel are what you would expect for the price paid - well sized, clean, equipped with good air con, tv, hair dryer etc. Only a shower in superior rooms as baths are in the suites. Twin beds can be pushed together to make a very large double. Beds are a little on the hard side, which is normal for Thailand, and good for your back! Rooms have a bag for you to use for taking stuff to the pool/beach, beach towels and umbrellas just in case. We had two tropical downpours, each lasting no more than an hour, and an experience in themselves. The pool is lovely, and a welcome retreat from the scorching sun. The grounds are beautiful with flowers everywhere - orchids, birds of paradise, frangipanes, bananas etc, all looked after and very tropical. The pool bar is ok, and serves snacks during the day. In the evening you will probably have the bar to yourself as most guests head into Khao Lak. The restaurant is very good, with breakfast being continental style. We got up early, so as the breakfast is open between 6 and 11, we would go back at about 10 for morning coffee and a croissant and the staff did not seem to mind. The evening meals are all Thai based food, lovely, but pricey compared to eating outside the hotel (if you think £10 for a meal and drinks for 2 is expensive). As we booked through Thomson, as most guests seem to, we got two complimentary dinners, and we chose set menu B which was delicious Thai seafood - we didnt see other guests taking up this deal, I dont know why. There is a mini market just outside the hotel, which you have to hang around outside until someone notices you are waiting then they will open. This is much better value for drinks and snacks than the poolside bar, or the room mini-bar. The staff are very friendly, always saying hello and smiling, and the hotel is small enough to get to recognise faces. The downside is thier English is not so good, but we had no trouble, however some of the guests seemed to expect the staff to be fluent in a foreign language! The reception and concierge staff are very helpful, and if you want a taxi to get to Khao Lak they will arrange it for you and you pay them 300-400 bhat (about £5) however just outside the hotel to the left is a shack restaurant (great food) which will get you a cab even cheaper. Cabs are readily available in Khao Lak to get back to the hotel. We didn't have a problems with mosquitos as we took spray on repellent, but those who didnt take this did get bitten - what did they expect? You see lots of ghekos around the place, and we also saw praying mantis, a bearded lizard, and only once a massive hissing cockroach (not the dirty ones we get in the UK), as well as all manner of birds. There are no places in the area to snorkel, as the reefs were destroyed by the tsunami and the sea is not clear enough (it is warm though). You can book excursions to Similan islands for diving with numerous companies, as well as Thomsons. We did the elephant trek into the jungle, which was excellent, and included a canoe ride through the jungle (a Thai guide paddled). The elephants are enormouse and very docile. There is some building work going on around the hotel, as there is everywhere along the coast after the devatstation of the tsunami, but this really did not disturb us as no noisy machinary is used in local building. What struck us most about this holiday is the way that the locals are just getting on with rebuilding their lives after the tsunami, with a smile for everyone. They don't seem to offer to talk about the tsunami, which is understandable, and we felt it would be impolite to ask. Just outside the hotel on the way to Cape Pakrang, we cycled past hundreds of commemorative trees with names on (one English) which really brings home how this place was hit hard. For people who like to combine a peaceful hotel located ideally for exploring, this is a good choice of hotel. I expect we shall go back very soon! Mark & Chris.

Stayed for our first time in Thailand at the hotel, at first we thought that it would be a little too quite as the hotel was, but nearby there is plenty to do. free bus to Khao Lak twice a day and it was only 300 bhaht in a taxi so if you could find some other people to go into town it cost litterally nothing. Hotel prices were expensive so everyone went out at night. At the bottom of the road there is a small resturaunt with fantastic foom kang lay i think it was called and a new one on the beech that opened while we were there. A must is white sand beech a 20 min cycle ride fantastic food and beech with no tsunami damage. Also if you don't do anything else go to white sand beech in the evening soft lights and very romantic setting. Khao Lak in the evening is a little more lively, with nice resturaunts and bars. Elephant trip was great booked through Thompson and the staff of the hotel were fantastic, very good breakfast at the hotel. Hotel beech still has tsunami damage which is a shame but that did not detract from us having a great time.

We spent 2 weeks here on a Thomson package holiday. Thomson holidays give you a Superior room. We contacted the hotel direct before travelling to arrange an upgrade to a Deluxe for about £180 for the 14 nights. When we arrived a Deluxe room was ready for us, but we asked to see a Suite (there are 4), it was fantastic, we were given it free of charge by Bogie - what a great start to a holiday!
The room was amazing, cool contemporary decor (nicer than The Hempel in London), very spacious (dressing area and a lounge area), quiet, clean, huge bed, fridge, big TV with DVD/CD player, 2 sets of patio doors onto balconies, sea view (as all rooms do), a massive bathroom (bath and separate walk-in shower) and an outside shower.
The pool is great - never busy - they'll play your own CD's if you ask - we did! Comfy loungers (beach towels and beach bag provided in all rooms). Poolside food. Nice poolside bar, but it always seemed to be quiet - in the evening, a little too quiet!
The hotel provide free cycles to use and has free internet access in the reception. There are also mopeds to hire that belong to the hotel these can be requested the previous night at reception and the keys and helmets will be waiting for you the following morning, mopeds are hired for a full 24 hours (350 Baht ) or longer, great cheap way to get around and the roads in the surrounding areas are nice and quiet.
All the staff were so friendly and sweet, their english wasn't fantastic but they always helped you.
Massages are great - v cheap in a very nice relaxing spa area this was all very professional and superb value.
Due to the Tsunami there is alot of coral on the beach in front of the hotel, we never spent much time here (went in the sea a couple of times and walked along the beach), we used to go to the beaches further up or down the coast (a 60min walk down the coast 30min cycle or 10 mins on the moped or taxi), so if you really want a perfect beach right in front of your hotel, don't choose here!
A visit to the Similan Islands is a must. Perfect white sands and turquoise sea, like you see on postcards and in the brochures.
All in all, a wonderful holiday in a great hotel in a wonderful country, with wonderful people.

We booked two weeks at the Palm Galleria in Khao Lak for our honeymoon, and it is the best holiday we have ever had!

Thailand in general is a beautiful country and there is really something for everyone. The weather is so hot, never less than 30 degrees. There were occasional scattered clouds but they give a couple of minutes relief from the scorching sun! We had no rain in the whole 2 weeks. The Palm Galleria itself is about 15 mins in a taxi (Tuk Tuk) from Khao Lak centre. The taxi cost 300 Baht which is roughly £4.50 and the hotel lay on 2 daily trips for free (11am & 4pm).

We stayed in two different types of room while we were there. We booked a standard room but asked to move because our neighbours had bought a ghetto blaster with them! (This was not the normal type of guest here and they seemed a little out of place) We were upgraded to a deluxe room for free. The only real difference between the two was the deluxe had a bath. We got friendly with another couple who were staying in the best rooms they offer which were slightly bigger and had a DVD player. The only other difference was nicer fittings such as large shower heads etc. We stayed on a bed & breakfast basis. The breakfast is served 6.30 til 10.30 and is buffet style. You can have a cooked english breakfast (egg - fried, scrambled, omlet with bacon, sausage and toast etc) or there are pastries, cereal and some fresh fruit.

The hotel has a very nice pool with the Palm Bar next to it. The bar plays low level music during the day which makes for nice background noise and serves cocktails and food. There is also a place near the pool where you can have a massage which over looks the nearby beach. We had 3 massages, all very nice. They cost about 600 Baht for a 1 hour all over massage which is about £9. The restaurant serves very nice food but it tends to be empty most nights as most guests go to Khao Lak as the meals there are extremely cheap. Most recommended are the Dragon where you take your shoes off before you go in! The Lazy Bar next door to the dragon is a nice place to have a drink too.

The Palm Galleria is situated right on a beach. It is almost a private beach as there only tends to be people from this hotel that use it as there are not any other hotels nearby. Khao Lak was one of the hardest hit in the Tsunami and the beach does have some dead coral towards the back but there are big sandy stretches closer to the water.

Some people have complained about the smell in the area. Well yes sometimes there is a smell, but Thailand in general has poor sewerage systems and anyone who has been to Cyprus will know all about not being able to flush paper! It is the same in Thailand. You have to use bins instead. However the Palm Galleria is extremely clean and has the best facilities of anywhere we visited so you cant really blame the hotel. Housekeeping come everyday to clean the room and give you fresh towels and bed sheets etc.

There are plenty of excursions on offer. We went with Thomson and booked through the rep (John). However on reflection I would adivse people to book there own with the travel companies in Khao Lak because they are much cheaper and you get a more personal day out rather than spending hours on a coach picking up people from other hotels etc. Elephant trekking is a must. A trip snorkelling or diving on the Similan Islands is also recommeded. So many tropical fish, we even saw Dolphins!

Overall the Palm Galleria is highly recommended, especially for couples. It is modern, clean, has great staff and serves great food.