When you want to see how the other half live, this is the place!
I have been hearing nothing but good things about this place for a couple of years now. I heard things like, “It’s nice!” “It’s got an obstacle course in the pool.” “The service is good.” Nobody I talked to did this place justice. I finally got a chance to go and check it out for myself this week. I spent two nights and three full days there just takin it all in, and I must say, I was impressed. It is better than good and nicer than nice. I found it absolutely incredible!!!!
It’s a great big resort that is actually located in Cha Am, only about two and half hours ride from Bangkok, making it a perfect getaway for when you need to escape the city for a few days.
When you arrive at the resort you will be met by a rabbit, Khun Suksbai, the timekeeper and mascot of So Sofitel who invites you to leave time behind as you enter into the “So Wonderland” and move into full relax mode. It really did feel like we were stepping into an Alice in Wonderland kind of place. From the lobby you see a huge sprawling reflection pool with statues of wild animals frolicking in the water and adding to the feel of the place.
As you check in, you’ll be given a welcome drink. Right away, you will notice from the fine china it is served in, that this is not your average hotel. This is luxury living, at its finest, and they do a damn good job of providing it, too.
To start off, let me tell you about the rooms. Whoooo Son!!! These are, hands down, by far the nicest rooms I have ever stayed in at a hotel in my life. Divine Immaculate. They are stunning. The first thing you will notice is your personalized welcome message written to you on the door of your room in chalk. It is a really cute little thing they do there that makes everyone feel special. A great way to start your stay. Open the door to see the most gorgeous room you could ever imagine. A huge white round bathtub on your left as you walk in. A big beautiful bed with a wooden frame rising up from it and a tapestry draped over the bed like it was right out of a fairytale of something. Opposite the bed you have a cute little couch and coffee table with some fantastic art on the wall behind it. The balcony is big, overlooking the main pool. It had a couple chairs, small table, and a rack to hang your wet swimsuits on to dry out. You have your fridge, in which everything inside is complimentary and will be replaced each day as you use it. Yes, you heard me right, complimentary. Every room also has its own espresso machine in it so you can start your day off right. You’ll notice a big freestanding trunk standing at the front of the room separating the bathroom and shower areas. This has your TV mounted on it which also swings out and can be directed to where ever you are sitting in the room. A quick look around the back side and you will find your closet with your bathrobes inside. Very classy. Separate toilet and shower, which my wife is fond of. The shower is fantastic, too. It has a sit down shower with a bench in there so you can relax and enjoy a little longer if you wish. The bathtub is amazing. A big huge circle shaped bath that you could easily fit a few people in. No need to worry about whether or not there will be enough hot water to fill it, there will. I made a bubble bath for my wife every night we stayed there and she was a happy camper. One nice little touch I found that they do here is that they provide bath salts for tub. My wife really liked that, and they refilled the salt every day so we were ready to go whenever she wanted her bath. The bath tub scores huge points in my book. My wife likes taking bubble baths. It keeps her happy, and if she ain’t happy, nobody is happy round my place. The rooms are just so comfortable. They make you feel right at home.
Now, let me tell ya about the grounds and the amenities. They have everything, and I mean EVERYTHING!!!! Starting off with a 2.4km cycling/jogging/skating track that circles the whole place. They have three main pools. One is for adults or kids over sixteen years old. This is a quieter pool for adults to chill out at and escape the kids for a bit. There is another big long pool towards the back of the resort going towards the beach, and another smaller pool a little closer to the beach, too.
Then they have a big main pool aimed at the kids. It has a huge floating obstacle course running down the middle of it, and man is it fun! The kids love this thing. My daughter, six years old, played on this thing all day, every day. I was happy about that because it’s a work out, too. It starts out with a floating ladder type formation the kids have to jump too or take big steps to make it through without falling in the water. Then they have to climb over the rooftop obstacle and slide down the other side. Next are the monkey bars you have to manoeuvre across (can also walk around the sides if you cannot do the monkey bars). After that, you side step your walk across another steep inclined obstacle. Finally making it to the final slide, where you climb up and either jump or slide down into the pool at the end!! It is a blast! All the kids loved this thing and played on it nonstop. Nice little treat for the kids that you won’t find anywhere else.
At the back of that pool is the So Sundae Shop that sells drinks and ice cream for the kids, and right next door to that is the kids club. This is kind of your headquarters for all activities for the kids. Kids can go in and play with the toys they provide there; legos, drawing, games, etc…. They also have a schedule of different activities for the kids to do or participate in almost every hour on the hour until about 4pm. Some of the activities are free of charge and some cost a few hundred baht like, crazy slime and mask chains. For the activities that they charge for, you can go sign up and do them anytime you want.
There is a full 18-hole putt putt golf course for everyone to enjoy. How nice is that? It was great! We played at least one round every single day we were there. It is a cute course with a neat wonderland type theme to it. It has some really fun holes to play and not too difficult for the little ones. This is free of charge to all guests.
They have a nice tennis court to play on if you fancy a little tennis. Don’t worry if you forgot your rackets. They provide you with two rackets, two cans of balls (and good balls, too. Still got some life in them, not old balls), two towels, two water bottles. Lights are great if you want to play in the evening or night. Free to use for guests. They really take care of you at this place. Tremendous service.
There is a half basketball court and hoop you can use if you are up for a little B-ball. They even have a Pickle Ball court, paddles and balls you can use to play. It is an easy, fun, not so physically demanding game. Pickle Ball is really starting to catch on these days. It is pretty fun game to play and we saw several families give it a go while we were there. Again, free of charge for guests.
I even saw that they had a soccer field and two goals in a field next to the rooms, so you can play soccer there as well. In this area they also have a volleyball net set up!!! What doesn’t this place have???? It is truly Awesome!!!
Ping Pong, they got it!! Right next to the kid’s club, free. Playground, got it, too. Right behind the kid’s club there is a little outdoor playground with a couple swings, a small trampoline, some bars to swing on and things to climb up.
They have two restaurants located on the premises, Beach Society and White Oven. Beach Society is located right down by the beach and offers fine dining with a more western style/fusion and includes a range of steaks from Australia, Argentina, and USA. As well as, a 1.3kg tomahawk, my favorite!!
The White Oven has more authentic Thai cuisines and dishes. Everything we tried was very good. We mostly just had some typical Thai staples; Pad Thai with tiger prawns, Gapow Moo, Penang Curry, and morning glory. I thought the Penang curry was excellent, rich and thick curry with lots of flavor to it. Then I did treat myself to the grilled Australian wagyu one evening. It was delicious. Choice cut of meat, very tender and juicy. The meat was of a very high grade. You can’t go wrong with this one, and I thought it was considerably cheap as well, 790 baht. To me, that seemed to be very affordable for the quality of meat that I got. I was most happy about that.
They also do their morning buffet from this restaurant. The breakfast buffet was spot on. They make your eggs to order, any way you want them, fried, scrambled, omelette, eggs Benedict. Pancake and waffle station set up out front, and they made some good ones, too. Nice assortment of fresh breads and croissants. Plenty of sausages, bacon, hash browns, beans, and what not for your western breakfast. There was a section with hams and cheeses. They had all the Thai foods out front on a buffet there. It had some great curry on it, too. Everything was much as you would expect when visiting a hotel of this caliber.
Overall, this was a great experience. I was highly impressed by how much So Sofitel had to offer and to the lengths they went to in making our stay there a joy and most memorable. The staff did a fantastic job of taking care of our every need and made us feel welcome and appreciated. It was truly a wonderland experience. I look forward to returning there for another stay in the very near future. If you haven’t done it yet, you should get over there and treat yourself to a little luxury, you won’t regret it.
