Home Phutoey River Kwai Hotspring & Nature Resort

We had a single room for 4 with 2 double beds. The room was very big, and very nice, but it was not possible to make it completely dark. The resort is nicely placed on the river side. The pool and hot pool are very nice. It is possible to do activities on the lake for free. The included breakfast was good, though not extraordinary. The restaurant is rather good, though a bit expensive.

The view from the cabin is EVERYTHING. We couldn't find a better view in the entire resort. The onsen with thermal water was surprisingly refreshing despite the 40 degree outside temperature. The warm water somehow made you cool off. At night it's magical! Staff was super friendly and accommodating. Privacy from the room was top tier. Definitely worth the price of the room and the journey to get to the resort. The sounds at night kept us trying to decipher which animal was which. Lots of cute geckos and beautiful birds. This is the only place I regretted not having binoculars! This resort was the highlight of our Thailand trip! The museum was very informative and the gardens of the resort are beautiful. You can tell the place was built with the guest experience in mind!

There are many, many reasons to love this resort - especially the amazing riverside location and the comfortable rooms. We were very happy that the staff went to great lengths to accommodate our dietary requests (vegetarian / gluten-free), though we were a little disappointed that the breakfast buffet was very meat-dominant, which even regular meat-eaters might find a bit heavy first thing in the morning. We stayed in a private onsen villa, and the room was charming (the view was incredible). Our one and only real negative was that in both the private onsen in the room and the main hot spring pool in the resort (next to the regular swimming pool), chlorine is used in the water. As hot spring enthusiasts (we have travelled to more than a thousand around the world), we have to say that this is exceptionally unusual, entirely unnecessary and also completely negates the beneficial effects of the minerals in the thermal water. Thermal water constantly flowing into (and out of) a pool/tub should have no artifical chemicals added, and none of the nearby local hot springs in the region that we visited were doing this...so I'd encourage the resort to stop using chlorine and allow guests to enjoy a totally natural thermal experience.

Overall this is a great place to stay for a few days. The setting is wonderful and you do feel like you are really in the jungle at times. The rooms are very beautifully decorated and have most of the conveniences you could expect. The bathroom was spacious and the shower is powerful and very welcome after some very (very) hot days in mid-April! There are some really interesting features at this hotel such as the Weary Dunlop museum (all about the Burma, aka 'death', railway) and particularly the Jack Chalker gallery which is unique. The staff were mostly incredibly kind, helpful and efficient and went out of their way to help when they could. The food was decent but not exceptional and I think there could have been a few more non-Thai options.

We have visited this resort 4 times and look forward to returning for an even longer stay. Their "Onsen" rooms overlooking the River Kwai are large, comfortable and the private hot tub is very special. The resort is located far off of the road, does not have any barking dog or karaoke, making for one of the quieter experience one can have in Thailand. There is a birdy nature trail, good food in the restaurant with many choices and attentive staff. Thank you for another relaxing visit.