Davidob |
Feb 5, 2010 |
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We stayed at the Dewa for 6 nights over the New Year holiday. Overall, we really enjoyed our stay here although several aspects weren’t really up to five star expectations. On the positive side, the hotel has a nice design, although the bare grey concrete may not be for everyone, especially on a cloudy day and the pool doesn’t get any sunshine in the afternoon. The staff were very friendly and helpful and facilities and prices were good and the beachside massage was excellent. Free wifi around the pool and the hotel had a peaceful and relaxed air, even though it was very full being New Year. Our top floor room was comfortable and large but a bit dark, the spacious balcony was very nice. Lunchtime snacks were tasty and well presented although you could count on one hand the amount of fries served with the club sandwich etc. The evening barbeque on the beach was excellent for seafood and location. The beach is not the best and after rain the sea was particularly murky with run off water but this soon cleared. We visited the Amari next door and much preferred the atmosphere of the Dewa, also the prices in the Amari were very high.
As another reviewer has said, the cost of the New Year Gala Dinner was a total rip off at 5,297 Baht. The food was very poor and the entertainment was atrocious, we ended up leaving and going to a local beach bar at 10:30pm.
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ordandnuntiya |
Feb 3, 2010 |
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Beachfront
Low tide at sunset
Tables on the beach ready for dinner
More photos I stayed at the Dewa with my husband and my parents for 5 days in January 2010. We booked two villa rooms in the same "building" - one upstairs and one downstairs. From the website pictures, we loved the look of the Dewa but were undecided between here and the Amari, which also gets excellent reviews on tripadvisor. In retrospect, I am so glad we chose the Dewa.
The atmosphere at the Dewa was tranquil and welcoming. The staff was extremely polite and eager to help, but completely unobtrusive. It was as if they whispered and floated by as they took care of your every need. From google maps, it appeared as if the beachfront area of the Dewa was rather narrow, but in truth, the beach was wide and flat, perfect for lounging or walking. The waves were gentle and at low tide, one can walk so far out into the water and be only waist deep. The accomodations were stylish, modern and very clean. The layout of the buildings created two distinct areas for the pool and the beachfront, each appointed with lots of lounge chairs and an outdoor cafe.
Coincidentally, the Dewa was located right next door to the Amari and we walked over to get a glimpse. From the outside, the Amari seemed much larger and more hectic. Their beachfront area was much rockier and just about disappeared at high tide. We were very glad we chose the Dewa instead.
One last note about the food - the breakfasts were great! There was a good variety of western food and Thai food and the choices were slightly different every day. Our family is Thai (although we live in New York) and we all agreed that the Thai food was authentic and not watered down. In fact, the green curry I had for breakfast one day was probably the best I've had in years! Roasted coconut juice, served in a freshly cracked shell, was offered every morning. Or you could have a variety of noodle soups made to your liking right in front of you! Delicious!
One reviewer commented that the beds were too hard and this is true. But this is pretty standard in Thailand, we've noticed. Otherwise, the Dewa was the perfect place for us.
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N7CHAP |
Jan 23, 2010 |
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On the whole we enjoyed our stay at the Dewa. The place is clean and well looked after and the staff were helpful. The rooms are particularly nice, well designed and comfortable. We stayed over the New Year period and our main gripe with the hotel was its New Year's Eve dinner which was around £90 per person (compulsory). In short this was daylight robbery for what we received! Although the hotel did knock some money off our bill after we passed on our comments it still left a bad taste in the mouth.
As you arrive at the hotel there is a river on your right, we walked along here most evenings and you could see what looked and smelt like a sewage outlet pipe pouring into the river. Although this did not belong to the Dewa the river poured on to the beach just along from the hotel. This did not give us confidence in the cleanliness of the beach.
The beach is ok but we expected more, I guess overall Koh Chang was a bit of disappointment.
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scduthie |
Jan 22, 2010 |
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Stayed for 5 nights just after new year at the Dewa and had a fantastic stay. The beach is lovely and not overly developed so felt peaceful and the sea was so warm and calm. The pool is also wonderful, great size to do a few lengths in if your feeling energetic! The hotel is about half way down the west side of Koh Chang and is definitely further away from the crowed north end of the island. Hire a bike and go scooting around the island to find deserted small beaches and empty roads on the east coast side! Had a great stay and would recommend enjoying beach sunsets again at the Dewa Hotel.
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SNOWBALL |
Jan 11, 2010 |
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We have just come back from a 3 wk stay at Dewa with family and we all had a great time. Dewa is a lovely 4 star plus boutique hotel. Rooms very comfortable -(bit dark and closet needs a light/poss more tv channels/flat screens would be good but this is just nitpicking, pool lovely, service well meaning but mix ups happen (but overall very good effort for a small hotel in Koh Chang that is mainly serviced by youngish staff who make up in enthusiasm what they lack in experience)
Breakfasts lovely (apart from silly system of bringinig a daily ticket to get breakfast!) Dinner setting is beautiful on beach - bar b q ok/ wine list ok
Beach massages are great value for money but even better is bodiwork spa in kai be.
We dived with Scandanavian divers and they were great too - Dewa is on the best beach in Koh Chang and I am already missing walking up it every day!.
Last year we stayed at Amari next door and Dewa is much nicer - more intimate, better surroundings and lovely staff who cannot do enough to help you - everything that you want a relaxing break to be with a feeling of luxury and being pampered! would def come back!
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MarcoMallone |
Dec 30, 2009 |
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Our travel agent recommended "The Dewa" as the best hotel on Koh Chang and having spend a considerable time looking for suitable places I had to agree with him and I hoped the €102 for a double room was worth spending a bit extra.
Our room was in the main building on the 2nd floor with balcony. The rooms are spacious with modern furniture which works well together, they were cleaned every day and the staff really did a good job. We only had 2 issues, the air conditioning is far too loud to it run during the night and the pillows were simply too hard for our liking.
Breakfast was a big disappointment, in a 4-5 star hotel I expect fresh orange juice or at least "Tropicana" and plently of good hot thai dishes. Unfortunately, the DEWA doesn't offer any of the aforementioned. None of the prawns in the rice or noodle dishes were gutted and generally the food wasn't prepared with a lot of love or care. Maybe I am a bit fussy when it comes to food as I consider myself someone who can cook and knows a few things about food. Anyhow to conclude this the breakfast was just very poor and needs improving.
We only had 1 evening meal at the beach restaurant, our fish was overcooked and I felt the guy at the BBQ couldn't really be [--]. Expect to pay min. 1200 BHT (which is still cheap by european standards) for starters and main courses without drinks. I am mindful that the restaurant at the DEWA has to be more expensive than the little places on the main road. Yet their food was a lot more authentic, delicious, a lot cheaper and more importantly prepared with love and care.
Every day at around 5pm the DEWA staff start to set chairs and tables directly on the beach which in all fairness is very romantic but you are better off eating outside, that is if you like your thai food.
There is a lovely little restaurant towards the main road, it's the first restaurant on your left once you have left the hotel and the one next to it is also a good place to eat. The food was always excellent and both owners speak some english which can't be said about the DEWA staff.
Overall, the hotel itself including the pool, rooms and the beach are all very clean and looked after. The beach is relatively narrow and only stretches to one side but again we didn't need more beach or sand.
Luxury is very subjective and we felt "The Dewa" didn't have that special something though we still had a very pleasant stay.
We stayed 3 nights in BKK at the Siam@Siam Hotel opposite the National Stadium. I guess you could call it a boutique hotel. It was excellent value for money at €60 for a double room incl. a very very nice breakfast. The roof top restaurant and bar on the 26th floor are quite cool though the Banyan Tree Hotel or Le Bua State Tower rooftop bars are in a different league.
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CTH63 |
Dec 29, 2009 |
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We stayed four out of our eight days in Koh Chang at Dewa, and the whole family was absolutely happy about the place. Good beach, great pool, very nice and helpful staff, and astonishing dinner setting at the beach. The food was really nice and fairly priced. But agree, the beds are on the hard side.
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Alexander1301 |
Dec 20, 2009 |
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We spent 10 days in Dewa in early November. In general, we were satisfied - the weather was excellent, the sea was warm and beautiful, but swimming was not always possible because of the tides and the rocky bottom. It should be noted that the sunbeds are very close and they can not be removed. So you can not hide from the sun during the day. The resort left ambivalent impression. On the one hand, it has very unusual design and spectacular solutions in interior of rooms, pools, spa, reception, restaurants. Very diligent and helpful staff, in particular – receptionists (special thanks to Koi). On the other hand - the feeling remains that the management is looking for a particular style, but still can not find it. In any case, this is a wonderful and most unusual hotel in Koh Chang. We will come again.
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princesslucy83 |
Dec 11, 2009 |
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Just returned from a great stay at the Dewa- stayed with my boyfriend (we're both 26) and it was perfect for us for a quiet stay. The beaches here arent as breaktaking as the south of Thailand, but still nice, and less touristy.. was there over the Kings birthday weekend, and White Sand Beach was busy, but the beach the Dewa is on was still quiet and not too crowded. Theres lots to do on Koh Chang- elephant and jungle treks, swimming in waterfalls, snorkelling trips (again, not as good as Krabi or Koh Phi Phi) but still a great day out. White sand beach has all the usual Thailand things- tailors trying to get you to buy suits, tuk tuks and massages and is the main touristy area- but the Dewa is 10 minutes away from all that (which we loved!) .. only 60 baht in a taxi ($1.50).. the beach the dewa is on has lots of dining options and cool little beach bars that play reggae (not too loud!)
I loved Koh chang, and the Dewa is the perfect hideaway.. the staff are all lovely (in general the Thais dont speak as much English on koh chang as they do in Bangkok, Phuket, Phi Phi, Samui).. so you need to speak slowly and explain simply what you're after.. be patient, smile lots and have a laugh when they dont know what ur on about!
We'll definately be coming back here for our honeymoon in (hopefully) a couple of years.
Oh- and we originally booked the villa- which was lovely, but then we moved to the deluxe (the cheapest room) which was 2000 baht cheaper and just as good.. i actually liked it better, it felt bigger and more spacious than the villa, and looked over the gorgeous pool.
Food was good- BQQ on the beach was gorgeous, and loved the room service. My boyfriend said it was the best Pad Thai he had in the whole of Thailand ( and he's had alot of Pad Thai!) I had the burger- average, but serves me right for ordering boring western food when theres so much delicious Thai food around for cheap!
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MartinMol |
Nov 22, 2009 |
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1 person found this review helpful
The Dewa claim to be "Distinctively Different" - and so they are. The Dewa offers a rare kind of discrete and tasteful luxury and here we had our best hotel experience ever. Why?
1) The hotel architecture is unique and gorgeous. No shinny red carpets to disrupt the experience of beach and beautiful nature. The size of the hotel is very nice (about 60 rooms) making all logistics between beach, room, pool, restaurant easy. The limited size also helps the atmosphere which is relaxed and exiting at the same time - no factory experience here. We were slightly concerned in advance about the location as it looks quiet but it proved to be an asset due to the privacy it offers on the beach and the near surroundings.
2) Service was "top of class" for rates charged. Staff were very friendly and supportive on every request we made - both the standard and the more non-traditional ones like removing furniture from our room because we wanted more floor space due to an extra bed. They frequently helped looking out for our children and there was not a single member of staff giving us a negative impression during our two weeks of staying. The experience was sometimes like visiting a rich uncle of yours and it we certainly never felt like cash generating customers.
3) The pricing policy is one of the key contributors to the Dewa's own statement of being different. Most added services (except local transportation) are more reasonably priced than other hotels counting from restaurants to massage and minibar. I often wondered why hotels make such an effort to chase there guests out of their place all the time for lunch, drinks etc.. It introduces stress and fortunately you should not have to leave the Dewa for this reason. Occasionally the hotel provided extra services which they have charged extra for not didn't. The only exception on low price was local transportation which is relatively costly at the island for some reason (also taxies).
The perception of quality is relative in this case and for us it is much about kindness, responsiveness and flexibility. If you are looking for white gloves and "Hello Sir" at all times you may get a different experience. We had to look long and hard for something to grumble about and eventually we found a minor issue. The food of the hotel is fair to good in many cases. However, selection is broad (in numbers and by geography) as they have tried to satisfy many different customer preferences. That is rarely done with success and in this case it also back fires on several of the items. In our view some more arrogance on the menu card to complement the "no compromises" hotel design would be a better fit.
Overall, it shall be interesting to see if this great hotel can maintain the standards vs. price over time and if we can even get a room next time visiting :-)
PS. Beware that taxies on Koh Chang are death traps as they are open and have not seat belts. The hotel has proper vehicles available and our recommendation is to cut a deal with them.
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DMDJ1983 |
Nov 20, 2009 |
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I have absolutely no complaints about this hotel. We went for my partners birthday just the two of us as a bit of luxury during our round the world trip. When we arrived we were greeted by a friendly and helpful front desk. Their English is not perfect but more than adequate and is a lot better than my Thai so I can hardly criticize them for that. The reception and room (deluxe) were immaculate. The room is spacious, well designed and every bit the luxury we were looking for. We stayed for two nights the second of which was my partners birthday. We had dinner on the beach both nights and yes it is more expensive than the other parts of Thailand we had been to but we WERE looking for luxury and you do have to pay a bit more for it. It was still MUCH cheaper than the equivalent standard of service, food and accomodation in the UK!! There are other areas of Ko Chang more lively and there is not much in the way of restaurants, shops etc nearby (though there are some) but staff informed us there was FREE transport to white sand beach (a more lively area) 3 times daily and also to the waterfalls. They are also happy to help organise day trips around the island including snorkelling, elephant treking etc. The pool bar, as someone else had mentioned, was not manned at all times but there were staff continually walking past the pool area and we simply asked if we could be served and they were more than happy to oblige, once they were aware of us they were very attentive. The most impressive part of our stay was, without being asked or either of us mentioning the fact that it was my partners birthday, they presented him with a birthday cake, flowers and sang happy birthday to him. He thought I had arranged it but I had absolutely nothing to do with it, a very nice touch which we were not charged for.
We would definately stay here again!!!
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