There are better options in Koh Lanta

In the course of one conversation at the Christmas Eve dinner we had with another couple while at Lanta New Beach, the vacation sheen immediately wore off. From the outside, everything looked great when we arrived - beach bungalows, pool (which is necessary in that part of Koh Lanta because people didn't go in the sea), restaurant, etc. But as soon as someone else mentioned the lazy and rude staff and the lack of cleanliness, I couldn't help but notice it...all the time.

Right upon check-in, the girl that led us to our room looked thoroughly annoyed to be there. That should have been the first sign. From there it just got worse. We stayed for 4 days, and not once did anyone clean our rooms. There were ants everywhere, which is to be expected in Thailand, but the lack of cleaning didn't help. It's not so easy to excuse the rather large cockroach my husband had to kill with his shoe right in front of the TV. If we wanted toilet paper, we had to go get it ourselves. The first time I asked for TP, the lady at the counter just pointed to a shelf near the employee area with a look of "Well, did you think I was going to get it for you? Go get it yourself." The next time I needed some, there was none in the usual place, and it took asking 4 different people (one of whom never took his eyes away from his video game) to find me some. Once I locked myself out of the room and had to wake up the receptionist from her nap in the restaurant area to get a spare key.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the idea. The staff seemed unnaturally lazy and rude compared with the rest of the people on the island. We booked this place last minute and didn't do much looking around because it was our Christmas holiday. But if you have the time to find something better, I highly recommend that you do!