The Sands Khao Lak by Katathani - SHA Extra Plus

tl;dr Huge kids club with supervision. Wonderful pools and small water Park. Good service. Long version: We enjoyed our stay at the Sands with a baby and a toddler on the "splash" and noisy side of the hotel. That side includes the small water Park, the big kids club, a restaurant with Pad Thai, pizza and stuff the kids can eat, with fairly reasonable prices but it closes at 18. The quiet side has a more prestigious restaurant, beach access and two pools: one for adults only and one for all. It has a lake with big fish with twice a day feeding time so little ones can help feed. The beach is about 5-10 minutes walking from the "splash" side. Breakfast buffet is also separated for families and adults by 2 different restaurants. We used the babysitting service for our baby. Someone from housekeeping came to the kids club (as per our request) and wonderfully played with our baby, while our toddler was fascinated by the vast variety of toys and entertained himself. The kids club staff is not interactive with the children (other than planned creative activities) and mostly watches the safety of the children. Parental presence is welcome. The hotel provides free water bottles and beach towels to your room. The baby got a wooden baby bed and our toddler used the extra bed/sofa which could be conveniently turned around so the back of the sofa became bed safety rails.

The hotel is a large resort but still there was plenty of space around to not feel too crowded. The fact that the kids pool area was a separate pool area made a huge (positive) impact. And having a pool area for adults only was great. The beach is only a few steps away and the shops and restaurants a short walk from the hotel. One could also use the hotel's own taxi service to get into town for a small expense. The rooms were large and nicely decorated. The bed was supercomfy.

We had a great stay with our daughter (2y) in this family friendly hotel and would recommend it to everyone travelling with young children. - Friendly staff - Multiple swimming pools (1 adult only, 1 with a lot of waterfun, 1 close to the beach) - Well-equipped gym (don't expect high-end materials, but there is enough for a proper workout) - Great kids club (also possibility to request babysitting services at a reasonable price) - Large breakfast buffet that offered a wide variety of foods (Thai, Western, children's buffet, ...). They have enough high chairs and plastic tableware for the little ones. - Direct access to the beach - Close to the main street where you can find diverse restaurants, bars, massage salons, etc. Note that the Bang Niang night market is located 5 minutes (by car) from the hotel. The Bang Niang area is also busier. Nang Thong area felt more child-proof (except for the streets, strolling with a buggy can be challenging - but that seems to be the situation in more Thai locations) - Lunch at Talay restaurant was good.

Great location. Ocean front. Very large and varied breakfast. Self service. But what’s with the chicken sausage??? All over Thailand they have chicken sausage that looks like a hot dog 😳 If you have kids the kids pool area looks amazing. But we don’t so did t use it. Lots of kids at breakfast. Hard to tune out all the crying

The facilities were incredible. Definitely more for families but a good amount of adult only areas too. The kids club is amazing - my 4 & 6 year olds were asking if they could go! We didn't even end up having a nanny at all because of how good the kids club and swimming pools were. The food was amazing - if you like Thai food then you'll be in heaven at the flavours. And such good value for money. 8 nights we had massages, dinners, cocktails, room service, nibbles - we paid $1400AUD on checkout. Very very happy. Will definitely be back