We booked a double room with sea view at By the Sea in Koh Mak as the first stop of our recent island adventure. The cost of our room was exactly 2500 baht per night or about 83 US dollars. By the Sea is located on the southern shore of Koh Mak, closer to the west side of the island. It is a small and charming guest house, more than a resort.
By the Sea is very close to the main transport pier in Koh Mak, so we thought it would be a convenient place to arrive since much of our first say would be lost in travel. Our host, Top, met us at the pier in his songtaew and took us the short drive to the hotel quickly and efficiently. Our room was small and simple and did not really feature much of a view of the sea. It mostly faced the pool and trees, but it was clean and comfortable and would serve our needs fine during our 2 day stay.
The room was new and had a relatively comfortable bed. The bathroom was simple and the shower water had low pressure (still useable, but unpredictable temperature the first day until we reset the heater). Otherwise, there was not much to say about the room. It was very basic.
By the Sea featured a small roadside café that did a good business, as well as a beachfront restaurant. The guy running the café did a great job and breakfast was very nice every morning. The sweet dogs on the property were our constant companions! The service at the beachfront restaurant for dinner was less successful and slightly awkward, but the food was still tasty and fairly priced.
The hotel has a small pool, which we used on one occasion. We wanted to use it both days, but it had no lights on in or around the pool, so it was impossible to use once the sun went down. Similarly, our room was upstairs, and there were literally no lights on on the second floor hallway either day we stayed. It was a bit treacherous to leave guests to fend for themselves in the dark (it got dark at 6PM). Fortunately, we had our phones handy to both light the way and allow us to fit the key into the door lock.
We did not enjoy swimming or snorkeling on the beautiful coral beach behind the hotel. We tried to snorkel and swim, but the visibility was so bad and with the coral present, it seemed quite dangerous both to us and the reef. We decided to just skip it both afternoons… This was the only place on Koh Mak where we did not swim.
The location of By the Sea Koh Mak was awesome. There were plenty of little stores and restaurants nearby and an easy walk away. It was the most convenient of all our accommodations on the island. We availed ourselves of the chance to eat at a local Isaan restaurant the second night and had a great meal, with beers for only 300 baht or about $10. A great experience!
We also tried to rent a scooter from the hotel, but found the experience not as safe as we had hoped. After only a few minutes riding, we elected to return it and simply hire a songthaew to take us on a complete island tour. The bike rental was only 250 baht a day, which we happily donated back to the resort even though we returned it. The songthaew tour lasted 2 hours and cost us 1000 baht, which is steep, but did serve its purpose of showing us the entire island well.
By the Sea Koh Mak was a nice place to stay. It was expensive in our opinion for what we got in terms of value, but it was still enjoyable. It set a nice tone for what would be an increasingly great trip to come… We think that the staff here were its strongest asset. Good luck to Top and his staff. You are really nice people! I hope you can work out a few details to make travelers have a more complete experience and we know you will do well.
Check out our video review of By The Sea also!
