Do not be fooled…

A few months ago, my wife and I booked the Ocean Breeze Boutique and Garden Suites after seeing a few of the good reviews here on Trip Advisor. When you book through Web Sawadee, they only need you to pay for one night as a type of deposit that applies toward your balance, then two weeks or so before you arrive, they want you to pay the remainder by going through their website.

When our time came up to pay the remainder (a few months after we initially booked), I saw on this site and another travel site two different negative reviews. I thought that probably it might have been someone with too high of expectations and was disappointed. Now, though, I know what they meant because I have experienced it; my expectations are low. I have stayed in some of the worst hotels and “bungalows” in Asia, sometimes out of necessity as it was the only place to stay. I am not picky. BUT I do expect true advertising and a reasonable price, neither of which you get through Web Sawadee or Ocean Breeze.

So, I want to contribute to the negative reviews. Do not stay at Ocean Breeze.

Positives:
Quasi-Friendly staff
Breakfast is included, although the amount is enough for a child, not an adult.

Negatives:
Everything else
--the bungalow itself—run down, not fixed up, no “extras”, no wall paintings, electrical breakers visible, electrical wires all strewn about, shower had little to no water pressure, a/c only in bedroom, no fans (if you are 5’2” or less, then the shower will work for you), did have a tv and dvd player and a selection of movies,
--the beds in the bungalow were two metal frames with a ½ inch thick “mattress” on the top, the couch had holes in it, so they covered it with a sheet. 
--the dip pool (YES IT IS GREEN AND NOT ABLE TO BE FULLY CLEANED); there’s no way I was letting my children swim in that nasty thing; the staff “worked” on it for two days while we were there. In the end, we realized they were “working on” the dip pool just to get us to stick around knowing they couldn’t get it clean.
--the street it sits on—an alleyway where trashcans are kept with two or three packs of dogs that roam around barking at each other; it’s NOT safe for children at all. although the beach is only a 100 meter walk away, still it’s not safe or sanitary.

A reasonable price would be 1000-1300 baht per night (between low and high season), but they want between 3200-4200 per night during high season and only a few hundred less during low season.

To summarize, do not stay at Ocean Breeze. There haven’t been any positive reviews for a while, and there is a reason.

We stayed at Ocean Breeze whilst our adult children stayed at the nearby Coral Keys (Ocean Breeze is just the one bungalow). I must say we were somewhat disappointed having read such wonderful reviews. Looking at their website on our return, I wonder if we actually stayed at the same place!

The bungalow, though quite large was totally soulless - no pictures on the walls, no ornaments - just tatty furniture. The plunge pool was filthy when we arrived and although after two days it was cleaned out it still didn't look clean enough to get in. There was no bar, from what I can guess, that is now just a reception area. The tv didn't work, we only got clean beach towels on the first two days, breakfast was fairly good but slow and disorganised. We got what we actually ordered on only a couple of days.

None of this was unbearable, the most annoying thing was the price. Our children stayed at Coral Keys at half of the price in a much more homely bungalow with all appliances working.

To it's credit, for most of the time, the personal touches were wonderful. Every day we were visited by what I presume is the manager, who updated us on all local events and excursions. On a couple of afternoons we were brought desserts (though we were told on arrival that this would happen every day) and we were given a huge bowl of fruit. On the manager's day off there was no-one else around who spoke English and everything went pear-shaped!

And a word of warning - if you do stay at either Ocean Breeze or Coral Keys, DON'T leave your shoes/sandals outside as there is a dog who loves to chew them up (2 pairs lost in a one week stay!)

the reality of staying at the ocean breeze did not live up to earlier reviews on this website. the location is great and it was really nice to have a living room, private garden and splash pool aswell as the expected bedroom and breakfast. However do not be fooled into thinking this is a boutique B&B or hotel, as it isn't and it is most definitaly overpriced. We changed hotels half way through our stay for somewhere just 5 minutes walk away, with a beautiful pool, attentive staff, evening meal included and it was 2/3rds the price.

The remote control to the TV did not work. several of the free DVDs were pirate copies and so a real pain to watch with classic background coughs and the shadows of people walking across the screen.

The shower was really weak and the water that came out of it smelled of eggs. the air conditioning worked well enough but rattled and wheezed its way through the night so that we had to use ear plugs to get a decent nights sleep.

the breakfasts were good, but there was not the variety mentioned in other reviews. The manager was very friendly and helpful except he was the only person who spoke English. he wasn't there on a couple of mornings which did not make it easy asking questions or getting help. though we were there in the low season and it may be different when full, it is not run like a hotel, for example there there is no 24 hour staff cover, and when I needed some help one evening the place was dead and it was only 8.30pm. the room was not cleaned everyday, and the table cloth on our breakfast table was never changed. the place defintily needs some tlc.

I would stay at this resort again, as it was beautiful, but not at the ocean breeze

The Ocean Breeze now has changed and offers private bungalows and cottages. Lovely tropical garden with your own private small garden splash pool, very small but cooling! Your own garden with loungers, even your own thatched tropical sit up bar. The bungalow offers air conditioned bedroom with a separate sitting room, 2 TVs and DVD and CD players, very nice to relax. Small shower plus wc. Breakfast is served on the verandah or patio, lots to choose, loved the Poached Eggs and Spinach. You have maid service and steward service.
This is ideal for those who do want to stay in a large hotel but prefer their own private accommodation. Lovely service as always.