Mr & Mrs Smith

We had an excellent time at Zeavola. From the time the boat arrived at the beach, the hotel staff were attentive, helpful and polite. The breakfasts are fantastic and the entire complex clean and ornate. My tip for those staying here would be to try the other local restaurants further up the beach. Not to say Zeavola didn't serve excellent food, it's just that the other restaurants served equally good, traditional Thai food at a fraction of the price. You can then stroll back along the beach (flip flops in hand) under the moon and stop on one of the Zeavola beachfront cushions for a cocktail under the stars. I'd highly recommend this venue. What's more, we accidentally left our glasses behind (keep in mind it's an island retreat some hours from land!) only for the hotel staff to arrange for them to be at our second hotel the very next day! Now that's service!

Zeavola is a wonderful little resort. It is 'away from it all' without being totally isolated. And it is due to this fact that we chanced upon the MOST amazing little restaurant in the nearby Sea Gypsy Village called Jasmine Restaurant. It is at the front of the Sea Gypsy Village, just set back from the waters edge. I have to admit, once we'd found this place, we didn't eat at Zeavola again (apart from breakfast - they do a very good Japanese style Bento box for breakfast which is worth a try!).

Jasmine is the epitomy of laid back. It is run by a wonderful couple (she is Thai-and is head chef; he is English - and runs the most lovely rustic bar) You can eat outside (you look straight out to sea and all of the longtail boats) or inside if it is a little windy! Tables are shared with others (lunch time was never a problem; but dinner time, as it was just the two of us, if it was really busy we sometimes shared with another couple...which is actually really lovely). The food is traditional thai (authentic, street food). They also offer BBQ in evenings (fresh seafood). I would recommend the usual thai menu though, over the BBQ. It was by FAR the best food we ate in Thailand (despite staying in some wonderful resorts) and was an 1/8th of the price of Zeavola prices. We cannot recommend this place enough! Wonderful food, location, atmosphere and service!

One more thing to highly recommend is the diving with Zeavola (they have their own dive centre). We dove 3 blissful days with Bank (lovely local guy with great underwater photography skills and passion - he can record your diving experiences and then sells you a dvd that he makes - really worth it if you're not so experienced; we have our own camera, but still bought the dvd from him as he managed to capture moving footage of our dive surrounded by 5 reef sharks - breathtaking! I never thought the diving around Phi Phi would be much good)

Whilst the food at Zeavola is highly recommended, the absolute find of the holiday was a restaurant called Jasmin's, a short 150m walk down the beach. This restaurant is run by a Scottish ex-pat, Peter, and his Thai wife. Tables are set on the beach where at high tide the water laps around your feet. The food is sensational and exceptional value. My only regret was that we discovered it on the second last night!