The Layalina is a beautiful little hotel on Kamala beach. Its smallness is one of the nicest things about it - 15 rooms makes it feel more like a upmarket guesthouse than a hotel, and you feel less part of the whole tourism industry.

If you are looking for a quiet and relaxed holiday in some luxury, then you may want to consider the Layalina.

All rooms face the ocean with stunning views of sand and sea and we saw some beautiful sunsets. We stayed in the Private Heaven room. This is a room which has two floors - a spiral staircase leading up to a rooftop terrace. The room is very comfortable and tastefully decorated (king size bed, TV, you can bring your own DVDs along with you). A lovely hammock from Chiang Mai is provided for the balcony. The bathroom opens on to the bedroom with a large jacuzzi bath for two, and a rainfed shower.

The Layalina doesn't have its own kitchen, and sources its food from a neighbouring restaurant. You can sit and eat by the pool, with a view over the sea. The breakfast is fine. However, by Thai standards, we felt that the Thai food was generally below average. Having had a quick look around, we're not exactly sure whether this is because most of the restaurants were catering for foreign palates.

The Layalina has a small pool with space for four loungers. The theory is that the rooftop terraces can also be put to use, however (agreeing with other reviewers) while this is a good idea, it was far too hot to be up there in April with minimal shade.

We booked directly with the hotel, through their website. Staff response time was rapid and once at the hotel, they were warm, accommodating and competent.

We also appreciated the complimentary pick up and drop off at the airport and a 45 minute massage in our rooms!!

My husband and I spent a week at the Layalina in April, and we put this little gem on our "we'd come back here" list.

With only 15 units, the resort is tiny, but the attention of the staff, and the attention to detail in the rooms make it feel like a much larger, upscale resort.

The 3 things we liked best about our stay:

1. The location: Kamala Beach is quiet, with just enough little restaurants and shops to provide variety, but not enough to make you feel you are in a huge tourist trap.

2. The room: We booked a "Private Paradise" room, which has its own sundeck on the rooftop (more on that part later). The room was spacious, with a small balcony overlooking the pool and the beach. The king bed was incredibly comfortable, and the large, flat-screen TV was great. The room had free wireless internet, "rainfall" shower,
and a fabulous jetted tub. All the furnishings were very high quality.

3. The beach: Kamala Beach is a beautiful stretch of white sand with only a few larger resorts. It isn't crowded, and the vendors are few and far between (and very non-intrusive). Only a handful of wave runners on the entire beach, so you aren't driven mad with the noise.
The beach slope is gradual, but not so much that you have to wade a long way out before the water is deep enough to swim. The waves are small, so it's easy to get in and out of the water.

The 3 things we liked least:

1. The uselessness of the private sundeck above our room. Because it is walled in on 3 sides, there is no air movement whatsover. Maybe in
December when the weather is a little cooler, it would have been useful, but definitely not in April. Besides the stifling heat, the sunbeds are flat platforms with pads, with no way to adjust them to sit up. Not very comfortable for longer than a few minutes.

2. The design of the bathroom: The bathroom was not actually closed off from the rest of the room. Instead, a "window" (sans glass) separated the sleeping area from the bathroom. Black mini-blinds could be pulled to provide visual privacy, but unfortunately bathroom--ahem--sounds were audible throughout the room. The bathtub faucets were in an impossible location--you either had to reach over from the sleeping side of the room to turn on the faucet or climb into the tub to be able to reach them. There were no towel bars or hooks in the bathroom, nor was there a hairdryer. It was almost like the hotel was still finishing up the interior construction, although I believe they have been open for a year.

3. The balcony: There was no roof over the balcony, which made it unusable in the blazing sun as well as in the rain. Rainy days at the beach (we had one) can be pretty pleasant if you can sit under cover and read a book, but it wasn't possible in this case.

No hotel is perfect, and overall, we still give the Layalina an excellent rating. The staff is absolutely delightful and eager to help in any way. They seemed to feel personally responsible for our comfort and happiness, and were genuinely committed to making our stay wonderful--which it was.

On arriving at Layalina, I got a positive feeling. Unfortunately, a couple of things put me off during my stay.

The room was large, with a nice bathroom and jacuzzi bath. I was slightly disappointed when the staff were buzzing around not being able to open the patio or safe doors. I suspect that the room designer hasnt been in the hotel business for long - you have to get in the bath to reach the tap controls as they are on the wrong side. Half of the room is completely empty and looks plain bare. The remote control for all the lights/aircon was great - I had good fun switching on and off the 'picture light' to illuminate an empty oval shape on the wall. Room was clean and cleaned fine by cleaning staff.

Pool was nice - although it's not for swimming - but the sea is only a few minutes walk for that - layalina is right on the beach very nice - except at about 8-9am each morning when you get the very loud rumblings of the motorbikes as they pull the jetskis down to the beach one by one.

Staff - I'm sorry, they were well meaning but pretty hopeless - i suspect we had the b-team until the end of our stay when we were met with 2 additional competent and experienced staff - too late though! My 1 room service meal took over 24hrs to disappear. I even ordered a drink which arrived, was sat down next to all the day old food. I don't need to say that the food was just left there. Suggestions for activites / trips / restaurants were thin on the ground too and were simply moneyspinners for the hotel - without the additional service and suggestions you expect for that extra!

Kamala itself is nice and quiet and although slightly out of the way, we found Rockfish and the wonderfully over complicated French food at Voyage One. That said - the hotel linked restaruant Aew was good, too, I'm a sucker for bbq'd fish!

Something about the hotel appealed to me when we were looking for a last minute alternative to our original plans.

I think it was the promise of peace and relaxation. Equally it could have been the generous size of the rooms, the promise of spectacular views, the freebie transfers, the privacy....

Whatever the attractions I found in the advert promises they failed to live up to the reality of this delightful hotel. Layalina Hotel delivered everything I could have possibly wished for and I had the best holiday I have experienced in years.

We spent 21 days in Layalina and barely moved. Yes we had fun in Patong a few times and managed to struggle out to an Island for a day trip but why move away from near perfection when you find it?

A great deal of thought was put into this hotel by Walter and his building partner which is why everything seems just right. Similarly the service is well disciplined but extremely friendly and like all the best services seems effortless.

Layalina will not be for everyone. It is not particularly child friendly and the open bathrooms will not be for those who prefer 4 walls to their bathrooms (there is a modesty blind if needed) but if you are looking for a retreat and relaxation in a deceptively uncluttered but well appointed, quality accomodation then look no further.