I’m currently spending a few months in Thailand, staying long term in a few places. On this trip, I am focussing on getting work done, rather than travelling. I’ve just spent a whole month on the beautiful island of Ko Lanta, staying in Cozy Guesthouse – here are my thoughts!
Overall Experience in Cozy Guesthouse, Ko Lanta
The staff at Cozy Guesthouse are AMAZING!
I can’t state this enough! I’ve never stayed at a hotel/guesthouse before where all the employees are so much like a family. They were extremely friendly and helpful and really made me feel at home. Every time they’d see me – “Hello Adam, how are you?” with a big, genuine smile.
A special shout out to Bamboo and Linda! They’re both so friendly, funny and helpful.
They regularly checked in to ensure everything was ok, and whether there is anything I need. Linda in particular (being the owner), was very keen on any feedback, and if there was anything that could be improved.
On one occasion, the WiFi upstairs stopped working – the moment I mentioned it to them they went to look at it, and got it working again within a few minutes.
On another day, I was really sick, and Linda asked if there was anything I needed – she could bring it to me. At that point, I just needed water and rest, but it was really nice to know that I could call on them if I felt the need.
Helpful, but no pushy sales pitch
Cozy Guesthouse can help you with booking tours, transport, motorbike rental and much more. Unlike other places, this is never pushed on you – you’re aware that it’s there, but not once did I get a sales pitch.
One morning, I asked Bamboo about motorbike rental, and he explained how it works and how much it costs for him to organise it. He offered to organise it right then for me, or gave me the option of going to another place – there are a lot of options for motorbike rental! I didn’t feel obligated to book through him.
Within 10 minutes of me confirming I’d like Bamboo to organise the motorbike, I’d signed the contract, paid, and the motorbike had been delivered – I was ready to go! The helpfulness didn’t stop there – he showed me the motorbike, made sure I knew how to use it – all the controls etc.
It was just as easy to organise my transfer to Krabi Town when I was leaving. I asked Bamboo if he could organise a minivan to pick me up the next morning. Within minutes, he’d called the transfer company, booked, and provided me with the ticket.
Long Beach/Pra-Ae Beach, Ko Lanta
Cozy Guesthouse is centrally located in Long Beach/Pra-Ae Beach, Ko Lanta. It is an easy walk to beaches, bars, restaurants, cafes, and 7Eleven is right next door. In the whole month I was there, I only left the area for one day – when I hired the motorbike and explored the island. You just don’t need to leave (if you don’t want to) as you have everything right there!
Ko Lanta, along with many Thai islands, is a Muslim majority community. This means that you hear Call to Prayer from the local mosques 5 times a day. I’ve always loved hearing this – I think it can sound very beautiful and spiritual. I don’t think the Call to Prayer here was the most impressive I’ve ever heard though, this guy doesn’t have the best singing voice!
I’ve never been a huge fan of the sunrise Call to Prayer at about 5am either!
Environmental Awareness
Caring for the environment is very important to everyone at Cozy Guesthouse, and they work closely with Trash Hero to reduce their environmental footprint.
Some ways they do this include:
- Reducing the number of plastic bottles used (and thrown away) on the island by providing each guest with a Trash Hero water bottle, for use during your stay
- Cozy Guesthouse provides free, cold drinking water to fill your water bottles with – the tap water in Thailand is not drinkable
- Reducing the number of plastic bags used (and thrown away) on the island by providing each room with a re-usable Trash Hero fabric bag for shopping
- Both the Trash Hero drink bottles and fabric bags are available for sale, if you wish to keep them
- The towels and bed sheets are not washed every day, unless you request them to be – this reduces water usage
Cosy Guesthouse is always on the lookout for new ways to be environmentally friendly. They wanted to do something with their leftover restaurant food, rather than just throwing it out. I suggested asking Lanta Animal Welfare if they could use it. The very next day they went and organised it!
Rooms at Cozy Guesthouse
During my 1 month stay at Cozy Guesthouse, I stayed in 3 of their 5 rooms. The first 2.5 weeks were in the Blue Room, then I had to move because that room was already booked by somebody else when I extended my booking. I moved to the Green Room for a few nights, before I was offered an upgrade to the Orange Room for my last 5 nights.
As you can probably tell, each room is assigned a colour – this is not just the name of the room – the colour theme is used throughout the room as well. The fridge, feature wall, room key, bath mat, information booklet, and even some of the toiletries are matched to the colour theme.
All the rooms have WiFi, a large fridge, TV, aircon, wardrobe, and private bathroom. They also provide towels, toiletries, daily cleaning, and free drinking water.
Cozy Guesthouse also has a bar and restaurant downstairs. They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner & drinks in high season, and just dinner & drinks in low season. The food is not the cheapest on the island, but it is delicious!
Blue Room
This was the first room I stayed in, and I really liked it – as soon as I walked in, I smiled and took photos to send to friends and family at home! It was SUCH an improvement on the dull room in my last hotel.
Pros
- Nice view of the town and main street – especially good for Songkran!
- Cute little balcony – good place to have evening beers and to put wet clothes to dry
- Plenty of space – it’s quite a large room
- Nice bathroom, shower separate with shower curtain
- Strong WiFi – no issues working, streaming Netflix or Skype calls
Cons
- It can be quite noisy with traffic noise from the road – didn’t bother me much, but some people might find it annoying
- The room doesn’t get very dark at night, due to bright signs & lights outside
- Up 2 flights of stairs, so if you have bad knees or lots of luggage, it might be a problem for you
Green Room
I spent 4 nights in the Green Room, which is directly under the Blue room and almost identical. The main differences are that there is no balcony, a smaller bathroom, but overall feels a bit bigger.
Pros
- Much quieter than the blue room, even though it faces the same way – I think because it’s lower, the restaurant roof protects it from the traffic noise
- Darker at night than the Blue Room, due to being lower than the bright signs
- It has a place to sit in the corner, chair and table – nice to have somewhere to sit other than the bed
- Plenty of space – it’s quite a large room!
Cons
- No balcony, though the inside table and chair make up for it – sit, look out the window and still enjoy aircon
- It has a bathroom that is more common in Thailand (and most of Asia) – shower over toilet, rather than separate
- It has aircon, but it’s not as strong as Blue Room and some days I still felt a bit warm – much better than without though
- The WiFi works, but is slower – I think this is because there is a router on the Ground Floor and 2nd Floor, but not on this middle floor. It was still fine for normal websites, even Netflix worked – though with some buffering now and then, however Skype didn’t work well enough to hold a conversation.
Orange Room
This is the room that Cozy Guesthouse considers its best room – and it’s all about that view! The amazing view of the ocean, Phi Phi Islands – and sunset, right from your large balcony (or even from your bed)!
Pros
- Oh, that view! It’s magical! Make sure you check out sunset
- Large balcony, with table and chairs for working or eating – and 2 recliner seats for chilling with a beer
- Very quiet – no traffic noise here, and you hardly notice the Call to Prayer
- It’s dark at night, as there is no street lighting, and stays dark later in the morning as it doesn’t get the morning sun
- Really good aircon, which is important as it does get afternoon sun
- WiFi works well – the router is right outside the door
- Full bathroom, just like the Blue Room
Cons
- The room is a bit smaller than the Blue and Green rooms, however the large balcony does compensate for this
- There is no flyscreen on the balcony door – this means you have to keep it closed or mosquitos and other bugs can get in, increasing the need for aircon usage
Summary
In case you haven’t already guessed, I loved my time staying at Cozy Guesthouse!
Would I stay there again? Absolutely!
If I return to Ko Lanta for a week or two, I would definitely stay at Cozy Guesthouse (hopefully in the Orange or Blue Rooms).
If I return to Ko Lanta for a month or longer, perhaps not. This is nothing to do with the quality of Cozy Guesthouse – it’s simply that living somewhere long term, it’s nice to have more homely things. I’ve just moved to Chiang Mai, and I’m staying in an apartment. It has a kitchen, lounge, dining, bedroom, study corner with desk… Things that I didn’t realise how much I missed until I got them back!
I totally recommend you stay at Cozy Guesthouse for your holiday in Ko Lanta!
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Please Note
This is NOT a sponsored post. I paid for my stay at Cozy Guesthouse, and the owners were unaware I was going to write a review based on my stay. Everything I’ve said in this post is 100% my opinion based on my experience during my 1 month stay at Cozy Guesthouse.
Some of the links on this website are affiliate links, and I may get a small commission if you buy products or services through them. This commission is at no extra cost to you, and I only recommend products and services that I use and enjoy myself.
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