We stayed here for 2 nights. No porter service on arrival. Carried our own bags to room. Room was adequate, a little dated and not soundproof. Very pleasant grounds backing onto beach ( one of the better beaches in Thailand). Lovely swimming pool. Virtually all guests were on a package tour from Europe. No Thai nationals which was somewhat surprising given the relatively close distance to Bangkok. Breakfast buffet selection was very good, however the evening buffet was very disapointing, overpriced and a very poor selection of dishes which did not include thai food. There is a Thai restaurant on the beach, 2 minutes walk from the resort, which serves excellent thai seafood at far less cost. Would we return? Probably, as we live in Bangkok. However only for the accomodation and the beach, not the food and drink.

We spent our honeymoon in Novotel Rim Pae Rayong last August. We had very nice experience. We arrived quite early (7 AM), but they were able to give us the room at that time as well (I know that August is low season there). Breakfast is perfect, room is perfect. Prices are relatively cheap if they are compared to European prices. Staff is very nice and speak English. Garden and swimming pools are beautyful.
I can recommend it to everyone.

We (me, hubby, 2 little ones) stayed at the Novotel and our friends (with three kids) stayed at Sametview beach house about 1km down the beach, which is house to rent in Rayong. We had a great time and this turned out to be a good arrangement. We walked down to the beach house every day to hang out with our friends – they were in a 3 bedroom house on the beach with a pool and BBQ area – perfect for the kids to run around and play and swim and get tired so we could relax in the evenings. On the nights we didn’t feel like cooking, they came up to see us and we ate at the hotel restaurant. Novotel was good, the service was great but hotel is not ideal for young children.

I think next time we’ll try and book the Sametview house before our friends do as the cost is similar! Much more peaceful but close enough to go to the restaurant and excellent spa at the Novotel if you want to get out. The beaches in Rayong are gorgeous and not over run with tourists so it’s a great place to go if you want a really relaxing holiday.

just two hours by bus from bangkok, rayong is near koh samet. great beaches and cheaper than samet so we picked novotel. they screwed up on the reservation a little bit but quickly solved the problem. we were there late Jan. and the hotel seemed full. my friend and i are in our late twenties, and for sure we brought down the average age of people staying at the property.

food: their buffet at night was good

location: resort style setting--far from other things but had everything you would want at a beach resort

spa: to die for

cleanliness: pretty clean

overall: it was great place to get away from grimy Bangkok