Ana Anan Resort & Villas Pattaya – A Review By Punam Mohandas
The Ana Anan Resort & Villas is located on Jomtien Beach, Pattaya. The hotel is split between three buildings, namely: Happy, which contains the lobby, spa and Deluxe room type; Beach, with the other room categories, restaurants, swimming pool and gym, and Merry, with the car park, cabanas and villas.
The Reception area is actually on the lower, basement level. It’s open-air, air-cooled by a couple of ceiling fans with humongous blades. Simply styled, it has coconut coir matting and low, round wicker cane seating.
The resort has 263-keys, categorized as follows: Deluxe Twin (45-sqm); Grand Deluxe Twin (50-sqm); Seaview Grand Deluxe King and Seaview Grand Deluxe Twin (45-sqm); Deluxe Family (45-sqm); Oceanview Skybath King and Oceanview Skybath Twin (50-sqm); Poolside Cabana King and Poolside Cabana Twin (55-sqm); Oceanfront Skybath and Oceanfront Skypool (52-sqm); Villa Cabana (70-sqm); Skydeck Pool Villa (90-sqm); Ocean Suite Skybath (70-sqm); Ocean Suite Skypool (77-sqm); Two Bedroom Pool Villa (95-sqm); Three Bedroom Cabana (110-sqm); Oceanfront Pool Villa (80-sqm) and The Prestige (250-sqm).
The interiors of all categories of The Ana Anan Resort & Villas are simplistically done, but adequate for the need. The room as well as bathroom size is spacious. The Oceanfront Skybath rooms have jacuzzis on the balconies and hence, do not have bathtubs, only shower cubicles. The bathroom is a long, narrow space, kitted out with weighing scale and magnifying mirror. The balconies in these rooms are enclosed by sheer glass (unlike the other, lower room categories which have metal, barred railings). The bed is sensibly placed so that it gives onto a view of the sea.
The Seaview Grand Deluxe King rooms are similarly furnished, except that there are no jacuzzis on the balconies, but there are bathtubs in the bathrooms. I am most appreciative of Khun Kook, the Front Office manager, to have assigned me a room on the seventh floor that had a decent view of the sea from the balcony.
All rooms come equipped with torch, umbrella, bathrobes, slippers, large screen TV, electronic safe, electric kettle, four bottles of drinking water and minibar. There is a full-length mirror on the sliding bathroom door.
F&B options at the Ana Anan Resort & Villas include the all-day dining Squid & Co (160-covers, including indoor and al fresco), which is beside the swimming pool; Splash Bar, which is the poolside bar; Blue Tang, the lobby café, serving tea/coffee/juice and pastries; Sola (50-covers), the Executive Lounge which is designed to curve and partly resemble a lighthouse, with porthole-like windows; Under the Sun (48-covers; chairs as well as beanbags) that is beside the beach and Over the Moon (60-covers), the open-air, rooftop dining outlet that has low seating on round, scattered daises interspersed amid a curving water body.
The a la carte menu at the three main restaurants is of generally good quality; I enjoyed the red curry with prawns, as well as the brownie with caramel ice cream and peanut butter sauce at Squid & Co; the softshell crab in onion bagel at Under the Sun and the grilled, rock salt encrusted fish stuffed with Thai herbs, served with spicy peanut sauce and glass noodles at Over the Moon, which was grilled to perfection, with a crisp skin covering flaky, melting flesh within.
Recreational options include two swimming pools, both of which are child-friendly but not very large. The one on the upper level is an infinity pool that’s rather narrow. However, alongside it is a water slide, with round, rubber tubes provided for adults and children alike to slide down. This activity is always supervised by a staff member. The resort makes clever use of the space it has; beside the water slide is a small, artificial lawn with space for four sunbeds. Past the lower level swimming pool, one walks across a bridge over a canal that leads to a garden area, beyond which is the beach, where staff sometimes erect a volleyball net.
This is a hotel that’s targeted towards families, especially those with small children and there are organized activities for them to do at the Octopus Club, which is beside Dumbbell, a small gym, both beside the pool.
(The villas have their own twin swimming pools, to which guests from the other buildings are not allowed access.)
And then, of course, there is the Dhyana Spa, with five massage rooms done up in metallic tones and dark wood interiors. One of the rooms has a jacuzzi which is used for milk bath treatments, while two of the rooms have steam rooms. The prices are slightly on the higher side, but the staff are experienced and well trained. Guests can choose from four essential oils: peppermint, rose, lavender or ylang ylang. I had the signature treatment, which is a 30-minute Khao Lam scrub, made of sticky rice, red bean and coconut milk, followed by a one hour aromatherapy massage using ylang ylang oil. The spa also has products for sale (including bath salts and bombs) which are reasonably priced.
Convention facilities at The Ana Anan Resort & Villas include a ballroom that can be partitioned into two and can accommodate 200-pax, classroom style. The pre-function area is a wide space, done up in tones of black and grey. Two smaller meetings rooms – Style and Stay, can take 18-pax each, boardroom style.
The boiler system is good, while air conditioning takes some time to kick in and be effective.
Pest control is reasonably decent; there are mosquitoes, so carry mosquito spray. You can also ask Housekeeping to spray the rooms. It was nice to note that this hotel has public bathrooms for the physically challenged. There is free Wi-Fi across the property.
Many of the Front Office and F&B staff speak English. You can always call the operator and ask her to relay any instructions to Housekeeping staff. The F&B team largely does a decent job and are a friendly bunch. I’m very grateful to Khun Jate at Squid & Co who deserves a special mention for being so observant, attentive, and courteous.
There isn’t anything else to do in the immediate vicinity, however, if you walk to the top of the road, there are a couple of money exchanges and local eateries, as well as a pharmacy. The name-boards are in Russian, as this hotel seems quite popular with Russian tourists.
Jomtien beach is quite clean, although the sand is rough and grainy. A wide variety of water sports such as jet skiing, parasailing etc, are available, however, this is not organized by the hotel and is at the guest’s own risk/discretion. You can also go to Pattaya beach for more variety in shopping and dining options, including Ripley’s Believe It Or Not museum, or do a day tour of the coral reefs. If you have more time on your hands and would like to venture further afield, check out Koh Samet, 45-minutes away from Pattaya or else Rayong, about a couple of hours further off.
All major airlines fly into Bangkok as also many low-cost ones. Pattaya is under two hours away from Bangkok by road. Taxis cost 1,500 baht one-way, limousines are approximately at 2,500 baht, while the minivan cost is 140 baht per person; of course, the vans take much longer. Bus prices are similar to the vans and the time element is roughly between 3-4 hours.
Ana Anan Resort & Villas Pattaya
Tel: +66 3309 8888
Fax: +66 3307 3888
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.anaanan.com
Punam Mohandas asserts her right to be identified as the author of this work. Any views or opinions expressed in this review is that of the author.
